SUMMARY OF PUBLIC COMMENTS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP89-00244R000701330008-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 12
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 20, 2009
• Sequence Number: 8
• Publication Date: August 6, 1984
• Content Type: REPORT

Approved For Release 2009/03/20: CIA-RDP89-00244R000701330008-5
STAT
Approved For Release 2009/03/20: CIA-RDP89-00244R000701330008-5
 Approved For Release 2009/03/20: CIA-RDP89-00244R000701330008-5
GWMP
GEORGE WASHINGTON SUMMARY
"MEMORIAL PARKWAY
U700HAL PARK SERWOCC ' OF PUBLIC COMMENTS
OVERVIEW ...
In the spring of 1984, the National Park Service began an environmental
impact study of methods to improve traffic and safety problems on Spout
Run Parkway and George Washington Memorial Parkway between Spout
Run and the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge. The public involvement
process was initiated in early April when an informational brochure was
mailed to elected officials, government agencies, transportation
organizations, neighborhood associations, and conservation groups. The
brochure's purpose was to briefly outline the problems and issues being
addressed by the study and range of options available to resolve the
problems. It announced the upcoming public informational meetings and
provided a mail-back public comment sheet. The local newspapers and
Federal Register also carried announcements of the meetings.
The Meetings ...
Between April 25 and May 2, informational meetings were held in
Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. A total of 65 persons
attended the five meetings. Most of those who attended represented
either themselves, a neighborhood association, or a conservation group.
Following the introductory presentations by the NPS, the public broke
into small groups to discuss and record their concerns. As a result of
the meetings, six sets of group comments were recorded and are
summarized in this mailer.
.Written Responses .. .
The public was invited to send in comments using the mail-back comment
sheet provided in the brochure. The comment period was from April 7
to July 7, 1984. During that period the NPS received 69 written
responses--43 responses from individuals, 13 from government offices, 11
from neighborhood associations, and 2 from vanpool groups.
Approximately 80 percent of these responses contained specific and often
very substantive comments. These comments reflect many of the same
concerns and ideas recorded at the meetings, but generally go into
greater detail about specific options to resolve the problems. A summary
of written comments are enclosed. In addition, excerpts of public
comments are included. at the back of this mailer to give examples of
various specific ideas, some of which are not necessarily covered in the
summary section.
STAT
Approved For Release 2009/03/20: CIA-RDP89-00244R000701330008-5
 Approved For Release 2009/03/20: CIA-RDP89-00244R000701330008-5
Next Opportunity to Comment ...
The next opportunity for public involvement will be following the release
of the Draft EIS in May, 1985. At that time, public meetings will be
held.
Copies of the group comments and individual written comments are
available for public review at the following locations:
National Capital Region Headquarters GWMP
1100 Ohio Drive, S.W., Room 359 Turkey Run Headquarters
Washington, D. C. 20242 McLean, Virginia 22101
telephone: [phone] telephone: [phone]
SUMMARY OF GROUP COMMENTS ...
HOV/Ridesharing
The majority of participants felt that mandatory High Occupancy Vehicle
(HOV) restrictions were unacceptable. Reasons given included:
people in the Washington area work varied hours, making it very
difficult to form car or van pools,
-- good mass transit is not available in parts of Fairfax and
Montgomery counties,
-- HOV restrictions are confusing to tourists and limit their access
to Washington, D.C.
-- concerned that non-HOV traffic would shift and lead to
congestion on alternate routes.
Voluntary ridesharing, on the other hand, was considered a very
acceptable alternative by the majority. Several suggestions were made
on how to accomplish this, including:
-- advertise van pool information along the parkway (783-Pool),
-- provide park and ride facilities near access points along the
parkway
-- bring the subway out to Tyson's Corner and Dulles Airport
-- increase the number of buses, bus stops and frequency of bus
service in the suburbs.
