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Show Another matter of concern to State highway of- ficials in the basin is coordination of planning for navigation improvements and bridge construction. The proposed river improvements will greatly af- fect plans now being drafted for the construction of new highway bridges. For example, the Bulkeley Bridge between Hartford and East Hartford, Conn., now handles 42,000 vehicles a day. For the express- way improvements already under way, the construc- tion of an additional bridge at State Street is pro- posed and already included in the basic plan. Bulkeley Bridge and the new bridge, when com- pleted, will serve one-way traffic in opposite direc- tions. According to the Bureau of Public Roads, the proposed navigational improvements will require installation, of a draw span on the Bulkeley Bridge, and either a. draw span or higher clearances on the proposed State Street bridge. The inclusion of draw spans3 in their opinion, would be contrary to public demands for a free-flowing expressway. Furthermore, construction of the State Street bridge as a high-level structure-to permit sufficient navi- gation clearances without draw spans-would make it very costly to link that bridge with the Riverfront Expressways and with the existing street pattern in Hartford, which is much lower in elevation than the 45-foot height of the Hartford dike. As now planned with existing waterway fea- tures, the proposed bridge requires a 5 percent grade in meeting existing State Street. That gradient is the maximum permitted for such locations. Any increase in that gradient to give higher navigation clearances 'would be very disadvantageous to the heavy volumes of traffic the bridge is expected to serve daily. Two other bridge alterations will be required by navigationa.1 improvements, according to the Bu- reau of Public Roads, one at Windsor Locks, Conn., and the other at Thompsonville, Conn. The pro- posed navigation plan requires the raising of the Windsor Locks Bridge 5.7 feet, at an estimated cost of $65,000, and the raising of the Thompsonville Bridge 4.3 feet, at an estimated cost of $40,000. Neither of these bridges would have to be raised if it were not for the navigation project which pro- poses deepening of the river channel. Conclusions (1) In thie interest of the general public the feasi- bility of erecting draw spans should be carefully surveyed against navigation benefits, and taken into 512 account in water project justification. (2) Close coordination should be maintained be- tween agencies charged with comprehensive basin development and agencies responsible for highway programs, from the earliest stages of water project planning. The objective would be fourfold: effi- cient use of funds available for highway mainte- nance and construction, maintenance of the best organized highway system possible, keeping ex- penditures for highway relocation in water projects to a practical minimum, and prevention of delays in needed water project construction. This appro- priately can be a subject for early attention on the part of a river basin commission responsible for development in the Connecticut Basin. 3. Interstate and International Cooperation and Coordination The Problem The importance of problems of interstate and in- ternational cooperation and coordination and means of solution. The Situation Of the 11,320 square miles of drainage area in the Connecticut River Basin, 115 square miles or a minor fractional part lies in Quebec Province, Canada. There are presently no plans proposed or contemplated for reservoirs that would have any effect upon the drainage area in Canada. The situation with respect to interstate problems and the need for cooperation and coordination is of major importance, especially where reservoirs are concerned. The conflicts between the upper basin States of Vermont and New Hampshire and the lower basin States of Massachusetts and Connecti- cut have been discussed under parts A and B of this chapter. Flood control and multiple-purpose reservoirs needed chiefly for the downstream States cause the inundation of agricultural lands in the upper basin States where the area of good agricultural land is limited, and sometimes inundation of com- munities and of areas having scenic, recreation, and historical values results. Proposals for such inundations also conflict with sentimental values attached to sites long occupied. It is also main- tained that power generated at such reservoirs is |