The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1882-04-15
COMMUNICATION.
EDITOR SUPERIOR TINES:

Although late, permit me TO write few
lines congratulating your long expectant
citizens upon the completion of the n. P.
r. K. to Superior. This is the key to the
door OF the granary and l hope you may
handle il as becometh the generous Gus
todians of a great trust. Gou have opened
the door by your liberal gift to the r. R.
Co. and you can keep it open only BY con
tinuing the same liberal policy towards all
new corners. 1t requires people to make
a great city, and there must be some in
/ ducements to attract them to new places.
! These, your site affords in a superlative
| degree. Iou are surrounded by all the
| elements necessary to Great and maintain
a large community; your topography is AL
that could be desired for convenience of ac-
cess, inter communication, water supply
and drainage; your harbor is commodious
/ and safe; you will soon be abundantly sup
piled with rail roads. which VIII make your
/ city a busy commercial aud mercantile
| centre you have at hand an unsurpassed
water power, for manufacturing purposes !;
you have an abundant supply OF fuel and
| on both flanks Of the Lake awaiting de
! velopment are rich mines of iron and cop,
/ per. To centrate all these elements in
your midst and to give vitality to the man
utacturing and commercial interests at
"a Of ba I 81, L q: Z
communication are required not only in
the avenues OF approach to Superior, by
land and water, for there are already in
progress, but aeithin the limits Of the citY
tsetf Possibly some of your readers may
! think that with streets 80 feet wide and av-
enues 100 feet, nothing more could be de-
sired but that is just one Of the troubles 1t
should be remembered that the greater the
area devoted to streets the less there will
, be for stores, dwellings, factories, &C.. and
the population must be correspondingly
scattered and the distances increased. The
vital questions in engiEeeing nowadays is
not to increase but to reduce distances and
resistances to the lowest possible limit.
am surprised to find, in revising mY
late article on the streets of Superior pub
liShcd in your Issue Of March Ii, with the
more accnrant data furnishe', that instead
of the street occupying "33 pc cent of the
entire area, the proportion Of building area
is TO be that Of the streets 40 1 to 3; Or IL
per cent. of the whole area is consumed by
streets, that is TO say nearly one half Of
yoar to'c,a site is q tax upon the balance.
and when you come to consider the cost OF
paving, draining, cleansing, maintenance
1c., OF the highways you will soon find the
taxes so oncrous as TO be u bar to progress
In our model city of homes" Philadelphia.
which is also the largest manufacturing city
ON this continent we find that Delaware
Avyenuc, which contains single line Of
steam rail road track ia only 80 feet wide
having 4 feet for wagons with one foot
side walk This avenue, bordering the
river more frequcntcd probably than auv
other, and is much too narrow. Ridge
Avenue, another very popular street having
2 lines of passenger tracks, stretching dia.
gonaIly through the city and lined with
stores is only 90 feet wide, A feet between
curbs and thirteen feet sidewalks most of
our other streets as Chestnut, Race Vine
and all Of the numbered streets are only 80
feet wide 26 feet between curbs and II feet
sidewalks. Arch street, generally, censid,
cred amply vide for every purpose is but
66 feet across 35 feet roadway and l5 feet
sidewalks. 1t has two lines Of street ears
Market street. containing the largest whole
sale and retail stores Ill the city is 100 feet
wide 81 feet roadway and l 6 feet sidewalk.
and Broad street the widest in the city is
ll3 feet between building lines, 50 being
roadway and ~ each for sidewalks
In all these different widths Arch street
seems to.fulfll the conditions in the best
manner. This street is but &C feet wide.
whilst | recommended 70 feet in my last
communication, but / could not adhere to
any specific width as being the proper one
for every street in a city. The breadth
should be modified according to circum-
stances In Superior | should think that
that lst street should be 100 feet wide Cd
street so perhaps, and the other numbered
streets so to 10; whilst it is extravigant
to ma;ntaid all the avenues at a uniform
width of 100 feet 1t would be infinitely
better to reduce some of them to IS feet
thus adding another lot to the blocks from
the sale of which the town would derive
considerable revenue for public improve.
ments, and to open few diagonal streets
on the mile and half mile section lines to
facilitate travel across the city obliquely.
This can only be done before city is built
mp, and if not done it is always a matter of
source of endless regret. In Paris it has
been done by virtue of an Imperial decree I
but in our country we cannot resort to ex-
treme measures In Washington it was
found necessary to reduce the widths of
many of the highways. This was done by
parking the strents on both sides as beng
the best plan that could be suggested after
the buildings were erected. In Superior
advantage should be taken of the dearly
bought experience of other American cities
and we'll digested plan adopted before ex-
tensive improvement of any kind are under