D.C. Freeway Revolt and the Coming of Metro Part 1 Revolt of the Agencies Table of Contents Central Area Bridge ........................................................................................................................ 3 The E Street Bridge Controversy ................................................................................................ 6 The Roaches Run Bridge .......................................................................................................... 12 Representative Broyhill Intervenes ........................................................................................... 15 Congress Confronts The Issue .................................................................................................. 18 The Bridge Dispute Nosedives ................................................................................................. 26 Southwest on The Drawing Board ............................................................................................ 32 Ole Singstad’s Views ................................................................................................................ 47 The 10th Street Mall .................................................................................................................. 49 Bridge Versus Tunnel ............................................................................................................... 53 Grudging Support For The Bridge ............................................................................................ 60 The Endless Debate ................................................................................................................... 62 Other Developments ................................................................................................................. 66 The Tunnel Option – Again ...................................................................................................... 67 Moving a Bill ............................................................................................................................ 71 Unraveling a Fiasco .................................................................................................................. 74 To Break the Impasse ................................................................................................................ 77 The House Tries Again ............................................................................................................. 85 Trying to Get Construction Underway ...................................................................................... 94 Another Look at a Tunnel ....................................................................................................... 101 Back to the Hill ....................................................................................................................... 105 The Last Gasp(s) ..................................................................................................................... 108 Getting U.S. 270 into the District of Columbia .......................................................................... 112 The Old Road .......................................................................................................................... 112 The Road in the 20th Century .................................................................................................. 115 A Modern Upgrade ................................................................................................................. 118 Second Thoughts ..................................................................................................................... 123 The Chevy Chase Revolt ......................................................................................................... 128 Curbing Capper-Cramton ........................................................................................................ 133 Hardening Positions ................................................................................................................ 138 Looking For Accord ................................................................................................................ 142 Working For Compromise ...................................................................................................... 146 The Olmsted Brothers ............................................................................................................. 153 Compromise – Pure and Simple ............................................................................................. 159 An Election Issue .................................................................................................................... 162 Undeciding .............................................................................................................................. 164 The Murray Resolution ........................................................................................................... 169 Back to Court .......................................................................................................................... 173 The Interstate Map .................................................................................................................. 176 Interstate Program Gets Underway ......................................................................................... 178 Glover-Archbold Park ............................................................................................................. 182 Whitehurst Freeway ................................................................................................................ 186 The Glover-Archbold Parkway ............................................................................................... 194 Congress Takes Up the Parkway ............................................................................................. 200 Getting U.S. 240 into the District ........................................................................................... 210 Alternatives for the DC Entrance ............................................................................................ 212 Back to the Public ................................................................................................................... 220 The District’s Decision ........................................................................................................... 224 Public Hearing in Maryland .................................................................................................... 226 Decision Time ......................................................................................................................... 229 Still Thinking of Wisconsin Avenue....................................................................................... 241 Premature and Divisive Factionalism ..................................................................................... 244 The Joint Committee Hearings ............................................................................................... 248 Aiming Towards The City ...................................................................................................... 251 The Inner Loop ........................................................................................................................ 253 Evolving Inner Loop ............................................................................................................... 258 A Couple Legs ........................................................................................................................ 262 Getting Underway ................................................................................................................... 265 Searching for Connections ...................................................................................................... 271 Preserving the Lincoln Memorial ........................................................................................... 279 Part 1 Revolt of the Agencies Although a citizen revolt against freeways would occur in the 1960s and 1970s, the 1950s saw several revolts among government officials and the affluent during the formative years of the freeway network. Officials understood the importance and especially the permanence of the freeways and bridges they were debating, leading to long battles that are largely forgotten today. In the 1950s, one of those battles was over the need for another central area bridge across the Potomac River linking the District and Virginia. At the time, traffic crossed the Potomac River on Chain Bridge, Francis Scott Key Bridge, Arlington Memorial Bridge, and the 14th Street Bridge. The origin of the 14th Street Bridge was discussed earlier, but a brief history of the other crossings may be useful because they would be part of the debates of coming years. Central Area Bridge Chain Bridge carried traffic across the Potomac River at Little Falls, a cataract in Washington. As early as 1738, cross-river traffic, initially by ferry, was important for commercial development in the area. The Georgetown Bridge Company opened a toll bridge in 1797; it lasted only 7 years before the rotted wooden superstructure fell from its stone abutments. A second wooden bridge was destroyed by fire after only a few months in operation. The company built a third bridge that opened in 1810. It was a suspension span supported by chains, giving it the name that structures