Approved For Release 2009/03/20: CIA-RDP89-00244R000701330008-5
 Approved For Release 2009/03/20: CIA-RDP89-00244R000701330008-5
Other suggestions included:
-- establish one lane for HOV during rush hours,
-- establish HOV 2 on the George Washington Memorial Parkway,
-- provide "queue jumpers" along the parkway for HOV's.
Spout Run Parkway
The majority felt it very important that Spout Run Parkway remain open.
The Arlington community was particularly vocal about this issue. There
was concern about where traffic would go if the parkway were closed.
Several Arlington residents also felt strongly against installing traffic
lights at Lorcom Lane or GWMP.
Other suggestions included 1) installing ramp metering on Spout Run,
and 2) eliminating the traffic policeman and allowing the inbound left
lane of GWMP to keep moving while the right lane is an alternate merge
with Spout Run traffic.
Other Traffic Management Options
A variety of other traffic management ideas were suggested and are
summarized below:
-- decrease HOV-3 to HOV-2 on 1-66
-- remove HOV restrictions from 1-66 and 395
-- institute a toll system for the GWMP
-- study reversible lanes - all lanes one-way in direction of rush
hour traffic
-- spread out peak rush hour by staggering work hours
-- improve Canal Road and MacArthur Blvd. to encourage traffic to
stay on the Maryland side of the river.
Construction Options
Certain concerns were consistently raised during the meetings regarding
construction alternatives. They focus on the effectiveness of
construction alternatives within the context of regional problems.
Specifically, several individuals were concerned that widening the
parkway may only temporarily ease traffic congestion and actually create
more traffic demand. Some felt that the limitations of the bridges and
D. C. arterials would continue to create traffic bottlenecks which would
negate any benefits from road widening. One participant voiced his
opinion that traffic problems would always exist because the metropolitan
area continues to grow and generate more traffic.
Approved For Release 2009/03/20: CIA-RDP89-00244R000701330008-5
 Approved For Release 2009/03/20: CIA-RDP89-00244R000701330008-5
One participant was concerned about the impacts of Rosslyn Circle
improvements on traffic patterns and access to the Key Bridge Marriott.
Construction options recommended by participants focused primarily on
improving specific problem areas. It was recommended that the double
weave problem between the Key Bridge on-ramp (outbound) and Spout
Run exit be solved. As part of the solution, one person recommended
widening the Key Bridge on-ramp (outbound). Another suggestion was
to improve the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge on-ramp to provide enough
room for traffic to merge. For inbound morning traffic, one participant
suggested lengthening the off-ramp to the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge.
Additional construction alternatives suggested by individuals included
adding a lane inbound between Spout Run Parkway and Theodore
Roosevelt Bridge and widening Theodore Roosevelt Bridge.
Safety
On the issue of safety, the majority of participants endorsed the concept
of enhancing the safety of the roadway. The following specific options
were suggested at the meetings:
provide reflective striping on both parkways
groove the roadway for better traction
lower the speed limit
improve speed zone enforcement
improve the roadbed surface
improve lighting along the parkway
provide road shoulders
During the meetings, participants were asked to address any
environmental concerns they might have regarding potential changes to
the parkway. The major environmental issues consistently expressed
were:
-- preserve the natural resources of the parkway, such as the
trees, streams, and wildlife habitat,
-- maintain the parkway's integrity and beauty as a gateway to the
nation's capital with its vistas of the river and monuments,
-- ensure protection of waterfront values and safe access to
Theodore Roosevelt Island and waterfront trails.
Approved For Release 2009/03/20: CIA-RDP89-00244R000701330008-5
 Approved For Release 2009/03/20: CIA-RDP89-00244R000701330008-5
0 0
In addition, several individuals were concerned about the affect of any
proposed alternatives on air and noise pollution levels. Several points
were made regarding existing congestion and how idling cars contribute
to air pollution and how congestion adds to daily driver stress.
SUMMARY OF WRITTEN COMMENTS ...
