page_title: Construction of the Virginia approaches to Arlington Memorial Bridge
section_title: Additional rights-of-way negotiations
hierarchical_section_title: Construction of the Virginia approaches to Arlington Memorial Bridge / The Lee Boulevard route / Additional rights-of-way negotiations
caption_attribution_description: Original title: No scouts here. This airview shows a portion of the tent city erected along the banks of the Potomac river where the Boy Scouts were scheduled to hold their Jamboree late this month. It was postponed by President Roosevelt for a year because of infantile
context_page_description: The construction of the Virginia approaches to Arlington Memorial Bridge was a 16-year road construction project to connect Arlington Memorial Bridge with roads in Arlington County, Virginia, in the United States. Initial design proposals were made in 1926, but extensive political wrangling and indecision delayed the project and even the new bridge itself, which finally opened in 1932 after a connection to the Arlington National Cemetery was made via Memorial Drive.
  Officials with Arlington County and the state of Virginia long debated whether to build new roads, which would be far more expensive yet a boon to the local economy, or simply connect existing ones. Federal money became available for building approaches in 1933, four years into the Great Depression. The first connection with the bridge opened in October 1938; a second connection opened in 1942 to link it to the Pentagon road network.
context_section_description: By August 1934, the Virginia State Highway Commission was still working on obtaining rights-of-way for the Lee Boulevard route. The state believed it was close to completing this process, however, and construction on the roadway would begin soon. Minor delays were encountered in October 1934 while the state resurveyed a small portion of the route in order to avoid condemnation of a large and expensive home, but state highway officials said they were likely to issue bids for construction by the end of November.
  This assessment proved optimistic. By February 1935, it was clear that the rights-of-way obtained by Arlington County were not those which the state highway commission wanted to have. Negotiations began between the state and county over the route. Once more, optimism was expressed that the negotiations would come to a quick resolution.
  The right-of-way negotiations continued into mid-1935. By June, state officials were looking into a Lee Boulevard extension along the former southern route. State highway officials conferred with county engineers the same month about both routes, and the state began surveying the southern route in July. The state even appropriated $150,000 to begin construction and finished its survey work in August.
caption: Columbia Island and bridge approaches in 1935
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