Old plans never die, they just fade away

At an antique shop in Frederick, MD yesterday, I found a copy of a Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission study for Takoma Park-Langley Crossroads, but including discussion of a wide area, ranging as far as College Park, including a goodly portion of Chillum-Hyattsville, dating from 1962.

Because it predated somewhat the activist counterattack against the "North Central Freeway" and plans for I-95 south from the Capital Beltway to DC, it is a particularly interesting document, such as the subway stations (Chillum--now West Hyattsville, PG Plaza, and Adelphi--now moved, and in College Park) that were proposed were supposed to be in the middle of I-95, just as the Vienna and West Falls Church Metro stations are on I-66--this was true of the red line from Union Station north, although that wasn't discussed in this report, because it was a Maryland planning study.

(Remember how former State Senator Devolites Davis commented how since people didn't walk to Vienna Metro, that meant that people didn't walk to Metro stations generally, not realizing it's about urban design, that people tend to not walk in the middle of freeways...)

It called, among other things, for making 410 through Takoma a 6 lane road, Piney Branch 4-6 lanes, Riggs Road 6 lanes to the DC line, New Hampshire 6 lanes to the DC line--they did do that.

And a whole lot of dense multiunit buildings all over the place, which pretty much weren't constructed. Interesting comments about focusing retail/commercial development--not done. And how the University Boulevard-New Hampshre Avenue intersection--Langley Crossroads--was a mess. 46 years later, it still is a mess...

For more on the freeway proposal, see "1966 North Central Freeway Supplementary Study" from the A Trip within the Beltway blog. Ironically, I would be living a block from the freeway, had it been built...likely meaning I would be living here... Image from the blog entry.

There are many more images and discussion within the Trip within the Beltway blog. (He favors more freeways than DC ended up with, mostly in tunnel.)