Bankers Protest Underpass Plan

In the first of a series of petitions from community leaders, twelve metropolitan area bankers yesterday called for the repeal of the 1962 legislation ordering the construction of three underpasses along Memorial Drive.

Edward L. Bernays, co-chairman of the Citizens Emergency Committee to Save Memorial Drive, issued a statement, and said that he looked forward to a similar commitment from Dr. Paul Dudley White, noted heart specialist, and other doctors in the area.

Bernays hopes that recreational leaders, city planners, and other "leading people who feel keenly" about Memorial Drive will also come out against the underpasses.

The bankers attacked the proposed underpasses on the basis of financial waste, destruction of a natural resource, and unproven need.

"We have seen no study to validate the construction of these underpasses, no origins and destinations study, no examination of alternatives," they said. "The tell in actual taxpayer dollars may well reach $7,000,000 with additional millions for converting the Drive into an expressway."

The bankers claimed the expansion of Memorial Drive would "prevent access to park and river and destroy the quality and beauty of the entire area."