One observation, expressed repeatedly by several individuals, was that
traffic volumes on the GWMP had declined since 1-66 had opened and that
congestion was not a major problem, especially compared to the traffic
congestion on other major roads. Lower inbound volumes were
particularly noted. These respondents, therefore, were cautious about
supporting any major construction changes. Those who did support
construction alternatives generally supported the minimum changes
necessary to resolve problems in specific locations in the study area.
HOV/Ridesharing
In general, HOV restrictions were strongly opposed for the following
reasons:
the irregular work schedules of many commuters prevent them
from carpooling, .
the potential impact on other roads (both neighborhood and major
arteries) as a result of traffic shifts,
the disruption to individuals and companies who have located in
areas of Fairfax and Montgomery counties based on the
availability of the parkway for their main access into the
District,
the inadequate mass transit systems in the outlying suburbs,
the lack of alternative routes for non-carpoolers because of the
HOV restrictions on 1-66.
Spout Run Parkway
Several respondents opposed the closure of Spout Run Parkway because
they felt it gave undue preference to Fairfax and Montgomery county
commuters at the expense of Arlington residents. Some felt that by
eliminating Spout Run traffic even more. commuters from the outlying
suburbs would be encouraged to use the GWMP and eventually congestion
would return. One group voiced their concern that diverted Spout Run
traffic would cause additional congestion and safety problems on Lee
Highway.
Approved For Release 2009/03/20: CIA-RDP89-00244R000701330008-5
 Approved For Release 2009/03/20: CIA-RDP89-00244R000701330008-5
I / \
Other Traffic Management Ideas and Comments
The following is a range of other traffic management ideas expressed by
various respondents.
-- Encourage government and non-government offices to stagger
work hours further in order to spread out the commuting period.
Improve mass transit alternatives.
Impose a commuter use fee during rush hour periods. This may
involve setting up collection points or requiring the purchase of
commuter stickers.
Establish "queue jumpers" for vehicles with 2 or more occupants,
especially at constrictive points such as Spout Run and Lorcom
Lane.
-- Set-up staging areas where commuters can meet and carpool.
-- During rush hours allow 3 lanes for the major traffic flow and
only one lane in the other direction.
-- Close the GWMP inbound at Rt. 123 in the morning.
-- Close the Key Bridge ramp during the evening rush hour.
Construction Options
The responses received concerning construction options were very
mixed. Many people supported some level of construction, but this
ranged anywhere from just resurfacing the road to building a full
additional third lane on both the inbound and outbound sections between
Spout Run and Roosevelt Bridge. The majority supported adding
third-lane sections only in those areas where specific problems were
perceived such as:
a third (stacking) lane for morning traffic trying to exit at
Roosevelt Bridge,
a third lane from the Spout Run merge inbound to a new Rosslyn
exit ramp (before Key Bridge),
-- a third lane between the Spout Run merge and Roosevelt Bridge,
-- an extended merge lane for outbound traffic coming off the
Roosevelt Bridge,
Approved For Release 2009/03/20: CIA-RDP89-00244R000701330008-5
 Approved For Release 2009/03/20: CIA-RDP89-00244R000701330008-5
-- an improvement in the outbound double-weave problem between
the Key Bridge ramp and Spout Run exit.
Several respondents opposed construction options primarily because of
environmental concerns, which are noted in the next section. Other
concerns expressed by several individuals are the following:
Increased capacity and enhanced traffic flow by adding lanes will
encourage more drivers to use the parkway. Sooner or later the
congestion which lane widening was meant to solve would recur.
-- The bridges into the District are already congested. Enhancing
traffic flow on the parkway would only lead to larger traffic jams
at exit ramps to the bridges.
The majority of respondents expressed sincere concern for the
environmental and scenic qualities of the GWMP. In general they all
wanted to maintain the aesthetic qualities -of--the parkway regardless of
the alternative chosen. The following concerns were expressed:
-- the parkway is one of the most beautiful entrances to a capital
city in the world,
-- the beauty of the parkway is important to the quality of life in
the Washington area,
-- the beauty of the parkway is more valuable than its use as a
commuter road,
-- widening the parkway would conflict with air quality control
efforts in this region,
-- the beauty of the Potomac Palisades would be damaged by
widening the parkway,
-- widening the parkway in one section would open the door
someday to widening the rest of the parkway.
