Taxpayers' Unit Refuses to Join Underpass Fight

The Massachusetts Federation of Taxpayers will apparently reject an appeal for help from the Citizens' Emergency Committee to Save Memorial Drive, it was learned yesterday.

The appeal, which came in a telegram yesterday morning from Edward L. Bernays and John R. Moot '43, co-chairmen of the citizens' committee, asked for co-operation in stopping the "extravagant waste of $7 million in Massachusetts taxpayers' money to build totally unnecessary underpasses on Memorial Drive."

Frank J. Zeo, executive director of the Massachusetts Federation of Taxpayers, said yesterday afternoon that his group planned no official endorsement of the fight against the Mem Drive underpasses. He added that he will write Bernays, suggesting that he take his plea to the Governor's office.

Engineers Criticize Plan

The Bernays telegram quoted a report by Jackson and Moreland, consulting engineers to the Metropolitan District Commission, saying that "through traffic carrying capacity on Memorial Drive will not be improved [by the underpasses] except for the elimination of delays at the subject intersections."

The telegram charges that a proposal by the Cambridge City Planning Board for minor road changes and traffic controls, costing only $100,000, would accomplish the same purpose as the $7 million underpasses.

Appeal to Governor

Zeo noted that the MDC was directed to build the underpasses by a 1962 act of the Massachusetts Legislature, and that attempts to repeal that act have failed. "At this late date," he said, "Bernays' only recourse would be with the Governor's office."

Zeo said that his organization had no engineers at its disposal, and was not qualified to judge the relative merits of the underpass plan and the $100,000 proposal by the City Planing Board.