Trunk Roads and Ribbon Builders The mothers of Westway, the
eastern portion of Western Avenue, which forms one of the great' arterial exits from London, are to be congratulated on the success with which they have focussed attention on themselves, their thoroughfare and the Ministry of Transport. That is no bad thing, for much more than a local problem is involved. The local problem, actually, is less acute than it is claimed to be, for accidents on that stretch of road have been below, not above, the average. But here is one of the many cases in which a road has been built definitely as a traffic artery, on which vehicles can get• away on their journeys unrestricted by the thirty-mile limit. Then comes ribbon-building. Houses spring up, families with children settle there, and the demand for a speed-limit becomes insistent. In this case it may have to be granted, at the cost of defeating the ends for Which the road was designed. But Mr. Hore-Belisha is perfectly right in laying stress on the importance of guard-rails and perhaps subways or light road-bridges. Arterial roads obviously have to be crossed, and traffic lights which halt vehicles, or subways which enable pedestrians to. avoid the road-track altogether, do much more for safety than a speed-limit.
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