Evening star., 1926-10-06
TREASURY CORNER
CONTROL NEEDED
Congestion at Madison Place
and Avenue Is Danger
GUS Problem.

thorough agreement that something
ought to be done" to relieve conges-
tion and traffic jams which occur
frequently throughout the day at tn-
corner Of Madison place. East execu-
tive avenue and Pennsylva MIA avenue
but investigation by The Star reveals
that beyond this nothing has been
done to solve the problem.
As early as January - Inspector
Brown OF the Traffic Bureau recon
mended that a policeman be sta atiOned
at this corner. within the shadow Of
The White House" and one Of the
busiest street intersections in Wash
ington throughout the day. The di-
rector Of traffic. NJ. y. Eldridge, is of
The same opinion. Inspector Shelby,
personnel officer Of the Metropolitan
Police, thinks the same thing. But.
; taking refuge behind the expla 10 ton
that there are not enough policemen
10 go around. the Police Department
has left the corner ung,larded except
for an officer who is taken off his
beat TO direct traffic there during the
morning and -afternoon rush hours,
with the result that the corner in
question is not only dangerous bur
presents throughout the day a picture
III tangled t;a fTir and mix-ups.
1873 Police on Duty.
Washington, the capital Of the Ma
''N. Witis :, - phi"e "n ti,Ity is un-
able 10 regulate traffic throughout he
day nj This important corner. beca Use
a single officer can; be spared for the
task. according to the statement of
Inspector Shel,1y.
Police officials, they declare, would
like To see q policeman stationed at
this intersection from 7:3O am. to
$50 pm. daily and also al 1880 pm.
To regulate the heavy traffic that pours
through these arteries at the conclu-
sion of theater performa noes. SO
would The Washington public. accord
ing I" the tone az remarks ~ those
NJ" 't"N7 beer ""1,ght in the Jams.
Selecting for no particular reason)
the half Eour beginning at . O'Clock
Yesterday afternoon. an observer took
a position on the southwest corner
and watched the heavy volume Of traf-
Il" flow IA from ittir directions and he
come cloGged in the center Of the
crossing. while pedestrians, at the
curhing, stood first on one foot and
then on the other, waiting patiently
:"r an opportunity t. get through the
whit lined u mes provided Tor them
While there was no accident in this
half hour. the left hand turns. from
Ease Executive avenue into Pennsyl-
vannia avenue west. and from Penn
~Nivsnia avenue tn Madison place
within the first five minutes of oh
servation. caused seven jams, lasting
only very short time. but demon
CT 20 .,I al,
hourly regulation.
Every minute Of that period marked
the passage OF automobiles through
these important arteries. the pre-
ponderance OF traffic at that time
seeming to he from PENNSYLVANIA
west and from Fast Executive ave
nue.. AT least one-third OF the cars
emerging from these streets executed
left-hand turns.
Confusion BECOMES Routine.
The run OF events soon became
routine. A string of cars rushed
north on East Executive avenue. while
on Pennsylvania avenue. going east,
another long line came along. Each
driver. quite naturally, seemed to take
the slogan. Every man for him
self" and pushed his car as far as
it would go. Then the leading car
in either group would signal a left
hand turn. about the time a street
car changing its hell and applying
its brakes. added to the confusion. In
second there were cars in the mid
die of the street pointing all drec-
tions. with lines running back into
the four streets, blocking pedestrian n
traffic and creating one of the nu-
merous 80 or 40 second jams.
Some one would give way, saclA
flee his right to push ahead and let
the other fellow so by. and in an
ming east and west or north and
south. In short time the whole
thing would he repeated again.
On one occasion heavy truck
turned west into Pennsylvania avenue
from East Executive avenue and. just
AS it was about to complete the change
in direction. tho engine stalled. Other
cars from East Executive avenue had
crowded up to within an inch Of each
other, while traffic going south on
Madison place was halted hy the lead
er of that line. who wished to make q
left hand turn into Pennsylvania ave
nue.. That leader could get nowhere
because OF the line of cars from Ea st
Executive avenue held up by the stall
cd truck and the line running into
Madison place was likewise stalled
East and west affiC was naralvZ
until the huge truck got under way
once more.
Every street ear going east or west
is forced To apply its brakes at this
point to avoid collisions with speedy
ut-cornered" left -hanr turns. and il
is not an uncommon thing to find
them in abe center of jams IT this
point Brakes scream. tires drag on
the roadway and tenders and bumpers
click at regular intervals. The mo, or
list hreatheS a sigh of relief as he
leaves this problem behind him.