ROOMIER ROADS

Grey River Argus, 15 December 1937, Page 5

ROOMIER ROADS

CALIFORNIAN POLICY. WIDENING OF LANES. “California must build the safest highways possible, even though it means a definite curtailment in totai mileage constructed,” stated Mr. C. H. Purcell, the State highway engineer, in announcing the future policy to build wider highways in order to handle more rapid travel and heavier traffic with greater safety. Present standard 10ft. lanes for two-lane highways will be increased to a basic lift, width, making the roadway 22ft. instead of 20ft. Threelane highways also will have a lift, lane, thus providing for future expansion into four-lane highways with minimum loss of investment.

Divided highways with a four-foot minimum centre structure are planned for new four-or-more-lane roads. These highways will have an lift, width for outside lanes while 12ft. specifications have been laid for lanes adjacent to the centre dividing strip. Although many miles of divided highway have been built and are planned, this type of thoroughfare still.- will comprise only a smffil percentage of the State highway system. The new policy of wider lanes has been strongly commended by the California State Automobile Association and Automobile Club of Southern California. The belief is-wide-ly held that the accident toll could be reduced by nearly one-third if main travel routes were widened where traffic is the heaviest and accidents most numerous.

Conforming with the new programme, bridges and grade separations also will have new specifications. Two-lane bridges will be 26ft. vide instead of 22ft. between kerbs and clearance. Between kerbs on a structure on a divided roadway will be 27ft, for each roadway,