Evening star., 1934-05-28
MERCHANTS BEGIN
|DR|VE TO IMPROVE
TRAFFIC SITUATION
Urge Customers Obedience
to Overtime and Double
Parking Bans.
ID SPECIAL POLICEMEN
| ARE ASSIGNED TO DUTY
Officers Are Given Instructions to
Crack Down" on Drivers in
Deliberate Violations.

A campaign for improvement Of
downtown traffic conditions was
launched today by organized Wash
ington merchants, with the arm Of
the law poised ready to lend any
needed cooperation.
BY advertisement, radio addresses
and suggestions to their customers as
to parking facilities, the merchants
are seeking to obtain widespread
obedience of rules against overtime
and double parking on downtown bus
mess thoroughfares. At the same
time, IA special traffic policemen were
assigned to patrol the business dis
trict to see that the recently invoked
new regulations were obeyed. These
officers were assignd to the district
bounded by Pennsylvania and New
York avenues, Fifth and Fifteenth
streets.
The joint campaign by merchants
and police was planned after the
Commissioners had restored the priv
ilege of one-hour parking on F, C
and Seventh streets in downtown
washington at the insistent request
of merchants, who had protested that
the no-parking experiment was ruin
ing their business.
Commercial Space Reserved.
The one-hour parking privilege does
not apply to morning and evening
rush-hour periods, between 8 and $50
am. and and pm. Motorists also
are prohibited from parking in one
zone on either side Of the street in
each block, reserved for the use of
commercial vehicles for use in un-
loading and loading merchandise.
AT the direction Of Commissioner
Hazen, Capt. Milton D. Smith of the
Police Traffic Bureau has assigned
the IA additional policemen to see
that the new traffic rules are obeyed.
AS the campaign started, in fact,
Capt. Smith told his officers to crack
down on any motorists who appear
to be deliberately violating the rules
The campaign was given a send-off
last night by Commissioner Hazen.
who made the initial address for the
radio series, over Station WJSV. in
which he declared that if the public
! does not observe the regulations, the
police will take proper action. Com
missioner Hazen added that if present
regulations are not generally obeyed.
still further limitations on parking
privileges would have to be invoked.
Capt. Smith will make the second
OF the radio appeals at 5:45 pm. to-
day over Station VOL. Ten other
addresses are to be given later as the
campaign proceeds.
Merchants to Cooperate.
The campaign was organized by
representatives of the Merchants and
Manufacturers Association, Chamber
Of Commerce, Board of Trade and the
Seventh Street Business Mems As
sociation. Spokesman for these groups
have pledged full cooperation in
parking-rule enforcement if the Com
mlSsloners will abandon their expert
ment which barred the daytime park
ing on the three downtown streets.
Arthur J. Sundlun. spokesman for
the Joint Trade Body Committee,
! announced that letters have been
sent to 900 Washington merchants
outlining the enforcement campaign.
The letters contained numerous sug-
gestions for customers Of the mer-
chants as to when and where they
can park and when and where they
cannot park cars on the public streets.
Both the merchants and District
| officials are emphasizing that a spe-
cial effort will be made to break up
the practice of double parking, be-
cause it has served to greatly congest
traffic.