Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-01-10

ground for years to floods of in
S in the Washington area. Here,
these moving. the new Federal
Highway Act last July allotted
to Virginia $25 million in all
types of Federal aid for the
current year, and STAT million
for the next three years.
Would Drain Funds
Virginias present road reve-
nueS are so poor, officials say,
that to match these and other
Federal aid grants would leave
virtually no money at all for
100 per cent State-flnanced road
improvements.
This drab revenue picture has
plagued the Washington area for
years. But the real sore spot in
Northern Virginia has been the
States division of the limited
funds on hand.
The trouble springs from the
fact that State highway money
now is split up on a basic for
mula of road mileage. and area
population which. its critics
argue. do not reflect the real
need-the congestion and den
sity of actual traffic volumes on
the roads.
Thus. the Washington area
gets no special break in the
ALLEGATIONS despite the facts
that:
! Fairfax County roads have
more than twice as many We
hicle-miles of traffic (the num-
Der of vehicles times the number
of miles travelled in 24-hour
period than the next heaviest
county in the State.
Arlington Traffic Tops
Arlington County daily has
more than twice as many cars
per mile of road than any other
county (18,620 vehicles per mile
per day., with Fairfax County
ranking second.
The road carrying the heaviest
traffic in the State is the Shirley
with 1894 cars per day on the
four lanes between the Pentagor
and Glebe road.
Another sore spot in the allo-
cation is a provision of State Law
which requires that 80 per cent
of all State highway money be
diverted Immediately to the Sec
ondary system - the "farm-to-
market" roads which predomi-
nate in rural areas. Presumably
as the law now reads, the State
might even have to divert 80 per
cent of a fund raised solely to
help finance new expressways
outside rural areas.
There was nothing wrong with
the law when it was set up
decades ago." one official notes
1T met a real need then. But
times have changed. And no one
has done anything about chang
ing the law
Virginia Highway Department
officials refuse fatty to speculate
on what the/new financial stud
les might - or should - bring
Officially. they take the position
that the division of money as
well as amounts are decisions
that rest in the State Legislature
alone.
Privately, however, some would
like to see, not only more high
way money available, but a dis
tribution formula tied more di-
rectly to meeting the most critical
traffic demands.
Distribution Unbalanced
Arlington and Fairfax, along
with IL other counties, make up
the "Culpeper District" one OF
number of districts" to which
State funds are allotted. "Cul-
pepper" primary roads, percent
age-wise, handle about 20 pei
cent of the total of State traffic
but get only about Is per cent
of State money for that purpose
In the last decade, the allot-
ments have increased year by
year, as total State revenues
have gone up. Construction cost
increases, however. have at least
eaten up the additional money
Last year alone, officials say
costs went up Is per cent.
In the Washington area, traf-
f1c has doubled. and even tripled,
on highways in the last Is years.
Arlington boulevard, between
Glebe road and Seven Corners,
for example, has jumped from
l0,l9l cars a day to 33,605.