TRAFFIC EXPERT REVEALS PLANS FOR CONTROLLING OF BOSTON TRAFFIC BY PROGRESSIVE SIGNAL AIDS

"The survey of Boston Traffic conditions conducted by the Albert Russel Erskine Bureau of Harvard at the authorization of the Boston City Council in 1926 will bear its first fruits in the next few months with the start of a progressive revision of present methods of signal control", asserted M. N. Halsey traffic expert in charge of a Massachusetts state survey to a CRIMSON representative yesterday.

Halsey is a former member of the Erskine Bureau and is carrying on his present work as a representative of Dr. Miller McClintock director of the University Bureau for Street Traffic Research. He was one of the original committee appointed by Dr. McClintock for the Boston survey.

Recommendations Adopted

"The recommendations made by the Erskine Bureau in 1927 after a year investigation of Boston traffic have all been made effective by the City Counter continued Halsey. "The most important of these in fact the key stone for any further action was the establishment of a permanent Traffic Engineering Division for the city.

"Though this Division three plans of improvement will be carried into effect. The first is the adoption of a progressive Signal Control system. To facilitate this Boston has been divided into four zones each zone mapped out according to the amount of traffic occurring in it. The first unit includes Boylston Tremont and Washington streets and will have the new tricolor signals installed this winter. The City Council has granted $125,000 for this one zone. The other three areas will be completed in the order of their importance.

"In conjunction with the new signal controls which will allow an uninterrupted cruising speed of 15 miles an hour in downtown traffic the Engineering Division will increase the number of through streets of arterial boulevards. This is the second plan of revision and should aid a great deal in preventing traffic congestion. At present there are only two through streets Commonwealth Avenue and Blue Hill Boulevard.

"The third revision has already been made effective by the State. This is the changing and amendment of Boston traffic ordinances in accordance with the code recommended at the Hoover Conference on traffic. Boston also has been affected by the new Massachusetts law which gives supervisory control of all lights and through street regulations to the state. The new signal units will be subject to this.

Changes to Take Three Years

"The changes contemplated for Boston will take about three years to completed. When the "Progressive Control" system is installed however Boston will have the same methods of traffic control as are now in effective use in Los Angeles and Chicago. Dr. McClintock also advocated and was responsible for the adoption of the system in these two cities."