The New York herald., 1922-04-02
|TolEnd Street Car Congestion at
Broadway. 9th Ave. and 34th St.
Borough President Miller and the 34th ST. Board of Trade
Evolve Plan to Relocate Tracks So as to Eliminate
Long Triangular Crossing; Plan Now Before
Board of Estimate

with Mayor Hylan and presented the
subject to the Board of Estimate and
Apportionment, by which body the prob
lem was sent TO Borough President Mil
Ter for solution.
In his report to Borough President
Miller Mr.. Schaeffer. consulting en-
gineer of the borough, made the follow
ing statement:
Traffic observations taken about a
year ago by lines of traffic show that
during the hour of maximum north.
bound traffic there were 95 vehicles Ia
the line next to the curb and 495 in the
second line from the curb, and for south
bound traffic there were 80 vehicles in
the line nearest the curb and $40 In the
second line. This shows an intensity Of
s6 vehicles per minute per line for north
bound and 80 vehicles per minute per line
for southbound traffic. Only a few years
ago an intensity Of five vehicles per line
OF traffic was believed to be the point
OF saturation. The intensity at Thirty
fourth street Is almost 100 per cent.
greater than this. While the point OF
saturation may not yet have been
reached, the intensity is so great that It
Is clear that relief must be found for
vehicular traffic
Street car congestion results from the
Long diagonal crossing OF the Broadway
surface tracks and the Sixth avenue
surface tracks just south of Thirty
fourth street. making a triangular cross
Ing with the Thirty fourth street sur,
race car tracks, causing slowing UP OF
the movement OF all street cars for the
reason that 1t is impossible for the
Broadway cars and the Sixth avenue
cars to move simultaneously. The
broadway cars must shoot the crossing
and clear the Thirty-fourth street tracks
before the Sixth avenue cars can move
1t Is obvious that when there are six to
eight Broadway southbound oafs and as
many southbound Sixth avenue eNro and
as many Broadway and Sixth ..Yenue
northbound cars waiting for the. signal
there Is great delay in operation on
account OF this triangular crossing. II
all the Broadway cars cross first then
the Sixth avenue cars are greatly de-
layed, and If the cars cross alternately
there Is greater delay both to the Broad
way and Sixth avenue cars because one
car must absolutely clear the Thirty
fourth street crossing and the triangular
crossing before the cars on the other
lines can move. The four tracks of the
Broadway and Sixth avenue lines.
therefore, have no greater capacity than
two tracks; in fact they have less.
At this intersection. under police regu-
lations, traffic each way is allowed one
minute to move. 1t has been found that
1t requires a street car twelve seconds
to cross Thirty-fourth street and the
diagonal crossing. and this permits five
cars of the Broadway or Sixth avenue
lines to cross Thirty-fourth street dur
ing the traffic interval providing the
cars are all on the one line and follow
each other very closely. But to delay
the cars on the other line would cause
loss of at least three minutes to each
one OF the passengers on all the cars.
which in this day and age is inexcus-
able, as certainly past experiences have
taught us greater efficiency in street
car operation. t3