[From the Washington Post, Aug. 8, 1970]

BRIDGE PROJECT HALTED COURT ORDERS THREE SISTERS DESIGN HEARING

(By Jack Eisen, Washington Post Staff Writer)

Work on the Three Sisters Bridge must be halted within 20 days, U.S. District Judge John J. Sirica ruled yesterday.

The timetable was contained in an injunction carrying out his decision on Monday that the planning of the controversial Georgetown-to-Arlington span violated some Federal laws and regulations.

The District of Columbia Highway Department may resume work, the injunetion said, if and when those legal flaws are cured. There was no official estimate of how long this might take.

PUBLIC HEARING

A major requirement of Sirica's finding is that the city must hold a public hearing on the design of the bridge. Foes of the bridge say they plan to use the hearing to press their campaign to kill the controversial project.

At a court hearing yesterday morning on the terms of the injunction, Assistant Corporation Counsel Thomas C. Bell asked Sirica to let the contractor finish the two bridge piers that were begun last fall. As now planned, they would rise about 20 feet above the Potomac River surface.

Roberts B. Owens, attorney for the Federation of Civic Associations and 22 other plaintiffs, objected. He claimed that would violate the U.S. court of appeals mandate last April that work must be halted if Sirica found it to violate any legal provisions.

Sirica replied that he would provide a 20-day delay of the injunction to let the city carry an appeal on finishing the piers to the higher court. The judge said he hoped his decision of Monday also would be appealed.

Bell said city officials were waiting to learn the terms of Sirica's injunction before deciding whether to appeal the stoppage. He said a decision on an appeal is expected next week.

COST RISE SEEN

The contract for the bridge piers exceeds $1 million. Bell estimated that a 6month delay would add $384,000 to the bridge cost and a year delay would add $650,000.

Thomas F. Airis, District of Columbia highway director, told a reporter later that this would reimburse the contractor for his expenses at the bridge site and provide for scouring the underwater excavation of gravel and silt if the work is resumed. Normally under the interstate highway program, the Federal Government would pay 90 percent of the costs.

Airis also said some saving would be realized if the court would permit partial construction of the piers, keeping their tops out of sight beneath the river surface. In signing yesterday's order, Sirica exempted from the 20-day limit any work by the contractor to eliminate hazards created by underwater excavations.

Mr. NATCHER. In the Evening Star of August 4, 1970, there appeared an article entitled "District of Columbia Aides Indicate They'll Appeal Halt to Three Sisters Span." Notwithstanding the fact that the Corporation Counsel's office and the attorneys in the Department of Justice recommended an appeal, the District officials and the Department of Transportation refused to appeal the case. A copy of this article is inserted in the record at this point.

(The article referred to follows:)

[From the Evening Star, Aug. 4, 1970]

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA AIDES INDICATE THEY'LL APPEAL HALT TO THREE SISTERS SPAN

(By Stephen Green and Donald Hirzel, Star Staff Writers)

District officials today indicated they would appeal a U.S. district court ruling that ordered a halt to construction of the Three Sisters Bridge.

Judge John J. Sirica late yesterday ruled the city has failed to hold adequate public hearings on the design of the span which would cross the Potomac River between Key Bridge and Chain Bridge.

Sirica also ruled no Federal highway funds may be used for preliminary construction work until tests determine whether the design is structurally feasible. Hubert B. Pair, Acting Corporation Counsel, said he probably will meet with Mayor Walter E. Washington later today to determine what course of action to take.

MAY REQUIRE CHALLENGE

"The best interests of the District may require it to challenge the ruling," Pair said.

Other city officials, anticipating Sirica's ruling privately had said they would move fast to hold the required hearings and then proceed with construction. Freeway foes immediately hailed the court decision as a major victory in their long battle against more expressways in Washington.

The further delay on the bridge may be more ammunition to profreeway Congressmen seeking to hold up construction of the area subway system until the freeways are built. It also pushes further into the future the time when Virginia commuters will be able to drive directly into Washington on Interstate Route 66 via the Roosevelt and Three Sisters bridges.

