The sun., 1916-12-20
MADISON AVE. JAM
WORSE THAN FIFTH
From Forty-eighth Down
Cars and Vehicles Crawl
Along.
SIDE STREETS BLOCKED
Hotel Entrances Clicked by
Stream Of Motors at
Their Doors.
SIDE STREETS BLOCKED

IS 20 the street cars 80 koes all
~ehicular trafic on Madison avenue the
ftful progress of the surface line gov
ems the thousands OF motor cars and
business trucks that are forced by the
congestion on fifth venue and the
Park avenue cul-de-ssc to use that
t~horoughfare. iris normal condition
that makes 'wo miles an hour the .,ace
between EortJ-eighth street and Forty
first street almost Is a rushing speed
compared to that which now obtains be-
cause Of the snow. building construction
and car parking against the curbline.
Madison avenue along its length above
Forty-frst street. where the cars emerge
from the Fourth avenue tunnel, repro
duces the congestion OF Fifth avenue.
IL anything the traffic crush Is worse,
particularly in the region OF the Biltmore
and the Ritz-Carlton hotels. There is
this advantage that Madison has on
Fifth above Forty-sccond street, there Is
less pedestrian traffic.
Yesterday afternoon from 4 o'clock un-
Ill : streets from Forty-second to For
ty-seventh were massed to impa stability
with vehicles. AZ these weeded into or
across Madison avenue there resulted
WIN wv III v. MI
Forty-fourth street. for instance. from
Sixth to the Grand Central automobile
entrance. there was not a minute when
the north n south curbs were not
crowded full with vehicles. To add to
this difficulty there were in constant
passage big coal trucks. building ma
terial trucks and other vehicles.
Hotel Entrances Blocked,
Delmonico's and Sherry's, on Fifth
avenue corners diagonally opposed. at
the tea hour and the early dinner hour
almost were blocked from entrance to
automobiles. Several unremoved snow
Z piles between Fifth and Madison ave-
nues narrowed and made more devious
the thin channel afforded between the
automobiles halted against the curb.
The same situation was apparent in
front of the Biltmore. in rorty-third
street.
The Ritz-carlton. at Forty-six,h street
and Madison avenue. WAS a point to gain
which in an automobile required num-
bcrless delays and considerable danger.
Forty-sixth street from Fifth avenue
presented cars in solid line that re-
NAMED stationary for hours. The Efforts
Of the conflicting east and west streams
10 make way through this street com
PEELED them to get by In goat formation.
On Madison avenue the curb line In
front Of the Ritz held Its unbroken row
of stationary machines. with the car
tracks in such close proximity there was
not enough room for machines bound
south TO pass between the curb motors
and the street cars. They had to take
their places behind the surface cars.
single Traffic Cop.
The single traffic policeman at Forty
sixth street did what he could TO keer
the traffc moving. but his was n job
OF exceptional dificulty. In For'y-s!xtf
street from Madison avenue to Park ave
nue. there were snow piles Mt every Few
feet that made that sluiceway impracti'
cable for the clear passage OF traffic
The vehicles that ordinarily would have
gone straight through instead turneC
up or down Madison avenue. imposini
a few more handicaps.
Al FORTHWITH street Abercromhle 4
Fitch arc constructing an ONCE build
ing. Throughout the afternoon hcav,
lumber trucks and long g!rder bearini
wagons unloaded in front Of the build
ing. This necessarily rave further paus'
to the street cars and hence to tn
vehicles following.
As the street cars neared Forty-secon
street the hal.s were more frequent an
longer because OF the heavy cross,owi
trafrc and the pedestrian streams tina
flowed IN and out OF the subway an
the Grand Central Station.
one Of the obvious deterrents to traf
fc. both veh!cular and pedestrian. a
! Forty-second street at Madison avenu
and Fifth avenue. was the absence o
policemen to care for the pedestrians
. There were four men at Fifth avenu
! for tho regulation OF h vehicles bu
:, none to sec that the wayfarers foun
. safe passage across. The same cor
I, dition obtained at Madison avenue
Naturally the scurrying OF tho pedes
, TRANS held up vehicles and the vehicle
: held up pedestrians.