Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-01-30

II highways be secured with
safety? What changes in
n II practice or regulation can be
made by the highway admins
traitor which win enable you and me
ana the other motor users to drive
comfortably and without constant in
corruption when we are on the road
az moments of peak travel?
What steps can be taken to facili-
late the constantly. growing move
1nent of commodities over the high
way out of large centers of popula-
JiOn?
How can we bring the development
"L rural highways into closer relation
ship with the transportation needs of
the farmer?
These questions are asked I1y Roy
j. Chaplin, chairman of the highway
committee of the National Automo-
pie Chamber of Commerce. Mr..
Chapin thus answers them:
Main Systems of Roads.
These are some of the questions
stated from a motor users viewpoint
Which are before the country today.
and with a new emphasis borne out
of the constantly increasing use of the
motor vehicle which we see on every
side of us.
"Since the passage Of the modified
highway engineers of the United
States, acting in cooperation with the
United States Bureau of Public Roads,
have been concentrating their re-
sources upon the development of main
systems of roads designed to carry a
bulk of the movement.
How well they have succeeded can
TIE answered by every motorist of any
long driving experience, who can tes-
ray oil n
gradual and steady improvement of
the highways over which he drives.
But, coincident with that develop
snent, not only has there been a very
marked increase in the number of
Vehicles, their types and the uses to
which they are put. but all Of us have
tended to increase our mileage of
travel as we have become assured in
our minds that we could venture forth
safely into all parts of the country
without fear of getting stalled in a
mud hole.
$50 today Florida licenses have be-
come a familiar sight on the streets
of New York City, while the man from
Iowa argues the question of traffic
laws with the California cop. At the
iame time truck efficiency has been
etepped up by the growing mileage of
beavy-duty highways and the modern
Nlities which but a few brief years ago
had to depend upon the restricted
services of branch line railroads or
upon the favor of owners of private
passenger cars.
THE net result is a steady stream
IF traffic which is practically contin-
nous on some of the main stems of
traffic in and between our larger
cities and exasperatingly common to
the motorist of smaller communities
At those moments when of all others
We is most anxious TO be on his way.
Outlines Obstacles.
"That the highway engineer is
thoroughly aware of the seriousness
Of the economic problem back of this
condition is best evidenced by the
testimony given by Thomas II. Mac
Donald, chief of the United States
Bureau of Public Roads. before the
subcommittee of Ihe House appropri-
AAions committee recently.
1.-THE chairman had asked how long
! would take to complete the 100000
miles of highways contained in the
Federal system. Mr.. Macdonald re-
piled:
1T will never be possible to COM
pIete 100000 miles of highways, using
the term never in the sense of any
fixed time that / can foresee. We
hope by 1880 to have improved the
system shown here of these main
routes and to have further improved
the sections that are not now ade-
quate for the traffic. Our most serious
traffic problem now is in the East, TO
find a method of carrying the traffic
around the congested centers Of popu-
lation and the congested districts of
the large centers; that is, the con-
struction of bypass roads, roads that
VIII run around such cities as Balti-
fimore and New York. We have
large problem in the elimination Of
grade crossings on main railroads and
intersections at grade with the main
highways
This statement points the way to
one large answer. Through traffic
carried across congested city areas
not only slows down the movement
and irritates the driver who is inter-
ested in getting on to his destination,
but it adds very materially to the
congestion Of the local movement and
hence to the cost of street mainte-
nance.
THE by-passing of through traffic
has already been demonstrated to be
"a sound cure for the expedition of
this phase of travel, and while care
fully planned additions will be neces-
eary to our highway programs to pro-
vide these highways, the cost VIII ne
far more than offset by the saving in
traffic time.
Study of Peak Hours.
1.-THE matter Of elimination of rail
crossings and road intersections at
grade is coming to be one of increasing
Importance in certain areas where
there is a constant and heavy flow of
Vehicles of all kinds and descriptions.
During a study made of the peak
movement for any hour in Chicago by
the Bureau of Public Roads in CO.
operation with State and local authori-
ties, it was found that 2,740 vehicles
per hour We're recorded on Western
avenue, which is one of heaviest
travelled streets in the country, pro-
Siding ways for six lanes of traffic.
I'm a study made some time ago Of
fhe possible discharge of highways,
a. n. Johnson Of the University of
Maryland found that the maximum
discharge occurred at Is miles per
hour and that for a single line Of
traffic the possible total would be 2,640
Vehicles
.In other words Western avenue.
with its six lanes, was dlscharging
only at the approximate capacity of a
single roadway, and the reason for