On this day in 1919, several events were taking place regarding managing traffic in Winston-Salem.
One regulation that was put into place prohibited a left-hand turn around the traffic officer at the intersection of Fourth and Liberty Street. There was actually a traffic officer who stood at this intersection and directed traffic.
The regulation stated that vehicles may go straight across the streets, and turn around the corners to the right, but they may not turn to the left.
In 1919, streetcars traveled down the center of the streets. Loading and unloading passengers from the streetcars could be a dangerous proposition because of automobiles and other vehicles passing by. So, safety zones were installed to provide a place to wait to board the streetcar and to stand after leaving the streetcar.
A traffic control stand was installed later above the safety zone, where traffic officers could be located when they were not on the street, directing traffic.
The safety zone and the traffic control stand can be seen in the above photo. This zone was located on West Fourth street, between Main and Liberty Streets. At the time of the photograph, both buses and streetcars were traveling on the downtown streets, and were using the safety zones.
Photo courtesy of Forsyth County Public Library Photograph Collection.
