pass terminating at Route 7 would lot divert any

pass terminating at Route 7 would lot divert any traffic from the Cabin John Bridge,” the federal study notes.

A new Potomac River crossing for a western route doesn’t appear likely, either.

Maryland, which owns the Potomac and thus controls any bridge construction, adamantly opposes the western route. That state’s highway planners insist that no bridge will be built to bring the superhighway’s traffic - and super development pressure - into an area slated to remain rural and agricultural.

Hal Kassoff, the administrator of the Maryland Department of Transportation, has maintained that the natural corridor for a new beltway around Washington is to the east where it would connect with Route 301. That highway was used to skirt Washington before 1-95 and the Capital Beltway were built. Trucks still take 301 to avoid the metropolitan area: 2,000 trucks per day use Route 301 near the Potomac River, according to traffic counts.

Further, an eastern bypass would bring development pressure to an area in Maryland planned for development rather than for farming. The Maryland Science and Technology Center, the International Renaissance Center and Bowie Town Center are just three of the major projects planned for the vicinity of a possible eastern beltway route.

The Federal Highway Administration also sees merit in an eastern route. “The FHWA believes that any future state and local studies should also consider eastern alternatives,” its study of Virginia’s western proposal found.

If the highway goes east, Virginia would pay for building about three miles of its length; if it goes west, the Commonwealth pays for 55 miles. So why is the state looking to the west?

Powerful forces back a western route which would take the eight lanes of asphalt through Northern Virginia across an area that will become the next commercial development frontier. Nothing would better serve the interests of developers than a superhighway to pave