Evening star., 1924-09-17
ARTICLE TX.


There are probably no expedients
for the solution Of the many traffic
problems more productive Of contro-
versy than some Of those Of the city
planner and zoner. He is no longer
the city beautifier. He is the traffic
engineer dealing not only with the
city of the future. but with the city
OF today and of 25 years ago. He
deals with physical conditions and
his problem is a most perplexing one.
Take, for example. the by-passing of
main trunk highways around in
stead OF through communities. When
one of these highways has been
projected through a State, every viii
lage, every town and every city has
insisted that 1t pass through their
main business districts. But, says the
city planner. the small additional
amount of business you may get
from the through traffic using these
highways will not compensate you
for the Inconvenience to your local
trade due to congestion caused by
tourists who are passing through
without stopping. Experience has
proved the correctness of this view.
Many communities are now content
to have these highways skirt the city
limits and build out to them for the
accommodation OF those who wish to
stop.
Arterial highways or boulevards is
another scheme which has proved
highly successful in many large
cities. These are streets set aside
for through traffic. which is permitted d
to travel at speed of 80 or Sc miles
an hour without stopping or slowing
up at street intersections. Traffic
fro ctr I,cf oil
there is break in the traffic before
crossing or work into it and out
again at some other point as the
opportunity may present itself. The
slight delay It times to those using
the cross streets is more than offset
by the general convenience to the
motoring public throughout the
year.
Decentralization and the creation
Of business sub-centers which is ad-
vocated by some city planners, often
meets opposition for which there are
curious arguments. In New York,
for example, some of the social work.
ers claim that the congestion Of ten
eme mt dwellers permits more efficient
social service work. This view meets
with strenuous objections based on
the theory that any advantage that
might be gained in this direction is
more than Offset by bad living,
health and traffic conditions. 1t is
argued that while congo stion may
make it a little more convenient for
the social workers. the ends sought
by members OF this profession can be
easily accomplished by decentraliza-
ton.
The city planner has an equal inter-
est in parking regulations with the
traffic control officer. He approaches
it, however, from the standpoint of a
substitute for parking on the street
rather than restrictions, time limits.
angles, etc. He studies the possi
bilities of parking in the interior of
deep business blocks. in day storage
garages. underground. and on side
streets, II these are eliminated from
the main thoroughfares. In this
same connection he also studies the
feasibility of alternating lanes of
traffice such as three incoming lanes
and one outgoing in the morning. re-
versing the process in the evening.
X X
The segregation Of tram by type
Of vehicle on particular streets is an
ther interesting suggestion. 1t is
quite possible that the future devel-
opment of cities may be Influenced
in a wholesome way by routing truck
traffic through valleys or other areas
suitable for manufacturing purposes.
keeping the light traffic on higher