Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-04-18
District Moves
10 Kill Federal
Plan for Tunnel
Six Lones Needed,
Senators Are Told
By Rood Officials
BY GEORGE BEVERIDGE

OAey AAeAWdJ OA1AOAdlo yCctCI~
day launched their major effort
to kill the campaign Of Federal
park officials for a four-lane
Potomac River traffic tunnel at
the end Of Constitution avenue.
Dragging out a voluminous
stack of drawings, charts and
statistics, the District forces
urged q Senate District subcom-
Imittee reject any crossing
bridge or tunnel-that contains
lonly four lanes.
With side attacks on earlier
statements by park officials, their
main drive was an insistence
that six lanes are needed to carry
traffic to and from expressways
planned on both sides of the
river.
With Gives Views
The Senators we're exposed
ito virtually all the complex sides
of the five-year fight. however. as
in other testimony:
/. National Parks Director
Conrad L. Wirth said a tunnel
would provide the overriding
need-protection of the esthetic
values in the monumental area.
He said he never has contended
"a bridge is not possible: I've said
"a bridge shouldn't 60 there"
Q. Chairman Harland Bartholo-
NEW Of the National Capital
Planning Commission opposed
six-lane crossing because of the
traffic volumes it would route
through the White House area.
His commission has approved a
design that would serve for either
a six-lane tunnel or bridge.
AS it has in the past, mean
while, testimony brought out that
the key factor may be an entirely
different one: Whether a bridge
If there Is one--should contain
a draw span for navigation.
Gore Opposes Draw
Senator Gore, Democrat Of
Tennessee. wants to block draw
span bridges on grounds they
would impede auto traffic. Rep
resentative Smith. Democrat
of Virginia, insists on draw
spans which would serve two
commercial users Of the river
near Georgetown. A House SUBJ
committee, which recently ap-
proved q four-lane tunnel, re-
portedly Gid so mainly to duck
the draw span issue.
Senator Beall. Republican of
Maryland, referred to this i'm
passe" yesterday. and asked j. N.
Robertson, District highway di-
rector. whether I'VE should build
a tunnel or keep on going. ="
Mr.. Robertson said the Dis
trict would go along with a six
lane tunnel. but not a four lane
one. But he contended the tun-
mel would cost $50 million more.
G. /. Sawyer, city highway
planning chief. gave the SUBJ
committee a report contending
that the public cost of building
and maintaining draw span
bridges could not justify their
convenience to the two river
users--the American Oil Co. and
the Smoot Sand g. Gravel Co.
MIR. Sawyer contended the
operations of both firms could
be adjusted to comply with fixed
bridges. at "far less cost" than
draw spans on new bridges at
Fourteenth street and ConStitu-
ton avenue. The costs he
placed at IS million for two draw
spans and $4,000 annual MAIN
tenance.
Costs At Issue
D. S. Brinkley. highway plan
ming engineer, attacked park of
flcials' cost estimates of APP
proach roads for a tunnel. He
argued that, to make traffic
move, approach road costs would
be about the same for either a
bridge or tunnel.
For that reason. he urged the
Senators in comparing costs to
consider only the cost of the
bridge structure as against the
cost of the portal-to-portal
tunnel. On this basis, he said. a
six-lane bridge would cost either
$7.9 million or $4.8 million. de-
pending on construction method,
and a six-lane tunnel would cost
$32.5 million. A four-lane tunnel
would cost about $40 million less.
Mr.. Bartholomew, while noting
that the planning commission
favors a Constitution avenue
crossing "of some kind" urged
Congress to authorize at least
three new bridges Immediately
to disperse traffic over a wider
area.
Under persistent questioning
by Senator Beall, the planning
chief conceded that he person.
ally favors only four lanes of
traffic at Constitution avenue,
and likes tunnel there better
than a bridge.
Subcommittee Chairman Bible
recessed the hearings until next
week. tentatively to resume at
10 am. Thursday.
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Two Bows Hurt