State Legislature May Review Bill On Underpasses

Opponents of the proposed Memorial Drive underpasses gained ground Monday in their legislative fight to delay or end plans for construction of the underpasses.

The Joint committee on Metroplitan Affairs recommended that the Metropolitan District Commission be prohibited from building the underpasses until a new traffic study confirmed the need for the underpasses.

The committee's recommendation now goes to the House Ways and Means Committee, which will report it to the full House. The new study would determine whether the opening of the Massachusetts Turnpike into Boston has decreased traffic on Memorial Drive. Opponents of the underpasses have long said that the Turnpike would have such an effect.

Sentiment within the MDC for the underpasses has changed considerably since January when Howard Whitmore Jr. '29 replaced Robert F. Murphy as commissioner. Whitmore has initiated a study of his own to explore alternatives to the underpasses.

"I think there are some things that can be done to improve traffic on Memorial Drive in a way other than this big construction project," he said in a recent radio interview.

Whitmore is also considering the possibility that the John F. Kennedy Memorial Library will be located on the Bennett St. MBTA Yards. "It doesn't make much sense to me to improve the Boylston Street-Memorial Drive Interchange if there is going to be a building built on another corner there," he said.