European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 15, 1967, Darmstadt, Hesse Guardrails May cause deaths when they skewer out of control vehicles. Poles Trees signs can be major hazards for vehicles that smash into them. Up by Gaylord Shaw a staff writer Ith $30 billion already invest Din 25,000 Miles of interstate High ways the Federal government is preparing to spend hundreds of millions More to Correct Roadside hazards built int Many of the super expressways. Belatedly the government now real izes that thousands of Miles of inter state highways simply Aren t As Safe a they could be that they Are lined with faulty guardrails poorly constructed median barriers badly placed signs Light poles and other obstacles. Prodded by the Bureau of Public roads states Are drafting corrective programs. The Overall Cost of these won t be known until sometime next year but one knowledgeable source Peg the Price at several Hundred millions. The problem dates Back More than decade when work was beginning on the $50 billion interstate program. A that time some Road builders now admit planners underestimated the Dan Gers that might be posed by Road Side although research in the intervening years produced safer Highway hard Ware Many of the undesirable features continued to be built into the new High ways until at present the hazards Are As widespread As they Are dangerous they exist from coast to coast says rep. John a. Blatnik d-minn., chair Man of a House subcommittee investigating Highway design examples it s been Well known in engineering circles that lightweight breakaway poles that snap off harmlessly when struck by a car were available for Road sign signs and. Light fixtures. But Man states continue to erect signs and lights on heavy steel poles mounted in con Crete bases pillars of peril for any vehicle that smashes into records show some guard rails steer careening cars head on into unyielding structures like Bridge abut ments. With Little extra expense these rails could be bolted onto the inside sur face of the abutment allowing a car to slide safely by. Some states Bury Guardrail ends inthe ground but Many others leave the end exposed in position to skewer out of control vehicles. Trees Large ones fully As dead Lyas steel and Concrete Dot Many Road sides. Among these potential hazards Are some saplings planted in the Beauty fifa tinn or pram he Thurrl superhighway safety a super headache ? just As it does for interstate con station costs the Federal government i pick up the Tab for 90 per cent of corrective programs. And Washington officials won t Lito go far to get an idea of How Exi Sive this will be. They can Fin prime example in interstate 495, a mile $172.5-million Beltway enc Irethe nation s capital. After Blatnik committee investing catalogued the Beltway s hazards i pointed out that 77 persons were Jon it in three years Maryland h Way officials drafted a $1.8-Mi package to remove hazards on the 42.8-mile Section in their state. This includes More than $1 million for new Impact absorbing guardrails. Some other states have safety improvement programs under Way too. New York for example expects to spend about $50 million in the next two years to Correct safety deficiencies on interstate and other highways. Texas has maintenance Crews instal Ling breakaway Light and sign poles on its 68,000-mile state already has equipped most of its freeways with a mesh and Cable median Barrier that has passed grueling tests. But most states Only now Are making inventories of the hazards. It could be years officials say before corrective programs Are completed in All areas. Meanwhile the Bureau of Public roads is requiring that safety features such As breakaway sign poles and buried Guardrail ends be incorporated in interstate projects now being built. Blatnik s committee has zeroed in on the interstate network although Statis tics show beyond doubt that these High bulldozers and Bones by Martha Cole a staff write among Highway workers if the can t pronounce palaeontology they just say fossils and be turned up items like Dinosaur tracks discovered in Pecos county tex.,while building . Route 57. They be salvaged Indian Mound in Iowa an excavated prehistoric ruins in Arizona. When Bulldozer operators started dig Ging for a Section of interstate 71 near Cleveland they set off one of the big Gest Fossil Hunts Ever undertaken in the United states. Scientists collected 10,000specimens. Scientists evidently figure this is Abig Deal As far As they Are concerned James e. Kirk a highways Engineer of the Bureau of Public roads said in an interview. Congress has said that Federal Ai Highway funds May be used in Archeo logical and palaeontological Salvage i Highway construction. It follows a National policy of preserving for publicise Sites such As Indian ruins historic buildings fossils or other objects of Antiquity that have National significance. Since 1956, under the Highway transportation act 118 Federal Aid Arche olog ical and palaeontological projects have been undertaken in 21 states. Their Cost totals some $1.4 million of which $1.2million was in Federal Aid funds. The initiative for such projects mus come from the states. Agreements for the work Are made with museums universities and state archaeologists. In the right of Way and location of fice of the Bureau of Public roads Kirk and James a. Carney Highway Engi neers make sure that archaeological and palaeontological Salvage gets Are problems. Everybody has ways with their divided lanes con trolled Access Long sight distances and flatter grades Are much safer than the narrow crowded roads they replaced. In 1966, when a record 53,000 person died in traffic accidents the fatality rate per 100 million vehicle Miles on Al streets and highways was 5.49, com pared with 3.15 on the interstate Many deaths and injuries can be traced to Roadside hazards nobody knows says Walter May staff director of Blatnik s subcommittee. The indications Are that Many thou Sands were injured or killed in such from the devonian age of More than350 million years ago when Northern Ohio was covered by the sea. The museum arranged the project after it was Learned that a Section of interstate Highway 71 would Cut through what was believed o be an important but heretofore inaccessible Fossil forma Tion. Important scientists visited the schools sent bus loads of classes e. Scheele museum director said the Road workers generally seemed to have More Pride in knowing that something of value was coming from their excavating efforts aside from the creation of a new reported that it appears that we have collected at least 10,000 major specimens of tremendous scientific May take 10 to 15 years to Complete scientific analysis and description he said but there May be As Many As 75 animals in All classes which Are totally new to the world of science. The Cleveland project Cost some$119,000, of which 90 per cent is from accidents maybe As Low As 10,000 or 12,-000, maybe As High As 18,000 or 20,000." who or what should be blamed the White House and Congress says safety crusader Ralph Nader. The lanky 33-year-old author lawyer whose Book on unsafe cars ignited a controversy that catapulted him into National prominence criticized a House committee s Cut in Highway safety funds. They gave lady Bird $150 million for beautification but they Cut Highway safety from $140 million to $40 Mil continued on Page it f Federal funds and the rest from the museum. Other highways archaeology projects by states last year included Arizona exploration and excavation of prehistoric ruins in Mohave county. Arkansas excavation and study bythe University of Arkansas of an Indian Village near fishing in Sacramento excava Tion and Salvage of historic building foundations associated with the Gold Rush of an Early Indian Community area in Idaho of Indian artefacts in St. Clair of five Indian Mounds in Lee archaeological Salvage of the historic Creighton House in Mexico salvaging of several in Dian Sites in Grant by the University of Tennessee in the Vicinity of the Tennessee River crossing. Utah Salvage operations in the Silver Creek Junction interchange area
