The construction of the Virginia approaches to Arlington Memorial Bridge was a 16-year road construction project to connect Arlington Memorial Bridge with roads in Arlington County, Virginia, in the United States. Initial design proposals were made in 1926, but extensive political wrangling and indecision delayed the project and even the new bridge itself, which finally opened in 1932 after a connection to the Arlington National Cemetery was made via Memorial Drive.
Officials with Arlington County and the state of Virginia long debated whether to build new roads, which would be far more expensive yet a boon to the local economy, or simply connect existing ones. Federal money became available for building approaches in 1933, four years into the Great Depression. The first connection with the bridge opened in October 1938; a second connection opened in 1942 to link it to the Pentagon road network.
Early design proposals
Authorizing the bridge In November 1921, President Warren G. Harding was caught in a three-hour traffic jam while on his way to dedicate the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. Resolving to improve the bridge crossings over the Potomac River,Kohler, p. 16. A $25,000 congressional appropriation in 1922 reactivated the long-dormant Arlington Memorial Bridge Commission (AMBC), and provided the political impetus to devise a bridge plan at last."President Urges Funds for Bridge." Washington Post. January 14, 1922; Arlington Memorial Bridge Commission, p. 30. The commission picked the firm of McKim, Mead and White in April 1923 to design a bridge. Architect William Mitchell Kendall was the lead architect for the firm.Kohler, p. 17.McKim, Mead and White only had responsibility for the architectural features of the bridge. The bridge commission turned the engineering aspects of the bridge over to the United States Army Corps of Engineers on June 29, 1922. See: Christian, William Edmund. "The Arlington Memorial Bridge." Washington Post. November 1, 1925. The bridge design was approved by February 1924,"Bridge Models Exhibited." Washington Post. February 8, 1924. and President Calvin Coolidge signed legislation authorizing the bridge's construction on February 24, 1925.Weingroff, Richard F. "Dr. S. M. Johnson - A Dreamer of Dreams." Highway History. Office of Infrastructure and Transportation Performance. Federal Highway Administration. U.S. Department of Transportation. April 7, 2011. Accessed 2013-04-15.
The legislation authorizing the Arlington Memorial Bridge also provided for the construction of approaches (on-ramps, off-ramps, and pedestrian areas) on both the D.C. and Virginia ends of the bridge; for the improvement of B Street NW as a new ceremonial avenue to link the city with the bridge; the construction of a roadway (eventually called Memorial Drive) between the bridge and the main gate of Arlington National Cemetery; and for a new ceremonial entrance at the cemetery's main gate (subsequently known as the Hemicycle).
Kendall's first design, submitted to the United States Commission of Fine Arts in May 1923, formed the basis for planning the Virginia approaches. Preliminary designs for the bridge showed it terminating on Columbia Island."Island to Be Remade in New Bridge Plans." Washington Post. April 15, 1925. For the center of Columbia Island, Kendall envisioned a gigantic roadway crossarm circumscribed by a grassy ellipse. The roads north and south from this crossarm would terminate in traffic circles at the northern and southern tips of the island. The traffic circles would accommodate connections to Lee Highway and the proposed Mount Vernon Memorial Parkway.Kohler, p. 17-18, 24.
In addition to the ABMC, the United States Army Corps of Engineers also had approval over engineering aspects of the bridge and over all public works spending in the District of Columbia. The Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) and the National Capital Parks Commission (NCPC) also had authority to approve aspects of the bridge. The CFA by far had the more extensive authority, because it included the right to review the look of the bridge and all of its associated elements (such as the approaches).
When the CFA gave its preliminary approval to the bridge design in 1924, it withheld judgment on the approaches.
Designing the Virginia approaches The CFA and NCPC first gave serious consideration to Kendall's preliminary design for the Virginia bridge approaches in January 1926, when they met jointly to discuss how the Virginia Arlington Memorial Bridge terminus would serve as a gateway to Washington, D.C."Commissions Plan Gateway in Virginia as City Entrance." Washington Post. January 8, 1926. The two bodies agreed to proceed with a refinement by urban planner C.A.S. Sinclair, who proposed a series of roads radiating outward from the bridge."Bridge Approaches Around Arlington Cemetery Urged." Washington Post. January 15, 1926.
Multiple routes were considered by Arlington County and Virginia officials to implement the Sinclair plan. At the time, Lee Boulevard was being built from Seven Corners eastward toward Arlington National Cemetery. Construction officials announced in July 1926 that Lee Boulevard would go south around Arlington National Cemetery, then proceed up the Potomac River shoreline to either connect with Arlington Memorial Bridge near the cemetery's main gate or bridge the Boundary Channel to connect with the roads on Columbia Island."South Route Chosen for Lee Boulevard." Washington Post. July 1, 1926. However, in December 1926, the CFA learned that Arlington National Cemetery was likely to expand eastward onto the property of the USDA Experimental Farm (which lay east of Arlington Ridge Road). Because this significantly impacted the radius of road approaches to the bridge as well as the proposed Lee Boulevard route, the CFA asked Kendall to restudy the Columbia Island terminus."Grant Is Told Need of Bridge Restudy By Fine Arts Group." Washington Post. December 28, 1926."New Study Ordered of Memorial Bridge." Washington Post. December 29, 1926.
