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[[preprinted]]
[[image - drawing of Smithsonian castle building]]
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
Washington, D.C. 20560
U.S.A.
[[/preprinted]]

February 22, 1980

Mr. Richard Sullivan
Chief Counsel
Committee on Public Works and Transportation
House of Representatives
Washington, D. C. 20515

Dear Mr. Sullivan:

This is in response to your request of Tom L. Peyton, following your discussion about adequate public access and parking along the National Mall and the Capitol Hill area. Enclosed is a partial draft report submitted by DeLeuw, Cather & Company (an access and parking study sponsored by the Smithsonian), a Mall Parking Feasibility Study prepared by Wilbur Smith & Associates in 1976, and a copy of [[underlined]] Toward a Masterplan [[/underlined]], sponsored by George M. White, Architect of the Capitol, for your convenience.

The Smithsonian has long been concerned about the shortage of adequate parking on and near the Mall to serve its millions of visitors each year. In 1975, the addition of 400 public parking spaces in the National Air & Space Museum was offset by the elimination of parking on Adams and Washington Drives, and 6th and 15th Streets on the Mall. Similar proposals have been made for 4th, 7th and 14th Streets.

In Fiscal Year 1979, visits to Smithsonian museums and galleries were about 24 million, and assuming each visitor attends two museums, we can estimate that there were approximately 33,000 people visiting the Mall each day. In addition, millions of visitors attended other educational facilities, including the National Gallery of Art, the National Archives, the Capitol, and other monuments and memorials. According to the DeLeuw, Cather visitor survey, about 80 percent of these people were from out of town, and approximately 42 percent traveled by automobile.

Concluding that about 14,000 Smithsonian visitors travel by car each day and that 3.25 people occupy each car, it is estimated that there would be 4,300 drivers each day. If