Los Angeles herald., 1890-04-27
He Does Not Believe in Tun-
nels and Cuts.
Instances Cited Where They Did
Considerable Damage.
He Thinks That the Grade of One Foot
Rise in Ten Should Be Adopted
by the Council.


accompanies gives the following reasons
for his veto:
In returning the ordinance of inten-
ton to change and establish the grade
of First street, between Broadway and
Lake Shore avenue, would say:
1t is estimated by competent engineers
that the cost of this work would exceed
half million of dollars; it is SO large
that do not believe it should be un-
dertaken at this time. l am aware that
many of the property-owners who are
advocating the same express a willing
ness to pay their portions, but there are
many who would be unable to pay their
assessment and would therefore lose
their property in consequence. In my
Judgment, policy should be pursued at
this time that will enable parties having
small holdings to tide themselves
over the present period of financial
stringency.
1 believe that whenever the city of
Los Angeles destroys the beauty of our
hills by cutting them down in obedience
to the popular clamor for traffic grade
we will then realize our mistake and
regret it after it is too late. The ex-
perience. of San Francisco in cuts is such
do " HdIuiy JuSIlly us III 80 uOliiS
Thirty years ago Rincon hill was the
cisco, and Second street was cut through
it to give a traffic grade to the south
water front, and since that time it has
been depreciating in value, the fine resi-
dences have been abandoned, and prop
erty is of no value comparatively speak
ing. The cut has ever been an eyesore
and standing menace to the property
of the neighborhood. Not only has bus
mess not gone there, but it has destroyed
the property as residence property. The
same thing has occurred in the endeav-
ors to bring trade into Montgomery
street by opening Montgomery ave-
nue.. 1t was supposed by cutting
wide street out to North
Beach from Montgomery street it
would build up business and render the
property very valuable. Anyone who
has had occasion to pass through that
street must confess that there has been
great disappointment in the results. l
am told that that property can be pur-
chased in that street for less than the
cost of the buildings put there, since all
t'e Great outlay to open this street.
I am satisfied thct our experience
would oe ike thar Of Second street in
San Francisco where the people are
AFRAID TO use that portion Of the street
through which the cut passes. the en-
tire travel alnlos' pIeferriug IL 20 round
than to take the chance vi ,olng Tough
it; and that cut is small concern COM
pared with the cut it is proposed to
make through First street.
Does anyone seriously believe that
after these cuts and tunnels are con-
structed as outlined in the diagram sub
mitted, that it would ever be used by
the travelling public-nearly half mile
through succession of cuts and tun-
nels, all narrow-one half as wide as the
cut in San Francisco and four times as
long, and much deeper. If that small
cut operated to intimidate the travelling
public and drive away the residents,
what would this do? 1t is well to profit
by experience of others.
The effect on small scale can be seen
in this city on Broadway, at the end of
Franklin street, where the whole side of
the hill is sliding down, carving the
houses with it in manner not reassur-
ing to the residents on the hill above,
not calculated to induce others to build
thereon, and not inclined to increase
travel below. Is not a small amount of
such work sufficient to show what utility
there would be in nearly half mile of
such cuts and the great danger to result
therefrom? The avoidance of such cut
was shown some little time ago on the
extension of Temple street. Toward
the west end thereof narrow cut occurs
through long stretch of hills. The
travel has never adapted itself to it and
has even been so marked in its avoid
ance as to encroach upon the private
property adjoining by following the con-
tour of the hilltop through the fields of
adjacent owners, even disregarding bar
riers of cultivated lands and fences put
up as barricades. The average man
with an ordinary amount of prudence
would be inclined to 60 around rather
than to venture through, and the cut
that would cost many their homes would
be practically abandoned unless millions
were expended to remove all threaten
ing everything banks. All will admit
that California street in San Francisco
is of more value today than it would
have been if it had been cut down and
ruined as residence property, on the mis-
taken idea that the hill could be turned
into business property by putting it on a
traffic grade. The hill portion of San
Francisco has done more to hold busi-
ness in the vicinity of California and
Kearney streets than all the other infu-
ences combined by reason of the fact that
the cable system running over the hills
has rendered the hills very valuable
as residence property, and precipitates
the travel therefrom at this point. A
good cable road extending out First
street from Broadway will do more than
all the traffic grades to accommodate the
people out that way and benefit busi-
ness at that point. The termination of
the Temple-street cable road is doing
more, in my judgment, to hold business
at the junction of Spring and Main
streets, than all other influences.
There is so much opposition to this
grade by the owners of property on the
hills, that am satisfied that if attempts
were made to improve on this grade, the
litigation that would ensue would take
years before this work would be COM
pleted That has been the experience
of our city regarding the attempts to
force these expensive improvements in
opposition to the wishes of those more
directly interested. l believe the grade
of one in ten desired by the residents
on the hills can be gotten through
within reasonable time, and would ac-
complish much more good than the one
-