DELETED IN 1968

City officials had deleted the bridge and other controversial freeway segments from master plans in late 1968. However, Representative William H. Natcher, Democrat of Kentucky, chairman of a House District Appropriations Subcommittee, refused to release subway building funds until the city built the roads that had been ordered by Congress.

Nearly a year ago, the city finally gave in, hoping to obtain the release of subway funds, and put the bridge and other roads back into official plans.

As work began on pier supports for the bridge, freeway foes, after several confrontations with police at the construction site, took to litigation. The U.S. court of appeals ordered the lower, district court, to determine whether the Federal planning procedures had been followed in the case of the bridge.

Sirica's ruling does not question the legality of the bridge itself, ordered by Congress in the 1968 highway act. But the judge said city and Federal officials may have acted too quickly in ordering construction to start in order to obtain the subway money.

MONEY AGAIN BLOCKED

Although subway funds subsequently were released, the subway appropriation for the current fiscal year has been blocked by Natcher on old grounds that freeway work has not proceeded to his satisfaction.

Sirica said a hearing on the bridge was held in 1964 but that it was only in following years that the plan was completed.

"The court finds that the present design on the bridge is so substantially dif ferent from that proposed in 1964 that the public should be given an opportunity to present their views on the project as presently planned," he said.

"Last but not least, the cost of the present project is estimated at $20 million as compared with an estimate of $6 million in 1964," Sirica said.

Mr. NATCHER. In November of 1970 hearings began on the design of the Three Sisters Bridge. An article entitled "November Hearing Set on Three Sisters Bridge" appeared in the Evening Star, and a copy of this article is inserted in the record at this point.

[From the Evening Star, Aug. 29, 1970]

NOVEMBER HEARING SET ON THREE SISTERS BRIDGE

(By Stephen Green, Star Staff Writer)

A public hearing on the design of the Three Sisters Bridge will be conducted by the District Highway Department.

The city and Federal Governments will not appeal the U.S. district court ruling that has suspended construction of the controversial Potomac River span because required design hearings never were held.

Secretary of Transportation John A. Volpe and Mayor Walter E. Washington announced the bridge decision last night in a joint statement nearly a month after the court decision was handed down.

They said the highway department hearing has been scheduled tentatively for November 17 with location and time to be announced later.

The Mayor and Volpe described their decision as the "most expeditious" course of action.

Officials said that by going ahead with hearings now, the city and DOT believe they will show Representative William N. Natcher, Democrat of Kentucky, that they are attempting to follow his wishes in building the bridge that is opposed by many individuals and civic groups.

Natcher, chairman of the House District Appropriation Subcommittee, for the second year in a row has refused to release subway construction funds until freeway construction in the city proceeds to his satisfaction.

The Mayor and Volpe and Justice Department lawyers who had argued that the U.S. district court decision should be appealed to the U.S. court of appeals. Before Natcher agreed to release subway construction funds last year, Presi dent Nixon promised him that any court challenges to the freeway system would be defended vigorously.

While bridge and freeway location hearings have been conducted in the past by the City Council, Federal regulations require hearings on the design of portions of the Interstate Highway System to be conducted by the State highway department.

However, city administration officials indicated they would consider having an independent hearing officer run the hearing, rather than a highway department official.

Mr. NATCHER. After Congress refused to appropriate the $34,178,000 to continue construction on the rapid rail transit system in 1970 the Department of Transportation decided to make a $57 million loan to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. An article appeared in the October 19, 1970, Washington Post entitled "Volpe Gambles on Metro Loan." A copy of this article is inserted in the record at this point. (The article referred to follows:)

[From the Washington Post, Oct. 19, 1970]

VOLPE GAMBLES ON METRO LOAN

(By Jack Eisen, Washington Post staff writer)

Secretary of Transportation John A. Volpe's offer of a $57 million loan may get Washington's Metro subway system off its financial hook.

