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By Don Aidette
Rappahannock News Writer
The vision for Lee Highway in the 1920s was remarkable. First, there was its overall concept. Running from New York City through Washington, D.C., and Virginia, on across the southern part of the United States to San Diego and then up to San Francisco, it was to be the southern counterpart of the Lincoln Highway. The two great heroes of the Civil War would be memorialized for all time; two oceans would be linked; and two great mountain chains, the Appalachians and the Rockies, would be spanned. Both highways would start in New York City and end in San Francisco.
Second, in New York City, Lee Highway was to begin in mid-town Manhattan and head westward across the Hudson River over a truly awe-inspiring bridge. The proposed 57th Street Hudson River Bridge was gigantic; probably one of the most massive bridges ever designed. It was to have two decks.
The upper deck was to have 20 traffic lanes, plus two pedestrian “promenades." The bottom deck was to carry 12 rapid transit trains connected to New York City’s subway system and railroad stations, such a Penn Station and Grand Central Station. A total of 32 lanes was being proposed.
The 825-foot high towers of the bridge would have been the tallest structures in the world at that time. The width of the bridge was to be 235 feet. Next time you drive the current four-laned Route 211 in Rappahannock County, picture a bridge with a deck almost twice as wide.
The bridge would have dwarfed the current George Washington Bridge. It would
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