Evening star., 1961-11-03
Tying Up the Loop

Inc reason Tor the request Oy
Director C.. Darwin Stolzenbach of the
National Capital transportation Agency
for a one-year moratorium on inner
loop freeway constructions he can
study it further - is unconvincing.
Certainly there is not enough merit
in his arguments thus far to justify
the Commissioners in acceding to his
request
Furthermore, we can conceive of
nothing that Mr.. Stolzenbach might
turn up which would seriously challenge
the form or the concept of the inner
loop AS long ago as 1914 the Highway
Department reached the conclusion that
something more than simple street
Improvements was needed to handle the
mounting flow of traffic from the
suburbs. This thinking took positive
form few years later in the concept
of the inner loop developed by the
National Capital Planning Commission
During the decade since that time,
every major highway project in the
Washington area-in the suburbs as
well as in the city-haS been predicated
on the assumption that the inner loop
would be built. In 1854, for example,
when Senator Case of South Dakota
worked out a compromise between the
Highway Department and the Planning
Commission over the location of Po-
tomac River bridges, the essential point
Of agreement was that the bridges
would connect with system of loop
freewayS which would route traffic
around the downtown core rather than
dumping it on congeSted city streets.
Nor has traffic been the sole con-
Sideration. On the contrary, the loop
system has been thought of from the
start as way of preserving the central
city-both through ready access and
as means of stabilizing values by
removing automobile traffic which has
no reason to enter the core area. Over
the years, these considerations have
gained, not lost, in Importance Officials
of Downtown Progress have demon
Strated that if the central business and
shopping districts are to flourish, the
inner loop is essential. The professional
staff of the Planning Commission,
according to its director, is satisfied
that the inner loop will enhance the city
rather than destroy it." Surely this
conclusion, in view of the traditional
concern of the planner about eSthetic
and other impacts of highways, should
carry great weight.
Mr. Stolzenbach, who says that he
does not oppose the concept of the
inner loop, contends that delay of a
year would be of little consequence to
such projects as the loop and the Three
Sisters Bridge, while he studies them
in relation to rapid-tranSit system
We disagree, for these Improvements
can hardly be provided as quickly as
they are needed in any event. Even if
he were right, however, would Mr..
Stolzenbach be able to complete a
meaningful re-Study within a year?
We doubt it, The Mass Transportation
Study, which proved conclusively in
our opinion, that both rapid transit and
freewayS are needed, required four years
of intensive study by large and able
staff.
This is not to say that every prof.
ect will be carried out Just as 1t is
outlined on paper. In any such complex
undertaking as the inner loop, there is
always the possibility that consider
ationS may be raised which might lead
to reasonable notifications. But pleas
for such major change in established
policy should be accompanied by strong
reasons - stronger than have been
offered thus far in the controversy
over the inner loop. 1t is this also that
makes suggestions for, delay by mem
bers of the Planning CommisSion-con-
tray to the position of their own staff