by Laurence Stern
Friday, April 6, 1962
Capital planners gave unanimous backing yesterday to construction of a major com¬muter freeway in the rapidly growing population corridor between Washington and Dulles International Airport.
In doing so the National Capital Planning Commission sided with Fairfax County leaders and Washington regional planners in a dispute over what role the airport road should play in the grand design of area highway needs.
What touched it all off is legislation pending in Con¬gress under which the Federal Aviation Agency, present developer of the airport road, could transfer the 4-lane high, way to another agency. It is widely feared that FAA plans to transfer the high¬speed road to the National Park Service and thus possibly close the door to construc¬tion of additional expressway lanes as well as access ramps for Fairfax County commut¬ers.
At present the road is de¬signed only for airport-bound motorists. Commuters can't get on or off.
In taking a stand for even¬tual construction of an all pur¬pose commuter freeway, plan¬ning commission members s stood by their "Year 2000 Plan" idea of a major development cor.ridor along the air¬port route.
A 1959 agreement between the FAA and National Capital Regional Planning Council called for construction of four additional expressway lanes straddling the airport road "to serve local traffic in the North¬ern Virginia area as well as airport traffic."
FAA Deputy Administrator Alan L. Dean assured the com¬mission that his agency would not transfer the road without first consulting the planning body.
He added however that he wants the road preserved as an attractive "gateway from Washington's first airport to the Nation's Capital."
Copyright 2009 The Washington Post Company