Or it could impale both Volpe and the Metro on an even more painful hook. Depending upon who is asked, these are the divergent scenarios sketched by officials involved in the rescue mission engineering by Volpe's aides for the beleaguered Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.

The offer of the 6-month loan was announced by Volpe last Wednesday and accepted unanimously the following day by the Metro board of directors.

People on both sides acknowledge that the loan, generally interpreted as an end run around the congressional refusal to appropriate funds directly, represents a calculated risk while buying time to try to settle the nagging freewaysubway impasse.

The negotiations that led to the loan offer were almost as unusual as the offer itself.

Metro Board Chairman Joseph P. Yeldell, a Democratic member of the WashIngton City Council, dealt directly with Volpe and his staff, keeping the talks secret even from Jackson Graham, the Metro general manager.

Yeldell has explained to his fellow board members and others that Graham's long service as an Army Corps of Engineers general and his continuing ties with key lawmakers imbursed him too closely with the congressional view of political wisdom.

Graham, in fact, was prepared to recommend to the board on Thursday that it approach the Volpe offer with caution, but his opinion was not even sought.

The political risks in the loan scheme were not even discussed by the board until a reporter asked a question and Metro director Carlton R. Sickles, a former Maryland Congressman, acknowledged that they existed.

The main risk is that Congress, ever jealous of its prerogatives, will respond to Volpe's end run by stiffening its refusal to grant the funds that are now being withheld from the Metro. It could also bedevil some programs in Volpe's Department of Transportation.

Should this occur, the transit authority might find itself in the predicament of owing $57 million plus $1.7 million interest to the Department of Transporta

tion next spring, but having no money to repay it. Details of the loan, and the prospects for its renewal, have not yet been disclosed, however.

HOPE FOR CONGRESS AID

Yeldell and others voiced hope that the impasse can be resolved this fall and that Representative William H. Natcher, Democrat, of Kentucky, and his colleagues on the House Appropriations Subcommittee on the District, will provide the fiscal transfusion to keep the Metro program healthy.

Meantime, Metro officials said the loan should maintain the Metro schedule for the award of contracts until the end of the year instead of chopping them off at the end of this month. Deputy Mayor Graham W. Watt told his fellow Metro directors that this extension should help assure continued suburban contributions to the system and boost prospects for the sale of $135 million in Metro bonds on the open market next year.

Metro's administrative officials have their doubts, but they are not talking about it in public.

Until now, the Metro's problem has centered upon Natcher's insistence that the city expand its controversial freeway program as the price for continuing to get subway money.

CITES NIXON DIRECTION

If the loan broadens the issue into one over the congressional right to say "no" to an appropriation and make its decision stick, some insiders say Natcher stands only to gain allies among his House colleagues.

Volpe, in announcing the loan plan, stressed that he has sought to resolve the Washington impasse "at the personal direction of President Nixon" and not entirely on his own.

The loan idea was cleared, moreover, with Caspar W. Weinberger, Deputy Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget.

Volpe's aides have said they also checked the loan scheme with key Members of Congress.

Natcher, however, was reported to be angry over the arrangement. The chairman of the full House Appropriation Agriculture Subcommittee, but his influ ence within the Committee will almost surely still be felt on local matters.

And his likely successor, Representative Robert N. Giaimo (Democrat, Connecticut), has given no sign that he would steer a course that is much different. Changes on the House Public Works Committee, Appropriations Committee, Rep. George H. Mahon (Democrat, Texas), professed to know nothing about it. Mahon added that he depends upon Natcher for advice on the subject.

Natcher is likely to move from the District of Columbia appropriations chairmanship next year to head the more prestigious which authorizes freeways-and in the case of Washington has insisted upon their construction-could prove more significant, some Metro officials believe.

Two of its leading members with whom Natcher has worked closely will not be around next year: Chairman George H. Fallon (Democrat, Maryland), who was defeated for renomination, and Representative William C. Cramer (Republican, Florida), the ranking minority member, who is retiring from the House to run for the Senate.

These changes, sources said, played an important part in the Nixon administration's decision to grant the loan.

