Traffic experts, several city officials, and a leading opponent of the Memorial Drive underpasses yesterday privately criticized ex-Governor John A. Volpe's proposal to save the "now famous sycamores" by eliminating the access roads to the projected Boylston Street underpass.

Volpe, the GOP candidate for Governor, made the proposal Tuesday.

He said that by eliminating the access roads to the Boylston St. underpass, the advantages of better traffic flow could be enjoyed while still preserving the sycamores. He asked the Metropolitan District Commission, which will build the underpasses, to study the proposal.

Traffic experts disputed Volpe's reasoning. They said that compelling cars to turn off the Drive on to small side streets before and after Boylston St. would cause more problems--and delays--than would be eliminated. As one man put it, "There wouldn't be any point in building the whole thing. If you were just going to turn off cars into local streets."

Ignore The Issues

Volpe was also criticized because he allegedly failed to face the major issues in the dispute. "All he did was talk about the sycamores," one man said.

This man, a leader in the fight against the underpasses, pointed out that Volpe bad neglected to say anything about the large cost of underpasses (more than $7 million) or ask the question of whether the underpasses were really needed.

Meanwhile, MDC Commissioner Robert F. Murphy said he had "no comment on anything--that's underscored and in caps." "You see," he explained, "next Tuesday is November 3."