Pueblo chieftain., 1921-06-26
By Frederic ]. Haskin.

Washington, D. c.. June 25.-Given
10, 900 900 automobiles and the prospect
of an increase of 100000 each year;
make allowance for the steady growth
OF population and the fact that the In
creases in both autos and people go
largely to swell the city crowds; ques-
tion-how to fit them comfortably IN
to city streets already congested. Inis
| Ia the knotty problem which tra1fic
experts and engineers are facing.
| New York has recently made a rev
olutionary change by turning Broad
way into a one-way street in the
evening when cars crowd into the
streets that contain 40 theaters.
Chicago Is making Michigan avenue
double deck street in a part n,,,na1 OF tn1
situations In these cities are not so
significant as in some others.
We are always hearing OF cOnBesteo
streets in New York and Chicaso.
But when Indianapolis has to make It's
arteriol thoroughfares one-way streetA'
carrying traffic only into town in the
morning, and only outward at night
| Wien Underground parkig spaces are
being urged for Washington: when q
7 tunnel for vehicles is planned tol
Pittsburg: and when almost every Guy
| of any size keeps its downtown uaf-
| fic moving at rush hours only by one
way streets and a regiment of traffic
officers, the situation can easily DC
regarded as coming to an acute stage:
Nearly all of our cities were planned
or grew up when hosses were the
thought of arranging streets so tnat
| in some future swift decade motors
could speed one way along one street
and back along a parallel thorough
fare. Nor was there any engineer
prophet to plan against the time When
10 feet would be cut off each side Oh
a street by long rows of parked cars.
| Even when the automobile hove into
sight and all sorts of extravagant pre-
| dictions were made regarding It's use,
cities went on allowing monumental
office buildings to be built close down
to narrow pavements, so tnat wioeh.
| ing business streets of city Is now
almost impossibly expensive.
Some cities are widening streets oy
cutting down sidewalk space, but TINS
| is likely to cause sidewalk conGcs-
ton.
Danger Of Wide streets
At the other extreme. cities with
very wide streets are having their dif-
ficulties too. Washington attributes
n large share OF its accidents 70 tme
broad avenues where pedestrians have
so great \ distance to cover in Cross.
inE the street, and 80 many rows OF
care pass at 4 time. A: one danger
zone. Thomas Circle. the city Is even
considering n widening OF the circle
SO as to narrow the roadway around
1t. A number OF accidents have oc-
curred~therc.
Tho model suggested for the city
street system 10 rectangular cnscn-
| erboard OF streets OF moderate wlotn
In tha- naaAsr -bixstness disersct,
and stseetx radiating out from that IN
ALL directions. oven those involving
aiight changes. arc difficult to put IN
to execution. For the most part cities
will have to stay just rs they grew,
with streets narrow or wioe' 10"
straight or too crooked.
The problem of how to ht mote
people and vehicles into gwen space
have to be solved eventually by usihs
subway and elevated passages frohi
them, Just as they are now used tor
street cars. This is ar old proposal
I, was suggested for New York as fnr
back as the sixties. and Its posnpih-
ties have been explained any numocr
OF times since by inventive engineers.
4 New York Is at last about TO try out
the experiment .s
A vchIcuiar tunnel. long discussed,
lis soon to be built under tho hudson
river to relieve ferry congestion. anu
| A plan In being considered TO rcduce
tho width of tho Fifth avenue side
wink by half and to build either over
head or underground sidewalks TO ac-
commodatc pedestrians.
Tho latter project. 1t is shown. wou,d