Evening star., 1946-02-23
William A. Van Duzer
d. {. Traffic Director,
Dies Of Long Illness

William A. Van Duzer, "a, di-
rector of motor vehicles and
traffic here for nearly Is years,
died early today in Doctors Hos
pital after an illness of several
months.
Mr.. Van Duzer became traffic
director on July i, 1881, after more
than Is years with the Pennsylvania
State Highway Department. He
was invited to Washington on a
trial basis, and was given a perma-
.nent appointment the following
year.
One of his first steps after taking
Office was to organize automobile
title records in line with his ex-
perience in Pennsylvania. He in
stituted a policy of frequent sur
veys to guide decisions on parking
and placement Of traffic signals
On planning, he worked In Coop
Grafton with Highway Director H
C. Whitehurst.
Mr.. Van Duzer was an early
champion of staggered paydays and
hours of work for Government en-
ployes as devices to ease rush-hour
and payday traffic jams in the
downtown area.
Faced Complex Problem.
The complexities which Washing
tons circles and diagonal avenues
injected int the problem of speed
ing traffic flow prompted Mr.. Van
Duzer to engage in extensive ex-
perimentation. In his first years
here, he was involved in frequent
differences of opinion over most
effective methods of dealing with
traffic problems. They ranged from
arguments on master plans for the
Metropolitan Area to a citizens
association charge in 1888 that he
created through street to suit his
personal convenience, an accusation
which he refuted with traffic-count
figures.
Mr.. van Duzer was an advocate
of uniform traffic regulations for all
jurisdictions. He also was instru.
mental in making routes for traffic
passing through the city.
He was named administrator oil
Defense Transportation for the
District by the Commissioners or
May II, 1912, upon recommendation
of the Engineer Department Traffic
Committee. In this post, he worked
with the National Highway Traffic
Advisory Committee to the Wal
Department for the District.
Native of Ohio.
Mr.. Van Duzer was a native oil
Jefferson, Ohio. He joined the
Pennsylvania State Highway De.
partment in 1905 and held engineer.
ing posts of increasing responsible.
ity through the years. When called
to the Capital, he was assistant
chief engineer and deputy secretar,
of highways.
The traffic director was a pas
president of the American Roat
Builders Association. He also hel,
membership in the American So
ciety of Civil Engineers, American
Association Of State Highway OF
ficials, Highway Research Board
American Association of Motor We
hicle Administrators, Institute o
Traffic Engineers, Washington XII
wants Club and Washington Boar,
Of Trade.
Mr.. Van Duzer is survived by hi
widow, Mrs. Nerissa Van DuZel
with whom he made his home, a
2640 Forty-fourth street NV;
sister, Mrs. Elizabeth Bullfinch, Q
Conneaut, Ohio; a brother, Clarenc
Van Duzer, of Cleveland; tw
, nieces, Miss Jane Shuey, of Harris
, burg, Pa, and Mrs. Karl Wyles, Q
Cleveland, and two nephews, Mil
ford Mcguire, of Bethesda, Md, an,
Milford Bullflnch, of Cleveland.
Funeral services will be held at /
am. Monday in st. Adams Epis
copal Church. Interment will b
| in HARRISBURG pa