Those who commented on recreation options generally expressed a desire
to see better pedestrian and bicycle access to the riverfront from
Arlington.
Approved For Release 2009/03/20: CIA-RDP89-00244R000701330008-5
 Approved For Release 2009/03/20: CIA-RDP89-00244R000701330008-5
EXCERPTS OF COMMENTS ...
General ..
"I think it is important to come up with a 'staged' solution to the traffic
problems, so. that you can measure the impact of less intensive, less
,permanent solutions before moving on to more intrusive, more expensive,
_more.. permanent solutions. Thus, improvements in traffic management
should be explored and tested out before permanent additional lanes are
provided. Clearly, road resurfacing is required and some realignment
should, be considered for safety reasons if nothing else. But I believe
that this highway situation is, as is the Metropolitan traffic situation in
general, in some flux, especially with Metro developments and continuing
growth of outlying suburbs."
"There already is insufficient capacity at I-495 to accomodate the present
load., of cars exiting from the Parkway to 1-495. Improvements which
increase capacity of the Parkway must take other roads into
consideration, i.e., all connecting roads must be included in a "system"
approach to resolution of Parkway traffic problems."
Spout Run/HOV.. .
"There is no reason why Arlingtonians should be inconvenienced in
commuting to work only to enable residents of Fairfax and Montgomery
counties to arrive at the Potomac River bridges a little faster.
Moreover, we sincerely believe that barring Arlington residents from the
GWMP will only attract more cars from elsewhere until the congestion is
.the same as before."
"Non-Arlington residents who reside near the Potomac River and who
work in Rosslyn or Washington have few alternatives to the GWMP.
Arlington commuters by contrast, have several alternatives to choose
from, including U.S. 66, the enlarged Lee Highway, Highway 50, and a
number of wide, one-way city streets that lead directly through Rosslyn
to the bridges. By closing Spout Run during peak periods to Arlington
commuters, the GWMP congestion problem would be eliminated
overnight--without affecting the environment and without spending a
dime of the public's money."
"We also oppose the use of traffic lights on Spout Run, either at Lorcom
Lane or. at GWMP. The traffic management techniques currently in use
during morning rush hours are very effective in minimizing accidents
and delays on both Parkways. Traffic signals will ruin the park
atmosphere and may actually be more hazardous in off-peak hours.
"I think there should be better, more sophisticated traffic monitoring
and management on the morning merge at Spout Run. Options that
might be explored include (A) installation of a computerized light or
monitoring system to more fairly balance the waiting times at Spout Run
and at GWMP and perhaps to inform traffic coming in at Route 123 of the
Approved For Release 2009/03/20: CIA-RDP89-00244R000701330008-5
 Approved For Release 2009/03/20: CIA-RDP89-00244R000701330008-5
relative delays, and (B) changing traffic flow so that the left hand lane
of GWMP is a through lane on a continuous basis and the right hand lane
would be alternately merged with that from Spout Run."
"Promote carpooling and vanpooling during rush hour peak demand
periods by posting signs directing commuters to call the Metropolitan
Washington Council of Governments Commuter Club for ridematching
information. The signs simply state "For Car Van Pool Information Call
783-POOL." This one action is fairly inexpensive and can have an effect
in reducing the number of vehicles using the Parkway.
"Measures taken to preserve the quality of the parkway must avoid
unduly burdening those communities that have developed on the premise
of G.W. Parkway availability as the primary transportation artery to and
from Washington."
Construction ...
"I support an alternative that would provide for an additional lane of
traffic to accomodate rush hour traffic. I feel that the current situation
jeopardizes the safety of rush hour travellers and that steps should be
taken to alleviate this problem."