The presence of railroad tracks also caused design problems. The tracks of the Rosslyn Branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad ran somewhat inland along the Virginia shoreline of the Potomac River. In June 1927, the CFA proposed lowering these tracks by to avoid an at-grade crossing with the proposed Memorial Drive. Since this trench also affected the Virginia road connections to the bridge, studies as to how to best design the approaches were ordered in spring 1927.Office of Public Buildings and Public Parks of the National Capital, 1927, p. 20-21. Deciding which roads to extend through the area and where to build them proved increasingly vexatious. In July 1927, the NCPC said it would study the entire area between Arlington Memorial Bridge and Francis Scott Key Bridge to determine how best to coordinate the Virginia approaches with existing roadways. The NCPC said, however, that it expected Columbia Island's north crossarm to connect with Lee Highway."Park Board Seeks to Beautify Land Between Bridges." Washington Post. July 19, 1927. Lee Highway (not to be confused with Lee Boulevard.) was then under construction in a west-northwesterly direction from Falls Church, Virginia. At the time, its exact eastern terminus had not yet been decided, although many expected it to link with Francis Scott Key Bridge. The Virginia State Highway Commission, which was providing some of the money for Lee Highway, agreed with the NCPC."Arlington County Highways Survey to Be Started Soon." Washington Post. January 24, 1927. But Arlington County, which was building the highway, remained silent on the issue.
Arlington County and Virginia officials were quiet about their preferences for the approaches in 1926 and 1927. The NCPC had the authority in the D.C. metropolitan area not only to approve or disapprove any major construction project on or within view of federal property but also to approve road construction in the region which used federal funds. The agency had long stated its intention to support the urbanization of Arlington County (in part to provide for more and better housing for the federal workforce, and to improve the capital's economy). The Virginia State Highway Commission was considering a number of routes, some of which skirted rather than passed through Arlington County. However, the NCPC and the CFA both said in July 1927 that they would approve any route chosen by the state, so long as it did not skirt the county. Only by building the road through Arlington County could the NCPC's goal of increased urbanization be met, they said, and both agencies urged the state and the county to make their choice quickly."Any Virginia Bridge Road Satisfactory to Board." Washington Post. July 21, 1927.
The CFA continued to study how Virginia should best connect to Arlington Memorial Bridge in 1929,"Meridian Hill Park Project Approved." Washington Post. March 22, 1929. and another set of preliminary plans were submitted by William Kendall in July 1930."Municipal Center Changes Approved By Fine Arts Body." Washington Post. July 2, 1930. Few of the problems facing the various plans were solved by November 1930,"Fine Arts Commission Studies New Projects." Washington Post. November 4, 1930. and the state and county still declined to choose an approach route.
Disputes over approaches prior to the Arlington Memorial Bridge dedication By early 1931, Arlington Memorial Bridge was nearing completion, but citizens of Arlington County had no way of using the bridge as no approaches had been approved by the state or county in the preceding five years. Arlington County itself took no action on any bridge approaches until January 1931, when it began tentatively surveying potential routes. In February 1931, citizens of Clarendon, Ft. Myer Heights, and Lyon Village — unincorporated communities north and northwest of Arlington National Cemetery — met with the Arlington County Board of Supervisors and a Commonwealth's Attorney from the state of Virginia to identify a route north of the cemetery."Arlington Surveys Approach to Span." Washington Post. February 24, 1931. A month later, after consulting with the NCPC, the County Board of Supervisors said it favored a plan to build a temporary road south of the cemetery to connect with the planned route for Lee Boulevard."Arlington to Build Approach for Span." Washington Post. March 25, 1931. But in April 1931, a committee of civic groups asked the County Board of Supervisors to push for a third proposed route: Extending Washington Boulevard south around Arlington National Cemetery to connect with the bridge. At the time, Washington Boulevard (also known as "Washington Street") was under construction from East Falls Church westward toward the northwest corner of Arlington National Cemetery. Once it reached the Clarendon neighborhood, it was to proceed southeast to connect to Lee Boulevard. The civic groups had learned that state highway planners were tentatively discussing a way to extend Washington Boulevard south around the cemetery to connect with U.S. Route 1. The civic groups wanted Washington Boulevard extended north to Columbia Island."Board Hears Pleas on Bridge Approach." Washington Post. April 16, 1931. This was similar to the proposed Lee Boulevard route which was threatened by the eastward expansion of the cemetery. The same month, the Washington Post reported (without identifying sources) that the approach to the bridge would come from Lee Boulevard."Lee Memorial Boulevard." Washington Post. April 25, 1931.