J. MILLARD TAWES, Governor                     1377

Whereas, The Recreation Advisory Council, an interdepartmental
agency of the Federal Government created by Executive Order No.
11017 of 1962, recommended in April 1964 that a national program of
scenic roads and parkways be developed and subsequently took steps
to obtain information from each state on additional highway construc-
tion projects needed to provide better access to historic, scenic and
recreation areas; and

Whereas, The Maryland State Roads Commission submitted to the
Council in January 1965 a set of proposals for the construction of
scenic highway routes in the State and recommended that high prior-
ity be given to the construction of such a highway extending south
from Annapolis along the Chesapeake Bay to Point Lookout and
thence around the Potomac shore of Southern Maryland to Wash-
ington, D. C.

The length of the proposed highway would be approximately 175
miles, of which all but seven miles would be new construction, and its
cost is estimated at $97,000,000, including the cost of necessary
bridges and structures of which the principal one would be a bridge
across the Patuxent River in the vicinity of Point Patience between
Calvert and St. Mary's Counties. Important sections of the highway
would be of four lane dual construction. The route would be planned
to include such features as scenic overlooks, boat launching sites,
parking areas and picnic grounds, and to provide easy access to
existing and proposed State parks and other recreation areas, as
well as to historic buildings and sites in Southern Maryland; and

Whereas, This proposed highway should also include provision for
a connection across the lower Potomac River AS PROJECTED IN
THE NEED STUDY FOR SOUTHERN MARYLAND, FROM
CHARLES COUNTY TO THE QUANTICO AREA OF VIRGINIA
linking it with the George Washington Country Parkway running
from Mt. Vernon to Yorktown, in Virginia, as proposed by the
Federal Interdepartmental Task Force on the Potomac and the
Potomac River Basin Advisory Committee in the "Potomac Interim
Report to the President," January 1966; and

Whereas, Construction of the proposed scenic highway would
greatly enhance the potential of Southern Maryland for tourism and
recreation and thereby give much-needed stimulus to the economy of
the region, which has lagged behind that of more populous areas of
the State; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the General Assembly of Maryland, That the General
Assembly strongly supports the proposed national scenic highway
program as one from which the State could benefit substantially by
reason of its many and varied natural beauties, recreational oppor-
tunities, and historic sites; and be it further

Resolved, That the Assembly endorses the proposals for the con-
struction of scenic highway routes in the State of Maryland submitted
by the State Roads Commission to the Recreation Advisory Council
and in particular, the Commission's proposal for the construction of
such a route in Southern Maryland, including a lower Potomac River
connection for this highway with the proposed George Washington
Country Parkway in Virginia; and be it further

Resolved, That the Assembly strongly urge the Federal agencies
concerned to prepare legislation for submission to the current session