"Let me begin by noting that the situation today is much different--and
much improved--from a year ago. This results from traffic's shifting to
the newly opened Route 66. As it happens, this new easing of GW
Parkway traffic is so considerable that it has left just one serious
bottleneck: the short segment of the southeast-bound roadway which
extends from the Spout Run Parkway merge point to the Roosevelt
Bridge ramp."
"The morning rush-hour constraint appears to be the TR Bridge (and,
after 9 AM, there can be comparable congestion on the exit to Key
Bridge); this can only be alleviated if the exit ramp to TR Bridge were
lengthened or, for example, if the exit were limited to HOV or if cars
had to continue on to Memorial Bridge if any backlog accumulated on TR
Bridge so as to back up traffic onto GWMP. Not only is the right lane
of GWMP often backed up through the Key Bridge exit, but also the left
lane often is significantly impeded because of the narrowness of the road
and drivers 'cutting to the head of the line'."
"The only practical, realistic, politically acceptable and fundable
alternative is to widen the G.W. Parkway one extra lane only from Spout
Run to the Rosslyn off-ramp, a distance of about one-half mile. To
widen any more would destroy nature, press to tight under the Key
Bridge, and jam up more traffic on the Key and Roosevelt bridges.
There is no justification to spend millions to make things worse. Go out
and look at the bridges. You will see that they can't accept all present
rush hour traffic. Why do harm to bring more traffic to them? Don't
do it."
Approved For Release 2009/03/20: CIA-RDP89-00244R000701330008-5
 Approved For Release 2009/03/20: CIA-RDP89-00244R000701330008-5
"Even if traffic flow on the parkways is enhanced and congestion
reduced, the' areas where that faster moving traffic exits the parkways
must be capable of handling the faster moving (and I submit, additional)
traffic. Otherwise, the congestion will simply reappear at the egress
areas."
"Fatalities on the GW and Spout Run Parkways occur at night. Wider,
straighter lanes built to accomodate commuters in the daytime will induce
speeding at night, which will inevitably lead to more fatalities, not
fewer."
The Environment ...
"The land in question was acquired for the purpose of establishing
parkland with a parkway through it. That roadway was designed and
intended to be a parkway, not a commuter freeway. Land development
in outlying regions has generated a continuously expanding demand for
more highways. New highway construction and highway widening over
the past ten to fifteen years has failed to provide anything more than
very temporary relief of the problem."
"It is most important that the aesthetic and scenic qualities of the GWMP
be maintained as the overall design goal of any alterations. The value
of the parkway experience in the long term far outweighs the short term
convenience of one person per car commuters."
"In regards to Theodore Roosevelt Island, I believe that the present
level of use has already exceeded the capacity of the land. Serious
damage is obvious with numerous paths everywhere leading to erosion
and destruction of the plant life of the Island. The litter problem
(despite the best efforts of the Rangers and Scouts) is clearly out of
control. The litter is not only waterborne from Potomac flooding, but
also from visitors. I therefore strongly urge that the parking lot not be
expanded and that access not be made easier than it now is by such
schemes as a pedestrian walkway over the GW Parkway."
"By law, we have been subjected to vehicle emissions standards and
other techniques to reduce air pollution. Widening the Parkway will
negate these air quality control efforts, and that is why it is illegal.
Too many people drive now that don't have to. You must not encourage
more shifting from mass transit to the Parkway."
Approved For Release 2009/03/20: CIA-RDP89-00244R000701330008-5
 STAT
Approved For Release 2009/03/20: CIA-RDP89-00244R000701330008-5
fl
UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
TURKEY RUN PARK
GEORGE WASHINGTON MEMORIAL PARKWAY
MCLEAN, VIRGINIA 22101
OFFICAL BUSINESS
PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE. $300
NEW BUILDING PROJECT OFFICE
ROOM 4E50, HEAD Q1UARTER
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
WASHINGTON, DC .20505
POSTAGE AND FEES PAID
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
INT 417
Approved For Release 2009/03/20: CIA-RDP89-00244R000701330008-5