| The sharp curves on the approaches to the Woodland Place Viaduct posed another serious concern. Because of the tight turns and constricted terrain, this was soon labeled the most dangerous place on the BRPR drive. In 1932 an automobile plunged through the guardwall, killing one person and severely injuring three others. Within two weeks, another car hit the concrete wall, skidded across the bridge into its approach, and plunged into the Bronx River. An editorial scolded the WCPC for the dangerous "S" curves and the angle at which the viaduct was built. The writer implored the commission to improve the viaduct’s approaches by banking the turns on each end. Other suggestions included replacing the viaduct with a bridge built at an angle to eliminate the road’s curves. Charles Ruhe, a Woodland Place resident, wrote a series of letters to the WCPC protesting the dangerous bridge and calling for corrections. Downer responded by pointing out that the road was not designed for traffic to drive at 60 miles per hour, and that the speed limit was 35 miles per hour. He asserted that the road was "a fine, safe driveway for any sane driver at speeds up to 45 miles per hour, depending upon the amount of traffic." Downer maintained that public officers could not be morally responsible for the nation’s numerous traffic fatalities. He also noted that some of the parkway’s worst accidents occurred on fairly straight stretches of road. "We could spend a couple of million dollars in changing the driveway to a modern speedway," Downer claimed, "upon which experience indicates there might occur more accidents than on the present parkway." For the time being, the recommended options were limited to caution signs and a heavy timber guardrail to protect the sidewalk on the bridge.(282) The majority of complaints about the parkway arose from the combination of heavy traffic, an apparent unfamiliarity with road rules, and the lack of courtesy during motoring’s early days. The BRPR drive was one of the most heavily traveled roads in the eastern United States and had earned a reputation as "the favorite road for a spin for the hundreds of thousands of motor car drivers in the metropolis." In 1929, the speed limit was 35 miles per hour, but motorists often drove faster as they cut in and out of traffic with abandon, even at curves. When the drive opened to traffic, no center line divided traffic lanes. This caused obvious problems but was typical for America’s roads at that time. New York City had recently painted a center line on the Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn, which newspaper accounts noted as the longest traffic marker in the world. The Daily Reporter speculated that many BRPR accidents were caused by cars being on the wrong side of the road and recommended that a similar center line be painted along the entire length of the drive. If there were a center line in the road, drivers would have no excuse for not knowing they were in the wrong lane. "Motorists," the writer claimed, would "involuntarily stay in line when the lanes are marked plainly." Other suggestions for enforcing the rules of the road included the installation of signs advising: "drive to the right," "come to a full stop before entering parkway," and "don’t be a road hog." The park commission had rules, but only the most courteous, careful drivers seemed to obey them. "Road hog" was a contemporary term for ill-mannered motorists who drove in the center of the road, raced every car on the road, and regarded all other drivers as "petty annoyances." The problem was common on all Westchester County parkways. In order to enforce the rules, twenty more parkway policemen were added to county parkways in 1929. By increasing enforcement, Merkel, now Westchester County Parkway Police Superintendent, hoped to eliminate accidents and increase the traffic capacity on the county’s parkways.(283) The Bronx River Parkway was the county’s most dangerous, with 593 accidents; the Hutchinson River Parkway was a distant second with 329, and the Saw Mill River Parkway had 158. The BRPR’s high accident rate was blamed on the road’s numerous curves. The BRPR was the only Westchester County parkway built prior to the introduction of modern, high-speed automobiles. One reporter speculated that the problem might be the result of parkway engineers designing the road with so many safety features, such as grade separations, that motorists felt unusually secure on the road and tended to forget that there might be cars coming from intersecting roads.(284) |
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| (282)"A
Second Accident," White Plains Daily Reporter, June 17,
1932; Charles Ruhe, letter to Jay Downer, June 27, 1932; "Car Drops
60 Feet into River from Viaduct; 1 Dead, 3 Hurt," Daily Reporter,
June 2, 1932; "The Woodland Place Viaduct," White Plains
Daily Reporter, June 4, 1932; Jay Downer, letter to Charles Ruhe,
June 7, 1932. |
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