:State Pledges ····· Plan Of Action ' On 1-40 Route : Byl WILLIAM BENNETT and MORRIS CUNNINGHAM From The Commercial Appeal -Nashville and Washington Bureau NASHVILLE, Jan. 29. - A st~te ' Transportation Department meetu~g ~ $oth r~~~~lthey --,~ould support le~Ja;. called Monday in an effort to begm . t1op. in \ Congress to remove the· p!roject deciding ·what to do with the Ove_rton fr~m feder~l ~!nap.cing and federal, con­ Park expressway impasse ended With a . ttqls if that ·is: the course .- of · action , promise that an official course of ac~ recommended Jjy state and Ideal offi­ tion would be formed within 10 days. cials. The meeting, attended by Memphis , Senator Howard Baker (R-Tenn.), attorney J. Alan Hanover, state Tral_ls­ i who opposed somewhat similar Jegisla­ , portation Commissioner Robert ~mith . tion last year when it was offered in J and others apparently ended With no : :behalf of a disputed · San Antorito, · firm decision made. . 1 :Texas, expressway, was noncommittal. ·· Following the meeting, however, ~r. ' 'While the decision as to a new Hanover, special state Transport~tion course of action should be made at the nepartment counsel on the proJect, state and local level," Baker said, "I : was authorized by Smith and state . will .be glad to take a look at any : Atty. Gen. David ~ack to explore the · proposal while at the same time giving : state's legal alternatives. the opposition an opportunity to ex- · One . course of action believed di~ ­ press their viewpoint.'' · cussed would ., be a try similar to one Kuykendall said he easily could go und.erway in Texas to have Congress along with state and local control and exempt the Overton Park segme~t of fina,ncing of the project "because I Interstate ·40 .from the federal environ­ happen to believe in that philosophy." m~ntal laws and guidelines which led Jonesv. said, "If the state and local . o \1 t going Transportation Secretary gov~rnments recommend it, I will sup­ ; Jdhn Volpe to reject the proposed par­ port it iq. Congress." , tially depressed routing of Interstate 40 ' through Overton Park. · Texans turned to the state-and-local , financing approach in the last Congress ( Should that course of action'be decid· after environmentalists succeeded in ed upon, at lea'st. two mem.bers ·of the .. . blocking construction of the San Anto­ ,.. state's congressional delegatmn- Rep­ , nio ::: expressway. as an interstate proj­ resentatives Dan Kuykendall (R-Tenn.) · ect. · • and Ed Jones .· (D-Tenn.) said theJ The proposed act, which carried a stand ready to "begin working on the" :great variety of provisions, .was passed Wasliingtli:m end. by both houses, and sent to conference. "We discussed all the alternatives, The biggest dispute was over using but no firm decision was reached·on fedE;!ral highway trust. funds for mass anything," said Charles ~ppleton, in­ trarisit. Conferees ·Came up with a com- formation officer for the· State Trans­ . prop:tise measure and the Senate adopt­ portation Department in Nas~v~lle .. ' ed 1t. But the compromise came before "But we will have a decision m ·a : the :~ House in the waning moments of week or 10 days;. At that time we will ' the ';1972 session and failed for lack of a make a full disclosure of our plans. In ; quor um. the meantime, we will be working dili• . The provision has been reintroduced , gently on those plans." and~Texans said Monday they will push Hanover declined to comment on spe­ it a~ain this year. cifics of the conference, but indicated Baker, a member of the Senate Pub­ he is fairly optimistic and said other lic :· Works <;ommittee, said he · an­ meetings will be required before a final nounced his opposition to the San Anto­ decision is made. nio proposal but was in Tennessee caro- Others attending the hour4ong ses­ l ;paigrJing when it came up in the com­ sion were State Highway Engineer ' mittee, and when it came up in the Lewis Evans and the depatinent's de­ Sen~te, and, therefore, did not vote · a_gafnst it. velopment engineer, R. C. Odie. I :..,..- . It was not dear whether the officials 'i: ' will seek a ·way out of the piol)lem through:, agministrative remedies or .in the courts. .. ( The idea of 'converting the' project i? M~mphis into a state and locally fl­ q r·~ .... . i n$<;ed undertaki.ng drew support from ...... ,_., . , ~ I ...... iboph Representatives Jones ~nd Kuyk- en~all. '