Council Supports Bills to Postpone Underpass Work

The City Council yesterday endorsed two highway bills which, if enacted by the state legislature, would delay the construction of the Memorial Drive underpasses.

By unanimously accepting two orders filed by freshman Councillor Thomas H. D. Mahoney, the Council also went on record again as favoring a moratorium on all highway construction in Cambridge.

The Council endorsed House bills 2112, which would direct the Metropolitan Planning Council to review all plans for highways in the City, and 1444, which would establish a Greater Boston Transportation Agency to investigate the problem of the entire metropolitan area.

The bills--both of which are still in joint Senate-House committees--ask the Metropolitan District Commission and the Massachusetts Department of Public Works to delay any construction of new roads until the suggested studies are completed.

Two Measures "Consistent"

Mahoney assured the other Councillors that the two measures were "virtually consistent" with each other, despite their different approaches. He particularly praised H2112, because of its bipartisan support. That measure was filed by Reps. Mary B. Newman (R), Levin H. Campbell '48 (R), and William P. Homans, Jr. '41, all of Cambridge.

Neither of the endorsed bills has been debated yet, but Sen. Stanley J. Zarod (D-Springfield), chairman of the Committee on Highways and Motor Vehicles, said last night that H2112 would be reported out tomorrow. It would thus reach the House on Thursday or Friday.