Evening star., 1942-10-04
Police Open Drive
TO Teach Pedestrians
To Keep 10 Right
Two-Woy Lones to Be
Pointed at Busiest
Downtown Crossings

| downtown SIoSSin9S
In an effort to eliminate cons +
fusion on the Capitals teeming is
downtown streets. two-way lanes is
for pedestrians viii be painted on
the pavement at nearly . dozen OF. ri
the city's busiest Intersections be- 10
ginning tomorrow. -
william A.. Van Duzer, tramc d. IN
rector, announced yesterday that nIo7
accordance with . suggestion from y
The Star . crew from his depart ~
ment will paint lines and arrows
on the intersection at Thirteenth 20!
and r streets NV. before tomor-'
rows morning rush hour. At least 4
eight other sections will be SINH or
larly marked within the next few 49,
days. u, j:
Keep to the Right. 80
At the same time, he urged pew
destrians to follow the new mark ,ii
ings and keep to the right Of the rc
center line which will divide the 6
pedestrian lanes already marked on 81
most downtown intersections. The
trafnc director said he hoped the
new system Of pedestrian control
would prevent the collision Of two9s
solid phalanxes Of pedestrians. II
crossing the street when the light. q
turns In their favor. He pointed
out that, beyond the annoyance tosd
the pedestrians themselves, the :
present confusion frequently makes 2
it difficult to clear up the intersec- Of
ton when the light changes. s's
Besides the corner Of Thirteenth 81
and F streets NV, the following in-o
tersections will be marked for two no
way pedestrian trafnc: qai
r street at Tenth. Eleventh. ,'d9
Twelfth and Fifteenth streets. rs
G street at Fifteenth street. DOC
Pennsylvania avenue at Thirteenth
and Fourteenth streets.
New York avenue 1t fifteenth 80
street. -
Two Lanes Formed. -
Mr.. Van Du2er indicated that :
other busy Intersections also will Be af;
marked If the plan works out sue :
cessfu1ly. z
Each pedestrian lane will be di-a
vided by . broken line to form two II
lanes. Arrows indicating the properoii
direction to be taken when walk n
ing across the street will be painted no
in each lane. The dividing line also,r e
will be carried over along the side ~
walk for q distance of about so feet'di
on both sides Of each street to split 81
up the pedestrian trafhc into thea T
proper channels before and after
they cross the street. =
Maj. Edward ]. Kelly, superin-7 II
tendent Of police, enthusiastically 81
approved the plan and said ut
should have been done some time
ago." e
Cites Gain In Traffic.
Pedestrian trafiic downtown was
growing steadily, even before gaso- s,
line rationing began" he declared. s
Nov the number Of persons walk +
ing on our downtown streets Is
reaching point where some con- :
troll system must be put into effect. ).
Just as we require automobiles to I,
drive on the right hand side OF r.
the road"
Inspector Arthur E. Miller. head t
Of the Metropolitan Police Depart d'
ment's Trafnc Bureau, also ex- :
pressed himself as being In favor Of
the program. -
Anything We can do to eliminate
confusion on downtown streets IS
worth q trial." he said. If the
public helps US by observing the =
new markings, there will be lot =
fewer pedestrian trafnc Jams. and VI
walking on the street will become
much more pleasant"
Busiest Corner Painted First. .s,
Mr.. Van Duzer said he was hav-i 6
ing the crossings at Thirteenth and
F streets painted first because this
was the Districts busiest corner. 8
1.-TWO years ago we took a count
of the number Of persons who passc
this intersection" he reported "Weo
found that there were between 5000
and 5000 pedestrians every hour.u
We haven't checked since then. butsr
we know that the figure would be II
very much greater today. 81
"On corners like this and on othero-
crowded Intersections In the down.ttl
town area, it is q common sight tor
see pedestrians massed on each side sr
of the street waiting for the lights
to change In their favor. The mo- :
ment they get the green light or the n
walk signal, they charge into the
street from both curbs In solida'
formations which are sometimes 7
wider than the entire crossing lane. 81
Collide Halfway Across. !" 80
when they meet in the center off, !.
the street, they collide - which, +,
means that they usually jostle eachy
other, step on some ones feet and ri
duck in and out to find openings. .1r
Or sometimes they simply step out =.
Of the lane and into the path ofuc
automobiles which are proceeding, ,,
across the intersection on the green a
light. parallel with the pedestrian5
trafnc." ~
The rrafic director said pedestrian a
trafnc would flow much more
smoothly when the people fully ri
understand the new markings and ),
realize they have been put there for "a
their benefit. ~
As matter Of fact, . little known ~
trafic regulation makes 1t IN ofYense-
4 punishable by . fine for pedestrians
to cross an intersection on the left
side Of . crosswalk. The regulation. 90
provides:
Pedestrians. shall move, whenI
ever practicable, upon the right halt
Of the crosswalk." n
Never Enforced.
Inspector Miller said the resu.
lation had never been enforced, But
1t could BE-" he added.
| The practice Of walking to the
right has long been followed by
New Workers where the rule Is an
plicable to pedestrians On the side.
walks SS well n thoae croasin~ a