Evening star., 1928-03-18
5,opl,Q(|O MOTORS
IN 1935FORESEEN
Prediction Brings Warning OF
Dangers to Be Incurred on
Crowded Highways.

/ coo, 600 to $4,000, 900 registered motor
vehicles. according to Walter F. ChfyS-
| Ter. How can We accommodate that
great army of passenger cars. trucks
and husSes'
In the ccntcrs Of our larger cities
more of the rail traffic will BE- under
ground In Somo cities the surface car
viii give way to the bus, In others the
street car will be taken Oft the streets
and nut in underground tunnels. Ele-
vateos for overhead trains will be torn
down SubWays will be substituted.
Streets will he widened where 1t can
BE- done without Inconvenience by maxi
ing sidewalks narrower. More boule-
ward systems will be laid out. Arterial
highways will be constructed.
Separation of grades is another step.
Note how motor cars from Park avenue
get around tho Grand Central Station
in New York City An overhead motor
way extends from Park avenue and
Fortieth street to Park avenue and
FoNv-ffth Imagine the congestion at
Persaing Square without such grade
separation.
Provision In Other Cities.
Detroit has a similar grade separa-
ton at East Grand boulevard and East
Jefferson avenue. San Francisco has
an overpaSS at the foot of Market street
and the FmharCadcro. Cincinnati has
overpasScs where one street Is carried
by bridge or viaduct over another
For years We rightfully stressed more
careful driving To-day many agencies
arc buSily engaged in teaching the motor
list to drive carefully. But today there
also is movement which encourages
the pedestrian TO walk carefully. Con-
III Ia frtyt IA
work If ii is consistently pointed out
that nearly all pedestrians are fire.
ouently motorists, and that nearly all
motorists are frequently pedestrians.
To walk carefully means to cross
streets at crossings. 1t means to OBJ
serve traffic signals and traffic rules. A
few cities have succeeded in keeping
pedestrians on the curb until they are
given the right Of way. A city like
Chicago. with its Loop district, may
find pedestrian traffic too great to eX-
pect all pedestrians to keep on the side
walk until given the signal to go. But
most cities are finding that they can
reduce the number of accidents BY en-
couraging pedestrians to observe signals
and to be guided by them.
A Chicago transportation executive
recently made the impressive statement
streets of Chicago was alert enough to
get through lines Of moving vehicles.
That may apply to the Loop district,
which has problems peculiar TO itself.
but it hardly applies to most cities
Pedestrians File Complaint.
Many pedestrians complain that they
are obliged to cut through lires OF We
hicles because. when they wait for the
signal TO cross. they find their line Of
walk cut off by vehicles coming around
the corner. The pedestrian should be
permitted to cross before vehicles are
allowed TO turn corners.
Police officers are going into the
schools in many cities 10 instruct chill
dren how to cross streets, and when. In
those same cities policemen are assigned
to street corners children use frequently
i'm going TO and from school. Usually
those police in escorting children across
streets, wait for signals before crossing.
At least they should.
This type of education means that
the years to come will bring us a gen.
Grafton of men and women schooled In
the WAYS Of careful walking
Traffic problems are usually consid-
cred as police problems. AS they In
creased the number OF police was In
the synchronized electric signal system
control. This was accepted in many
communities as a substitute for the
traffic policeman. The truth is that
there is no substitute for the traffic off,
Ger. Al some intersection the signal
light Is all right At others II isn't Sig
nails will work under certain traffic con-
ditions, but not all
EXPRESS HIGHWAYS Protect.
Our larger cities will be connected by
express highways These will be in
closed like railroad rights-of-way. There
will be separate lanes for slow-moving
vehicles and separate lanes for the fast
er-movlng ones. When grade crossings
are encountered the highway will 60
overhead or underneath.
America today has a most ambitious
ro3d-building program. There Is every
reason 10 believe that this program win
! be expanded until this country will have
great system of transcontinental high
ways and roads. extending from Canada
10 Mexico. OF course. as soon as We
finish two-way highway. traffic on II
frequently increases TO point where a
f0ur-way highway Is needed. This Is
bound 10 be true for eight or ten years
more
The United States will never COM
plete It's r0ad-building program. New
highways will be needed constantly. Old
highways must be kept In repair and
many must be widened.
| The elimination OF grade crossings is
tremendous job This work should
! continue until every dangerous crossing
Is eliminated. with an overpass or un~
| derpa6s built In It's stead There Is
also the job Of eliminating curves from
! highways. Engineers today agree that
| highways must possess what might be
| called built-in safety. Signs can't be
| relied on 10 make highways safe.
| Parking Problem Remains.
The parking problem will probably
| be- with us always But 1t will be met In
part by erecting tall ramp garages In
/ areas where rents aren't so high.
! III our most congested centers streets
! viii be cleared Of trucks loading and un-
| loading during the day. Loading will
! be done At remote delivery systems
| There viii be underground loading plat
/ forms, and IL is not AT all impossible
that main levels will be used by depart
, ment stores 10 park cars, Roofs may
be- used also.
| More and more attention Is being
given the *kYhcraper and It's relation
10 the lraf1lc congestion problem
Throughout the country there Is q
growing appreciation that New York
bulIt rs II iS on narrow island. Was
| compelled to 90 into The air 10 expand
because IT. couldn't grow In any other
direction
Other cities are realizing that there
rnVA' be some relationship between the
! inia . E4stt ara