The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1920-01-19
TRAFFIC SCHOOL At
MADISON AND MAIN
|. BY LIEUT.. ia. GERK
New Method Will Be Illus
trated at Four Corners of
Intersection of Principal
Arteries of Trade.

The new method of handling traffic
VIII be illustrated in Memphis, starting
tuesday morning, with four corners OF
Main street and Madison avenue as the
pace Of the object lesson for the pub
lie, and Lieut., Joseph A. Clerk, St Louis
ponce traffic expert, in charge of OPP
erations
The new system, recommended by
Lieut.. Gerk, has for its object the elm
NATION, as far as Is possible, of traffic
congestion downtown. The st. Louis
expert spent all of last week in study
ing, the Memphis traffic problem.
For the purpose of illustrating 10
Memphians the plan that will be adopted
on II street car stops on Main street,
between Adams avenue and Linden
avenue, safety zones win be installed at
Main and Madison, on the southeast
corner, in front of Pantage's and on
the northwest corner, at the Fisher
building
The zone in front OF Pantaze's will
be 90 feet in length and five feet In
width along the street car track. Per-
sons waiting for street cars must wait
IN the zone, while a continuous stream
Of auto and vehicle traffic pours through
the opening between the sidewalk and
The outside edge of the zone. No ma
chimes will be permitted to park within
distance of Is feet behind the zone on
the south end. This south end will be
roped off, as will the side of the zone
toward the sidewalk The only entrance
and exit to the zone will be at the
end closest to Madison avenue.
Persons alighting from street cars
must remain in the zone until traffic
Is closed north and south by the traffic
policeman, and Is opened east and west
This will have the effect Of forcing
pedestrians to observe the traffic sig.
nails, just as autoists and street car,
a nz1 - H.. a n. -.
| car Is taking on and discharging pas
sengers, autos will not be halted so lonl
as the traffic officer keeps north ant
south traffic signal on. The autos
must all pass through the groove" !.
the space between the edge Of the safe
ty zone and the curbing. No machine
will be permitted to pass a safety zon'
on the street car tracks. This prac
tice tends to clog street car traffic
Lieut.. Gerk holds
Zones Outlined.
The zone in front of the Fisher build
ing will be subject to the same regula
tions as that on Pantaze's corner, bu
ii will be only As feet in length. Th,
60-foot zone is for the purpose of ac
commodating the opening Of the door,
of both a street car and the trailer
Such cars run north only at this corner
Lieut.. Gerk in person will take hi!
stand Tuesday in the middle of the in
tersection of Main and Madison. Th,
will indicate stop" and Go" signals
by the direction in which he stand!
| with outstretched arms. The direction
in which his finger tips point is tn,
Co direction.
Two Of the best traffic officers on the
| department will be stationed at tn,
| corner to assist Lieut. Gerk They will
tnkn ptanIg a thn nf ba ttt,n trof
| fic zones and direct cars into the
groove" and keep traffic moving at al
| times.
Yellow boundary lines for the safety
| zones at Main and Madison were painted
Monday morning by direction of John b
Edgar, police and fire commissioner
| An iron pedestal for the rope guard will
be set up at each end. AS soon as {
| sufficient number OF these pedestal!
| can be purchased II downtown corners
will be so roped off.
On all cross streets which have cal
lines turning into Main the safety zon'
will be five feet in width, but because
the streets are so narrow, the zone will
| lie alongside the curbing. The zone will
extend clear to the sidewalk edge--fo
| instance at the southwest corner o
Main and Madison. by the United CigaI
store, the zone will run along the Mad
| ison avenue curbing to the edge OF tn,
Main street sidewalk Autoists will no
| be permitted to run through the zone
but will have to run in the middle o
the street. just the reverse to the Mair
| street ruling. In making a turn from
Madison into Main at the southwes
corner the autoists must drive int
| Main street a sufficient distance t
clear the safety zone. otherwise he VIC
| lates the law.
Policemen on Duty.
To sum up, the safety zone is for tn
| protection OF people on foot. and mus
not be violated by the autoist. But tn
pedestrians must observe the autoist'
right, and wait In the safety zone unit
traffic is moving in the proper direc
tion for them to reach the sidewalk.
| No street car will be permitted I
open its doors to discharge or take o
passengers outside the sagety zone An
only one car, or car trailer, can be ac
commodated in the zone at one time,
Mounted policemen will soon be pu
on duty, here, too. One man will b
assigned to Main street, in the centra
downtown section. Another will wor
on Second street, and the third o
Front street. Their particular duty wi
be to supervise the parking Of cars. I
no instance will double parking be per
mitted
A bulletin to street car motormen ex
planning the safety zone regulation
covering it. was issued by the Memph
Street Railway company Monday b
order of +. W. Ford, superintendent
who is a member of the citizens com
mittee named by Mr.. Edgar to wor
with Lieut., Gerk.
Lieut.. Clerks school for Memphis trat
fic policemen probably will be startc
Monday night, when selected lot {
the traffic cops will be instructed
the fine art of directing downtown tra1
fic so as to bring minimum Of cor
gestion.
TndinuOLn Banker