Evening star., 1960-09-26

the memorial is engulfed in a
sea of cars 1t is time that
we restored the calm tranquility
of the scene by eliminating the
buzZing traffic between the Me-
mortal and its rejecting pool"
The 1.435-foot tunnel and
approach roads are designed to
be part of the Districts inner
loop highway plan.
independence avenue would
be continued through the un-
derpass, and on the upstream
side traffic would flow into the
network Of roads leading to the
Theodore Roosevelt Bridge, now
under constructio, and the pro-
posed inner loop.
With the completion of the
Theodore Roosevelt Bridge and
the Inner Loop connections the
increase in traffic that is ex-
pected in the Memorial area
threatenes to destroy the
beauty of the shrine and its
setting, the designers reported.
The underpass would have
two driveways of three lanes
each. 1t would be built so that
traffic could not be seen from
the Memorial itself. The en-
frances would be hidden from
the visitors view by planting
and grading and there would
be no traffic noise at the
monument.
Decking for Period
During construction Of the
underpaSs traffic would be con-
tinued by decking the road
way areas under construction.
This decking work would be
done at night for use the fol-
low morning by rush-hour
motorists without interruption
to traffic use.
A 212-foot underpass is also
proposed to carry Ohio drive
traffic underground from the
present Rock Greek and Po-
tomac parkway bridge leading
to the Memorial to the north
entrance of the proposed
tunnel. No alteration is pro-
posed in the existing bridge.
Ohio drive traffic would con-
tinue on a ramp leading to the
parkway.
The two parking areas along
side the Rejecting Pool would
each hold a capacity of so cars
and 18 buses. The parking
areas would be shielded from
view by trees and planting.
Can Avoid Traffic
The large pedestrian plaza,
designed to fit in with the ap-
pearance of the marble shrine.
would mean that visitors need
not cross in front of any traf-
fic to get to the Memorial. The
heavy traffic around Memorial
circle has become what the
designers call "a veXing and
hazardous" condition.
The Singstad & Baillie firm,
of New York, was given the
$135,000 design contract last
February. Their plan would
place the underpass beneath
the Memorial grounds but not
under any portion of the shrine
itself.
Umberto Innocent and Rich
ard K. Webel, landscape archi-
tects, handled the landscaping
aspects of the plan.
FOreSee Traffic Cut
Mr.. Wirth said the amount Of
commuter traffic now using
Memorial Bridge probably
would be reduced substantially
= with the proposed elimination
. of the roadway in front Of the
Lincoln shrine.
Much of the traffic is eX-
pected to flow across the Theo-
dore Roosevelt Bridge.
But motorists headed down.
= town across the Memorial
!. Bridge will be able to follow
: the proposed rejecting pool
roads to the Washington Mon
ument area.
The roads on each side of
2 the rejecting pool would lead
< into a proposed circle around
I the base of the Washington
, Monument with feeder connec-
e tions to downtown streets. This
development would cost an ad-
!, ditional 50 million. Mr.. Wirth
) said, and should be done as
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