The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1891-02-18
THE Big BOULEVARD.
Ed1ow w. Harrison Talks
Interestingly on the Prog
reSs Of the Project.
WAITING FOR LEGISLATION.
Maps ALI Ready, and the Route
Plotted Out in the Minds Eye
Of the Engineer.

s'The early completion Of the new
County Road, - said Chief Engineer Har-
rison TO me today, depends very largely
On the present Legislature"
"whyi" inquired
Because no lines can be drawn abso-
lutely until the Legislature disposes Of
Assembly bills Nos. 81 and IS. Bill No
81 gives the county power to move houses,
and No. 80 allows the County Road to
connect with and run through, II do
sired, the proposed new parks This can
not be done under the present law. BIZ
No. IS also will do AWAY with the ob5sc-
tionable section in the Park bill, which
demands that the parks be closed at sun
down, for il the County Road connects
with them they must be Kept open 1ou
cannot close public highway for certain
portions Of day"
..If these two bills become q law what
parks will be connected with the roadr
'An of them except Bellevista" tOld
Harrison estate on Palisade avenue}
''and this may be connected with the
road OF a spur"
PROGRESS OF THE MAPS
"How nearly are your maps compieted,
Mr.. Harris0nf"
'srhey are entirely complete except the
purely mechanical part Of running the
lines of the road through the property We
have determined on. We know where
these lines are to 90, but viii not trace
them on the map until it Is known
whether Bill No. 81 becomes a law. IL it
does not. and the county Is not permitted
to move buildings without condemning
them, may be forced 10 make radical
changes in the lines now determined on
"Can you give me these hnesS"
"Se, that Is impossible at present. They
are not public DrODerTV vet.
'Mr. Harrison, what IS ls going 70 cost
the county 20 construct this roadfD
81 am going to bring it within the mil-
lion appropriated. but it will be very
close snave. II succeed will feel salts
fed that have done well. The road, you
see, is TO be a 100 feet strip Of land. four
teen miles long and in the best practlca-
Bile location IL will cost 500 O0O at low
estimate 10 obtain the land and move the
buildings. See for yourself. There are
g 500 lots along the line OF the road. At
an average cost of 500 lot this would
amonnt TO $500, 900 OF course, some lots
will be more than 500 and others lower.
l have already had searches made against
all this property and / know the exact
purchase price OF every lot and the con-
tract price OF all lately erected buildings"
THE ROAD.
'You say the road Will be 100 feet wide.
how much of that will be cut OF for side
walksf"
aTne land will be divided in this way.
Sixty feet road bed and forty feet for side
walks. This will make beautiful ave-
nue., with all necessary room Tor pedes
trians and vehicles"
Does the county intend to pave the
sidewalksf'
''Oh my, no. Do you know that TO do
this would cost Sl4 900 and that the curb
ing and guttering would be sl60, 900 morel
No, the object of the county Is 10 nrst geE
the road The embellishments must come
later. The property owners along the
boulevard viii doubtless be quick 70 real
fze the benefits of enhancing the beauty
of the road. aud 10 the usual manner the
avenue will be tagged and curbed- Inc
county must, OF course, drain the road. lt
Will have TO do this for protection An
other item of expense is bridges. II VIII
require SIS. 900 to build them The one
over the Pennsylvania cut viii have part
of the expense borne by the railroad COM
pany in all probability. The grading
alone will cost $12c. ZOO and q striD OF
macadam eighteen feet wide through the
centre of the road viii cost Sl5. 900 a miles
or $40. 900. Besides these greater expenses
the engineer must figure on a CONTINGENCY
OF at least 10 per cent. caused by litigation
and other unexpected Incidents lt has
not been fully determined yet whether
in the future the entire roadbed viii be OF
macadam or not, but il il is there is plenty
of stone at Snake Hill to do the work
with. / am inclined to the proposition
to have a dirt road on each side Of the
eighteen foot strip of macadam."
THE TINE QUESTION.
'Mr Harrison, if the Legislature
passes bota bills, Nos. 81 and IS, how long
will it be before the practical construction
of the road will beginf"
at will require about l20 days from the
time Of the absolute fixture OF the road
lines for advertising and condemnation
proceedings to get possession OF the land,
or a part Of it. If an individual owner
contests the awards in the court il viii not
prevent US from working elsewhere, 50
that litigation will probably not retard
the building of the road after all. Oh,
think that in the middle Of the summer
we can arrange matters so as 70 oegiH
grading in the early part OF the fall, and
In the spring begin TO macadamize. Tho
road ought to De built in ten months
aetual work ["