Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-07-22
DANGEROUS STREETS
NOnce More Bring Up the Question of
Having Traction Roads
MAKEA CIRCUIT ABOUT THE CITY.
An Ex-Councilmans Plan to Clear Thor
Oughfares of Crowds.
HE SEES A NEW USE FOR THE wHARyEs

L
| of the Pittsburg and Birmingham Traction
Companys road yesterday. In each case
| the cause was the impossibility of teams to
| get out of the way of the fast-f1ying motor
| cars, owing to the narrowness of Carson
| street. Car No. II ran into wagon near
| Sixteenth street, in the morning. The horses
ran away and an old gentleman was
| knocked down by them at Eighteenth street,
! but fortunately he was not injured. Car
| No. IL struck a wagon of the Union Planning
Mill Company. \ large hole was made in
the car.
Ex-Councilman William B. West of the
Southside, is not what the most extreme
| conservative would call an enthusiast nor a
| kite-f1yer but on the other hand hard
| headed business man. After riding on the
magnificently equipped Pittsburg and Birm-
| ingham Traction railway from his place to
| City Hall the other day, he was more than
ever convinced that the project he advo.
Gated ten years ago in Councils should be
carried to completion as speedily as possi-
BILE. Like all other patrons of the road, he
was plagued to the verge of madness by the
| slowing up ana sometimes absolute stopping
| of the car at intervals of less than half a
| square to allow time for wagoners to get out
| of the way.
Constant Gong r nging Necessary.
Only by almost constant ringing of the
| gong can better time be made than was ac-
| complished by horse power, and were it not
| that the cars make fast time on the bridge
the electric car would accomplish but little
Tenth street to Liberty avenue there is but
one thoroughfare for the immense wagon
traffic of the Southside, traffic that for 10
hours of the day forms a regular procession
Many of the teams hauling from four to six
tons of iron cannot get out of the way OF an
electric car in time to prevent people from
thinking swear words, even if they do not
utter them.
Our fathers who bought their property
from John Penn, Esq, had no conception of
the trouble the narrow streets they laid out
would give their descendants. They appear
to have been more stingy of giving room for
streets from their $40 lots than people are
nowadays. In consequence the lower part
of the city is now SO overcrowded that in a
short time something very radical must be
accomplished or property values will greatly
decline. Some people have suggested that
the Birmingham Traction Company should
start on stills from the bridge and run as
high as the second story thence to the
Union station. Others say that would not
remedy matters much, and would be objec-
tionable in many ways. They also contend
make the Pittsburg Central and Duquesne
Traction Companies do the same thing,
starting from the level of Grant street. No
one appears to consider underground roads
feasible in this city.
The Details of Mr.. VESTS Plan.
Mr.. West says that if his plan is not
adopted people in the next generation will
consider US as slow and short-sighted as we
do those who originally laid out the old part
of the city. Mr. Vests idea is to have wall
built along the levee on both sides of the
city and on the Allegheny and Southside.
He says that it would not cost more than our
present city debt, and would pay for itself
so soon that we would scarce feel the
burden. Though his original plan was to
take down the Grant street hump and use it
for filling, he says it is not yet too late as it
ought still to be DONE If people persist in
wanting more damages than their property
is worth take it and pay for it. He says the
grading would make property in the vicinity
of the Court House so much more valuable
that those who took it off present owners
hands-owners who could not be satisfied
with reasonable damages-would realize an
enormous profit. He would throw an arch
over Try street and give the Panhandle
Railway an underground passage all the
way from Union station to the bridge, and
fill up Hardscrabble as we'll as the wharves.
The walls along the rivers being built and
filed to the level of the curb ON Duquesne
way and Water street, the next work would
be to run belt railway all around and thus
get the Pennsylvania Railroad tracks off
Liberty avenue.
Improvements for the Wharf.
Then Mr.. West would have all warehouses,
commission houses, ETC., located on the
wharf, and between them and the wall there
should be promenade rallied off that would
only be fully appreciated when. actually
tested by the people. In this manner all the
heavy traffic of the city would be removed
ness property along the wharves and eX-
tending to the base of Boyd's Hill business
needs would be accommodated for all time to
come.
In all this contemplated scheme Mr.. West
says he would not I'M ure the harbor nor en-
danger the city in time of flood, as he says
the river should be dredged out to CORE |
spond, and in a few years people would be-
come alive to the Importance of keeping a
depth of water sufficient to float any
craft. Floats should be anchored along |
this wall and OF them placed hoist |
loaded and unloaded by machinery instead |
of by the present expensive process of hav- |
ing a thousand-ton cargo carried from a |
boat upon the wharf on mems shoulders and |
placed where teams can only haul half a |
load in its removal. He argues that half the |
cost of freighting by steamers would be thus |
obviated. |
The Matter Carefully Considered.
Mr.. West has been revolving this plan in !
his mind for many years, and says he has |
considered all possible objections and finds |
none of them insurmountable; and further, |
that there is nothing tentative in the idea. |
He says he has carefully studied the |
methods OF harbor building in Europe and |
has submitted his views to eminent en- |
gineers, who have indorsed them. In |
European cities vast sums have been spent |
in order that land might be reclaimed from |
rivers and used for building purposes, land |
that is not SO high-priced as that lying be- |
tween Union station and the Point.
1t may not be out of place to remark that
Smithfield streets, will bring more money |
than a similar area will sell for in the heart |
of London, but such is the case, unless the |
writer of text book used in one of the |
N an Nn11 in ,iS Staf &c fo