Mr. NATCHER. On February 17, 1971, the Department of Transportation pledged funds for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, with an article appearing in the Evening Star entitled "Volpe Pledges Metro Funds." A copy of this article is inserted in the record at this point.

(The article referred to follows:)

[From the Evening Star, Feb. 17, 1971]

VOLPE PLEDGES METRO FUNDS-BROAD PLAN FOR AREA

(By Jack Kneece, Star Staff Writer)

Transportation Secretary John Volpe has proposed a sweeping program of Federal funding and planning assistance to help create an integrated transpor. tation system for the metropolitan area-ranging from expanded pedestrian malls to a new air cushion vehicle.

Volpe, in a speech last night to area government leaders, also said he will give the subway agency a needed financial hypodermic by immediately releasing $68 million in Federal matching funds.

Other Volpe proposals include:

Federal study of "alternatives" to the elevated Whitehurst Freeway, possibly by tunneling under Georgetown, to preserve the community's scenic panorama. Use of the Dulles limited access route for commuter buses but not automobiles-serving Reston and other nearby communities. The new air-cushion passenger vehicle would occupy the median strip. At present, only Dulles traffic is allowed on the road.

The first Federal proposal for a regional airport authority to ultimately include Friendship Airport as well as Dulles and National.

Free minibus service downtown-subsidized by the Department of Transportation-on condition that the F Street pedestrian mall be expanded.

An all-out Federal effort to help local jurisdictions devise means of meeting their long-term financial burdens in subway construction.

Award of a $137,000 grant to the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments to study immediate transportation needs in the area.

Use of abandoned rail lines for mass transit.

Volpe said responsibility ultimately rests with the jurisdictions for meeting their subway obligations. But he said DOT stands ready to provide more shortterm assistance in the form of loans similar to the $57 million advanced to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority last year.

He said he spent much of yesterday telephoning key Congressmen, Senators and the Governors of Maryland and Virginia to explain his hopes for area mass transit.

Senator Thomas F. Eagleton, Democrat, of Missouri, chairman of the Senate District Committee, said he was "pleased" by Volpe's decision to make available the $68 million in subway funds.

"This provides temporary relief to the Metro," Eagleton said. "I hope that the administration will continue its worthwhile efforts to devise an effective solution to the long range financing needs of Metro."

The Treasury Department is holding the $68 million now to be released to match on a 2-to-1 ratio the $34 million in District subway funds that have not been released by the House District Appropriations Subcommittee.

The pace of city freeway construction has been criticized as too slow by the subcommittee chairman, Representative William H. Natcher, Democrat, of Kentucky. He has refused to release the funds for this reason, but the administration expects that he will relent.

WILL PUSH SUBWAY

Volpe said he and President Nixon want the subway system to become a reality. He said DOT is studying every alternative and possible solution to WMATA's current financial dilemma.

He noted that the subway agency has experienced difficulty in marketing $900 million in revenue bonds. He said DOT planners are looking into what can be done on the Federal level, including a possible guarantee of the bonds.

"This subway must be built," Volpe said. He said the alternative to the subway is "strangulation" of the inner city or severe restrictions on the use of automobiles.

He said the air cushion vehicle will be constructed with funds under existing Federal programs as a demonstration project. The space age mass transit vehicle would run on a 131⁄2-mile track on the Dulles access right-of-way to Dolley Madison Boulevard near McLean, Va.

He said linear induction motors drawing power from buried power sourceswill be pollution free, fast, and solid. He said the administration's goal is to have the 150-mile-per-hour vehicles in operation by May 1972 to coincide with the International Transportation Exposition.

Volpe said two or three firms are interested and capable of constructing the demonstration vehicles, which ride inches above a rail on a cushion of air supplied by rotor blades inside funneling devices.

He said this demonstration project might be extended into the District if it proves to be a sound means of mass transit.

Sen. William B. Spong, Jr., D-Va., long an advocate of extending rapid rail transit to Dulles, said he was pleased Volpe had selected the airport for a demonstration of the air cushion vehicles.