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Outline of Proposal 1* Obtain legislation for a new federal corporation or authority, tied in with the Bureau of Public Roads, with the powers: a* 1b finance state and local authorities in land acquisition and construction of traffic facilities, including superhighways, bridges, tunnels, and municipal express highways and boulevards through congested or slum areas; b« To acquire, or to finance the acquisition of, land for the rights of way of above projects, n d adjacent land whose value will be increased as the result of such project, and to finance the development of such adjacent land; Q* Pro gran to be undertaken when its costs may reasonably be covered from (1) tolls, (2) rentals, (3) profits on resale, (4) concessions, (5) current highway income from gas taxes, etc. d. To issue debentures and bonds for sale to the public (directly or through R.T.C.), with federal guarantee of principal and interest; e« The authority to operate on a revolving fund basis* £• Start at once the acquisition of land and the construction, where feasible, of the attached list of projects, resulting in expenditures as follows: (fiscal years) 1940 FOP land For construction Toted 807 618 825 (Millions of dollars) 1941 1942 1943 161 961 1,122 88 609 697 36 173 209 More projects could be developed subsequently, maintaining the volume of construction for a number of years additional, if that was found desirable* 3. The projects included in the above program are believed to be selfliquidating as a whole, the excess income from some projects covering the partial deficits from others. The estimated Income is made up in part of tolls, and in part of rents and profits on excess land. • £ - 4. Not more thin 25 per cent of this program duplicates construction that *ould otherwise be undertaken under regular road funds9 and therefore at Ifast 75 per cent of it is a net addition to probable current expenditures. 5. In London, construction of boulerards through congested areas has been found practical on a self-liquidating basis, the rentals from the property adjoining two new thoroughfares from Holborn to the Strand—Kingsway and Aldwyck—being sufficient to completely repay a l l costs. The project was Initiated in 1899 and three quarters of the cost has already been paid back. There are great p o s s i b i l i t i e s for similar projects in American c i t i e s , particularly in connection with slum clearance programs, parks, etc.
@FedFRASER