THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, December 11, 1995 TAG: 9512110066
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: ALEXANDRIA LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
Just about anyone who regularly drives up Interstate 95 toward Baltimore or New York can tell a horror story about the Wilson Bridge - the traffic-choked and battered drawbridge linking Virginia and Maryland.
And commuters who use the bridge daily to travel on Washington's Capital Beltway can attest there is no traffic tie-up worse than the miles-long standstill that can quickly form when the bridge is raised.
Although news this year that the aging bridge would be replaced has cheered motorists, months of studies and meetings has yet to produce a final plan.
The slow progress showed some signs of movement last week.
Congress, as part of the law lifting the 55 mph speed limit, pledged to pick up part of the estimated $1.3 billion cost of building a new Potomac River crossing. Congress also created a regional authority to build and operate the new bridge.
Also last week, the regional Woodrow Wilson Bridge Improvement Study Coordination Committee narrowed its choices for a design to replace the crumbling, 34-year-old structure. The group's proposal is due to Congress by Oct. 1 next year.
The committee will concentrate on a 10- or 12-lane bridge or tunnel, or a combination of both. The new bridge will replace the current six-lane span, which engineers predict will fail within a decade.
While the committee has made few final decisions, it appears to favor dual, 70-foot drawbridges. Although the current drawbridge is a headache, the new spans would be higher and would not have to open as often to allow large ships to pass.
The committee also frowns on the estimated cost - $2 billion by one estimate - of tunneling under the river.
A coalition of more than 1,000 Alexandria homeowners is pushing for an eight-lane tunnel, because it would be less intrusive.
``All of us who live near the current bridge agree we must be good regional citizens and that a reasonable amount of traffic must pass through the corridor,'' said Jonas Neihardt, president of the Old Town Civic Association. ``But we don't think we need see, hear or smell it.''
The Wilson Bridge now carries 172,000 vehicles a day, far beyond its design capacity of 75,000.
It is the only span on the interstate highway system owned by the federal government, and Congress last week formally recognized its role in the future of the bridge.
Lawmakers agreed to pay the full cost of refurbishing the existing bridge, plus the cost of designing and planning a replacement. No specific figures were included in the new law.
But Gov. George F. Allen, a Republican, and Maryland Gov. Parris N. Glendening, a Democrat, want the federal government to pay up to 100 percent of the total replacement cost.
Other lawmakers said that request is unrealistic. Sen. John Warner, R-Va., and Rep. James Moran, D-8th District, have said the new bridge will be financed by a combination of federal, state, local and private money, plus tolls.
Officials are contemplating a $1 per car toll. The existing bridge has no tolls.
KEYWORDS: ROAD CONSTRUCTION by CNB