Evening star., 1962-12-14

Constitution avenue at the
h street NV, Engineer Com
missioner Frederick j. Clarke
said the completion date Of late
1865 seemed reasonable"
The segment is informally
called the South Leg" of the
Inner Loop, and will connect
the Potomac River Freeway and
the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge,
now scheduled for completion
in early 1864, to the already
opened Southwest Freeway.
The formal agreement gives
the National Park Service COM
plete design responsibility and
control over the design for the
,400-foot tunnel, and veto
powers over two other segments
Of the project.
Other Veto Powers
The other parties to the
agreement, the District High
way Department and the Fed
eral Bureau of Public Roads.
also have veto powers over all
parts of the project.
I'VE really don't expect any
trouble" Brig. Gen. Clarke
said. I'VE all understand each
others problems"
Substantial agreement ove-
the project, was reached about
six months ago. The project
has been under negotiation
since 1860. and reaching Of the
formal agreement was an
nounced last month. Details o:
the formal agreement wer-
made public yesterday by In
terror Secretary Udall.
Conrad L. Wirth, Nationa,
Park Service director. repre-
sented Mr.. Udall for the sign
ing. Mr.. Wirth, in sending the
completed agreement to the
District Commissioners, said:
This section of Washing
ton-the Lincoln Memorial, the
Rejecting Pool. the Washing
ton Monument, the Tidal Basin,
and the jefferson Memorial
is the real heart Of beautiful
Washington.
II know that you are as much
interested as we are in retain
ing this atmosphere to the
greatest extent possible"
Il The most delicate part Of the
lproiect is the tunnel, and this
! already is partially designed By
consultants for the Park Serv-
ice. Gen. Clarke said.
The plans for the Memorial,
which we're approved by the
National Capital Planning
Commission and the Fine Arts
Commission in late 1860, call
for removal of the present
driveway between the Memoria,
and the Rejecting Pool.
To Remove TempOs
The temporary buildings on
both sides of the Rejecting
Pool are to be removed, the
Park Service plans state, with
park roads and parking areas
taking their place.
The entire project was eSti-
mated to cost around $l8 mil
lion in 1860. Funds from the
Federal highway trust fund will
pay for the project. but buses
and trucks are to be prohibited
from the Memorial area.
The project is to be divided
into three segmentS.
The first segment, between
Constitution avenue to a mid
point between the Memorial and
and Tidal Basin. is to be under
almost complete design and
construction control by the
Park Service. The only control
will be Public Roads approval
OF consultants and final ap-
proval of plans.
Bureau Role
The second segment ends Just
west Of Fifteenth street, and
includes part Of the road net
work for the cherry tree area
around the Tidal Basin. The
Bureau Of Public Roads will act
as contracting agent for this
section. and will play a major
role III construction.
The District Highway De-
partment will have major re-
sponsibility over the third
segment. the interchange be-
tween Fifteenth and Fourteenth
streets.
The District has received
clearance from Congress to ap-
propriate $l3 million for the
project in this fiscal year. and
expects TO ask for the remain
der In fiscal 1865.
Both the Park Service and
the District have wanted to i'm
prove the Memorial along with
any improvement for traffic.