Evening star., 1945-08-26
Traffic Rises
To 90 Pei. Of
Prewar Level
End Of Cos Rotioninq
Aids Porkine Lots
And Garages Here
BY HERMAN F. SCHADEN.

~ hGnMhN r. SCHADEN.
Ten days after the end of gaso-
line rationing, District trafic in
rolling at clip only 10 per cent
below that of prewar days, parking
lots and garages are doing a rush
business and the Traffic Bureau is
making broad plans for improving
conditions generally.
The speedy comeback of the gas
buggy, despite the wear and tear
of the war years, found roads heavy
with motorists yesterday trying to
catch up on long-deferred outings.
Many were among those who sat at
home during the weeks when traf1ic
dropped of Is per cent below pre-
war figures, according to Traf1ie
Bureau checks.
Traffic Rises 60 Per Cent.
Announcing that 60 per cent of
the traffic missing during the war
was back on the highways during
the first week of free wheeling, the
Traffic Bureau said the motorists
were going to benefit from a mum.
ber of things.
Chief Engineer John Milton said
that, effective about the middle of
September, restrictions will be lifted
on parking in downtown areas Sat-
urday afternoons, and after Gov
ernment employees 60 on a 4O-hour
week part-time one-way streets will
be eliminated.
The bureau also plans to install a
central traffic signal control so that
individual lights may be adjusted
to varied traffic and weather con-
dltlons. Now it is necessary either
to adjust the lights on the scene
or in groups from the control board
Mr.. Milton said it probably will be
two years, however, before the equip
ment is available.
Plan Pedestrian Aids.
Pedestrians will be remembered.
too. The bureau will install at sew
eral intersections eight traffic lights
instead of four. This will enable the
married walker to see the signal
clearly without looking diagonally
across the street.
The eight-light system now is Oh.
Grating at Eighteenth street and
Virginia avenue NV. and soon will
be installed on Pennsylvania ave.
nue. from Seventh to Ninteenth
streets. on Connecticut avenue from
Taft Bridge to the District line and
on Sixteenth street from H street
to Decatur street.
Another bureau reform" calls for
the use of durable crosswalk mark
ers-small blocks in the pavement
instead of Ines-to guide pedes-
trlans across streets. The markers
now are in use at several inter.
sections.
To Buy Parking Meters.
The bureau has completed plans
TO buy $50 new parking meters when
they are manufactured again to sup
plement 290 now used in zone i
an area bounded by PENNSYLVANIA
and New York avenues and Sixth
oAAN = AtCCiltIi SIi c6GS NV,
Mr.. Milton said the bureau also is
studying the advisability of return
ing to operation 80 traffic lights shut
OH during the war. Two already
have been turned on, he said.
Signs along the streets, such as
those marking mo parking" zones,
Will be repainted or refurbished
during the next two years and an
effort will be made to mark more
clearly the route signs on streets
which also are highways, he said.
Some parking ablishment man.
ayers gleefully reported last night
they were having the pleasure of
turning away customers for the first
time since autos began wearing "A"
stickers as an indispensable acces.
sorry.
Things still aren't as rushing as
the good old days and some of the
jallopies look as though they may
not start again, but the parking
people are welcoming back many an
old friend.
AJOy AAASA SoSS0 O0SAACSSs
While most of the managers were
chortling over increases in business
up to so per cent, one lot operator
could only bemoan the lack Of
larger facilities.
We've had cur full quota of l..
600 cars all through the war-Gov-
ernment workers." he said. "Now
we are forced to hire men to stand
at the gates and turn cars away
as many as 800 a day."
The manager of nine downtown
lots spoke happily of a 10 per cent
hike in business.
Women shoppers we haven't
seen for some time come in and
cheerfuly announce, You'll be see
ing me more often now" he said.
Some of them say they hadn't
had their cars downtown in two
years. Most of them park longer
now than before the war, probably
because it is harder finding the
things they want in the stores"
Reports 100 Per Cent Gain.
An oldtimer whose lot adjoins q
large theater boasted a 100 per cent
improvement last Friday night
his best night in two years.
Business dropped of as low as
20 cars night during the war, but
now we get as many as $50 a night,
We've got dusty old lot full sign
around here that gave us q lot of
sour laughs for q while, but now
we're thinking Of bringing it out
again."
He said most Washington garage
and lot owners stuck by their guns
through the lean days, fully realiz-
ing that the parking business here
was one Of the best in the country
and worth waiting for.
Tourist Trade Arriving.
One lot near the Union Station
which caters largely to tourist trade
is humming again with out-of town
cars.
They started coming a day or
two after the gas came back" the
owner said. Nov they are COM
ing at a rate Of Is or 80 q day
from as far as Louisiana and Wash.
ington State. And surprisingly
enn,1Ch r1oSf of fha nave .o>..- -