Vellucci Threatens to Put Highway Through Center of Harvard Yard

Councillor Al Vellucci, who gained local notoriety last spring through his Harvard-baiting tactics, returned to the fray yesterday with a radical threat to send a highway through the middle of Harvard yard.

Apparently spurred on by a menace to his own home, Vellucci said he might bring the matter up at today's meeting of the City Council. His action came after the State had revealed its proposed routes for a new 'inner belt" highway designed to connect Route 2 with the Northeast Expressway.

The State has suggested two routes, both of which would cut across East Cambridge, Vellucci's home section. One route, according to Vellucci, "will wipe out an entire neighborhood, including my own home."

Not Mere Self-interest

But Vellucci indicated that he was not acting from mere self-interest. Citing the perennial parking problem, the councillor said he intended to use the highway as a bludgeon to obtain faster action. "It is the duty of the school and of the city, not of the students, to clear up the parking mess," he said. "Unless Harvard provides ample parking facilities for the student body, I may take serious steps to put the belt route right through the Harvard yard or Harvard Square."

The councillor also proposed that the City seize the plot of land opposite the entrance to the Fly Club and across the street from Claverly to convert it into a parking lot. "The University is not using that land for educational purposes," Vellucci said. "If Harvard won't do it, the city will take the land, put up parking meters, and let the students use it."