Show I I I I I 1 I SPEED PEED SAFETY IS NEW NEV TENDENCY IN HIGHWAY BUILDING 1 The tendency of ot highway building building build build- ing at present is to permit fast tray tray- traveling ling cling with safety K C C. C Wright assistant as- as engineer for the state highway high high- way department said aId Saturday Mr Wright declared that the Utah highway high way engineering staff start Is accomplishIng accomplish- accomplish Ing ng this in at least three ways ways flat flat flat- ening of curves increasing the su su- of curves and cutting off ort the top of earth banks to permit better vision on curves which are necessarily arlly sharp Our Instructions from the highway high way commissioners now are to make curves which will permit the drivers of or approaching cars to see the cars at least feet away Mr Wright said aid This means that auto drivers will have at least a a. full city block blockI within which to apply brakes slow up or take whatever precautions precaution might be necessary There are some cases where it IsI is Impossible to lay layout out a curve which will permit this vision In these c cases cs we trim off oft enough of the hillside on the inside of the curve to make the tops of or the cars visible for sev sa eral cral hundred feet We have increased the ration of the curves about 25 per cent In other words roads built some years ears ago were built bunt to permit automobiles to make the bend safely at 30 miles mlles an hour Now we are SIC building the curves to permit a a. safe lafe speed of 37 1 12 2 miles mUes an hour This means that on a n curve with witha a foot 1500 radius with a road bed of 24 feet from shoulder to shoulder the tho outer side of the highway would b bo be 10 inches higher than the inner side Under the old system th the would be seven Inches Utah differs from some states in that thata a curve is never banked more than two feet Other highway departments departments depart depart- ments make their as high as two and one half feet on certain curves GIVES FAST TURN The high permits faster movement around the curve but if a slow moving vehicle such as asa asa a loaded truck t-ruck tries to negotiate the bend it is likely to slide down onto the other fellows fellow's part of the road and cause a bad accident We have come to the tho conclusion that a curve with a radius of 1500 feet is just about as safe as a straight piece of road All curves have a tendency ten dency to wear and get rough due to the centrifugal force of the car whipping whip ping up the gravel particles and throwing them toward th the outside of the curve cune A straight piece of road or tangent is therefore preferred by the maintenance department The matter of removing obstructions lions from the drivers driver's vision has been receiving considerable attention The highway department kept a lot of men at work last winter whiter by this pol icy There are many curves in the state which can be improved by simply simply sim sim- ply taking off a few feet of earth or Just cutting down one or two humps which obscure the view This work IsI is preceding with dispatch I |