Evening star., 1928-12-16
HRAFFIC lights in the down.
town business area and on
upper Fourteenth street

T@RAFFIC lights In the GOWN
town business area and on
upper Fourteenth street
Il will not be turned on until
after the holidays, it was authora-
lively stated by Director of Traffic
William H. Harland.
While the work of installation
is progressing rapidly in these sec
tions, it was Mr.. Harland's opin-
ION that, due to the large crowds
frequenting. the business areas at
this time of year, it would be bet
ter to wait the time when the
streets bordering these sections
are less congeSted.
Delay Downtown Lights.
''It takes time for the motorists
TO get used TO new lights" Mr.
Harland stated. 1T also takes a
few days generally for proper
adjustments to be made in regard
to timing. For these two reasons
/ deem it unwiSe to place the new
traffic signals in actual operation
before the first of the year.
Therefore, the lights on Thir-
teenth street, below Massachusetts,
avenue, other designated down
town streets and Fourteenth
street between Monroe and Har-
ward streets will await the close
of the holiday rush."
Provisions of the proposed mu-
nicipal code, under the Hoover
plan, were discussed at the meet
ing of the traffic council last
Thursday night. Besides the di-
rector of traffic and his assistant,
M. o. Eldridge, the council COM
priSes representatives of the
Chamber of Commerce, the
Board of Trade, the Merchants
and Manufacturers Association,
the Federation of Citizens AsSo-
Citations, the American Automo-
bile Association and the Wash
ington Automotive Trade ASSocla-
ton. Of the matters discussed at
this meeting it was found that
the District code now enforced
here differs very little from the
proposed municipal code.
Council Discussion.
Pedestrian control, regulation
In the National Capital, but at
present non-enforced, corresponds
with the plan of the municipal
code. The banning of all-night
parking, proposed in the munich
pal code, was tabled by the coun-
Gil when it was disclosed that the
garage shortage in this city was
at least SO per cent.
The council made the following
recommendations, which will be
effective this week: That parking
on the north side of New York
avenue between Fourteenth and
Fifteenth streets be changed from
angle parking to parallel; that
parking on the west side of Eighth
street between Market place and
E street be changed from angle
parking to parallel; that angle
parking be continued between E
and F streets. A recommendation
that angle parking on PennSyl-
vania avenue between Seven
teenth and Eighteenth streets be
changed to parallel parking was
voted down.
It was. believed that at this
meeting the discussion over the
making of left turns on interSec-
tions controlled by lights or po-
licemen would be brought up.
Time did not permit, and the pros
and cons will be argued at next
Thursdays meeting, which will be
held as usual in the Mills Build
inc.
Mr.. Harland stated that csn-
vaSs of traffic officers and officials
of the Traffic Bureau showed q
unanimous favoring of the con-
tinuing of the present system.
The present system, however, is in
total variance with the municipal
code, and a change back to the
old method is being ardently
fought for by various trade bodies
and automobile organizations.
The director of traffic, although
n favor of continuing the present
method, has admitted that most
of his objection to going back to
turning from the center of the
street would be eliminated If it
old not mean turning left before
the light changed or the police
man turned his semaphore. 1T is
the going against a red stop sign
that 1 object most TO-" he de-
clared.
Upholds Traffic Director.
A communication upholding the
traffic director in his method of
handling constant violatorS of the
more serious traffic regulations
was received recently The letter
following was sent to the Amer
lean Automobile Association and
a copy sent to Mr.. Harland:
II am a member of the District
of Columbia division Of the asso-
citation and am writing you with
reference to the campaign which
the Traffic Bureau now has under
way in an attempt to raise the
standard of automobile driving in
this city.
1T has been a. matter of much
surprise and chagrin TO me to
note in the newspapers the stand
that has been taken by the asso-
citation in opposition to this ex-
cellent piece CT work of the Traf-
fic Bureau.
Heretofore I have been glad to
be a member of the American
Automobile Association, but it's