be permitted to travel through the District, but instead bypass it via the Beltway. Traffic with destinations within the District, as noted above, were expected to use the street grid; the NCPC further justified this by stating that the Interstate Highway System as defined did not guarantee direct inner-city access. Furthermore, the NCPC also baldly stated that the construction of the North Central Freeway would simply provide another way into the District for commuters, which was seen as undesirable and unnecessary. 1971 De Leuw-Weese Study In 1971, a study released by DeLeuw retained the I-70S/I-95 North Central Freeway configuration. The study's various alternatives differed little from one another; one major similarity was the I-70S/I-95 wye junction, with the six-lane I-70S and the eight-lane I-95 (narrowing to six lanes, with the remaining two forming off ramps to North Capitol St.) merging into a 12-lane freeway that would quickly narrow to 10 lanes within the Union Station interchange. The plans included the 3/4-mile Rhode Island Ave.-Michigan Ave. tunnel, as well as revisions to an earlier 1970 proposal that would reduce the number of homes required to be removed from 69 to 34. Opposition A group of concerned residents banded together and formed an opposition group called the Emergency Committee on the Transportation Crisis. The group emphasized their assertions that the route was "a white man's road through a black man's bedroom", and frequently interrupted meetings relevant to the highways construction. See also Capital Beltway Northeast Freeway Inner Loop (Washington, D.C.) Intercounty Connector References External links Roads to the Future: Washington D.C. Interstates and Freeways A Trip Within the Beltway: 1965 Elevated Multi-Level A Trip Within the Beltway: 1971 plans Interstate 70 Interstate 95 Roads in Washington, D.C. Cancelled highway projects in the United States Freeways in the United States