Evening star., 1924-11-28
HIGHWAY CAPACITY
INCREASE URGED
Hoover's Engineering Com
mittee, Soon to Meet, Sug-
gests Safety Methods.

Looking forward into future
when the present street and highway
traff1c will be greatly augmented.
recommendations as to the most mod
ern engineering practices calculated
to increase the capacity of the high
ways and at the same time promote
safety have been drawn up by the
committee on construction and engi-
nearing of the conference on street
and highway safety, which will meet
December Is at the call of Secretary
Hoover. The report of the commit
tea was made public today.
Twentyfour recommendations deal
ing with construction of traffic high
ways and city streets in their rela-
tion to motorstraffic are made, among
the most important of which are the
following:
Every pavement in a city street
should be wide enough for at least
three lanes of traffic without street
cars or four lanes with street cars.
Those for streets of heavy traffic
should be wider.
Parking Space Considered.
Right Of way for parking space, for
clear view at curves and intersec-
tions and for future roadway WIDEN
ing should be provided before the
cost of land becomes prohibitive.
Highways of primary Importance
should not have curves Of less than
3o0-foot radius. Heavy grades and
sharp curves should not be combined
A clear view of approaching vehi-
cles for at least 800 feet should be
provided at all points on highways
Of primary Importance.
Grade-crcsSing elimination through
cooperation of municipalities, States
and railroads must be the ultimate
remedy for the ailroad-highWay
grade crossing peril, and creation of
new grade crossings should be avoid
ed wherever possible. Crossings re
naming at grade should be safe
guarded in every reasonable way.
STANDARD warning signals or pave
ment markings should be supplement-
ed by automatic signals, crossing
f1agmen or gates, depending on the
volumes of highway and rail traffic
Pedestrian lanes in cities should
be marked on the pavement at busy
intersections.
City streets should be sufficiently
illuminated so that bright headlights
will be unnecessary and so that
traffic signs will be clearly visible.
Flood lighting of traffic officers is
recommended.
Objects near the roadway, such as
faces should be painted white; also
distractions such as columns and
curbs at the center of underpasses
Parking space as such, the COM
mittee said. should not he regarded
as an essential part of the design of
city streets. The pavements ere,
however, usually designed to carry
more than the traffic Immediately
anticipated and this will afford op-
portunity for parking until the
traffic authorities find it necessary
to restrict or prohibit it to make
room for the moving vehicles.
The committee recommends that
highways on embankments should be
protected by substantial guard rails.
Safety requires, the committee sug-
gestS, that pavementS be maintained
in good condition, free from holes and
depressions, which besides causing
breakage are likely to interfere with
drivers control and with the free flow
of traffic. This applies to both city
streets and rural highways.
Signs and Signals.
-Four of the committees recon-
mendations deal with "cautionary or
stop signs and signals at danger
points, direction and distance signs at
important intersections and signs and
signals to indicate special traffic rules
and regulation" which. the committee
says, should be provided as part of
the construction" and which should
be simple and uniform for given
purpose throughout the United
States"
Uniform color indications for signs
and signals as recommended by the
committee are: Red for stop" green
for proceed" yellow for caution"
purple or other color as a special pre-
cautionary Indication at crossroads
with white letters or symbols on the
red, green or purple backgrounds and
black letters or symbols on the yell
low.
White center lines are recommend
ed for curves, Interests, irregular in
tersections and other danger points,
but the committee declares such lines
should not be used on straight level
sections of highway or between
blocks in cities. Frank Page, chair
man of the North Carolina Highway
Commission, is chairman of the COM
mittee.