The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1897-09-17
MENACE TO CYCLISTS
Ravages Done by Rain
Storms to the Hudson
County Boulevard.
REPAIRS NOW IN PROGRESS
AsLq 4N "
Contractors Faulty Work Splendid
for puncturing Tires-Electric
Light Nuisance.
REPAIRS NOW IN PROGRESS

been at Work on the boulesdiu tiyiiS -
put it in shape for wheeling. owing 10
the extremely heavy transforms OF late
the road was In a terrible condition., ana
the dirt and fine top dressing were COM
pletely washed away. The middle of the
road, winch was composed OF heavy
sand and gravel, was the only place on
the Boulevard that a cyclist could rid
with any safety Even this part sof the
roadway was in a very poor condition,
for At each corner, when the water
comes rushing down during a rainstorm
from the side streets, all the dirt from
that part of the road has been washed
away, leaving little gullies and sluice-
ways. These are very dangerous ana
sometimes cyclers are thrown from their
bicycles, either hurting themselves or
breaking their wheels and sometimes
both. :.
1t was only about two weeks ago that
a young man from Bayonne was thrown
from his bicycle over the handlebars and.
into the road. He fell on his head, break
ing his neck, and was killed instantly.
This accident occurred near the Lehigh
Valley Railroad bridge, which crosses the,
boulevard at about Fifty-ffth street.
Bayonne. He was coming down the hill
at that point when his front wheel struck,
one OF these guliies. The jolt caused the
front fork OF the bicycle to break, throw
ing him in the manner above described.
The Boulevard, from about Fiftieths
street. Bayonne, to C~ommunipaw avenues,
was without The slightest doubt the
worst part of any on the whole road. In
some parts it was simply dangerous.
From Fifty-second street to the Lehigh
Valley Railroad bridge, a distance of
about three blocks. the south side of the
road looked like a huge nutmeg CRATER.
Not the slightest vestige Of top dressing
could be seen there. The bed rock was
entirely exposed, which meant that about
six inches of dressing has been washed
away. The stones used for the founda-
ton of the Boulevard were about half
the size of an ordinary eobble stone and
one can easily imagine happened
to cyclers When they rode over this spot
on a dark night. There were punctured
tires galore each evening and as many
as a dozen riders could be seen working
over their wheels,
Where as many as five thousand riders
could be seen on the road in the early
part of the season, when the road vas
in good condition, that many hundred do
not venture out these evenings for fear
of either smashing their wheels or hurt
ing themselves.
Among the worst places on the Boule-
ward which needs immediate attention, is
the spot at the Lehigh Valley Railroad
bridge. Here the dust is actually half
a foot deep and it covers a space of
about forty yards. When it rained this,
of course, turned into mud, which made
the roadway impossible. There are fifty
cart loads of dirt there without any
exaggeratIon.
Just this side of the canal bridge, in
Greenville, riding is out of the question.
It was at this point that the whole road
way, for about twenty feet. sank about
a foot and in some places even more.
This was filled in with dirt, but not prop
erly rolled down, SO the mud there makes
riding almost Impossible. At every corr
ner along the road, from the bridge to
Warner avenue. the large stones were
exposed; but the orkm rave put on
q new top dressing along the south side,
covering up all these bad spots. How long
the dressing will stay remains to be
seen.
In the little ruts and gullies, small
stones QaVo Deeu CdT6ieSSly SCdLleTGQ TO
fill them up; but the stones would 10
about as much good if they were thrown
into the river. They are in fact very
dangerous, some of them hejng very
sharp and easily cutting the tires of
bicycles. Fixing the road in this fashion
means that the next rainfall will
wash every particle of it away. thus
costing the county thousands of dollars
more to repair it. The money, experts
say, which has already been spent in
repairing the Boulevard. was enough to
keep three such roads in proper condi-
ton # put to- use in the right way by
the Board OF Freebooters.
Another. serious drawback to cycling in
this county is the electric lighting of
the Boulevard. On an average these
lamps are out about five nights each
month, consequently all cycling is stop
ped. The road, when dark, offers an
excellent field for footpads. It was only
about two weeks 6 that q oundr
held q young lady up at Stevens avenue
and demanded her pocketbook. The
scamp was foiled in his object upon the
arrival of the young lady's escort, who
had stopped or the road to light his
were out. Even whenxtHa lamps are IN
working order the road is not lighted
one-half enough. Ase MANY as eight
lamps, between the canal bridge and
CommunipaW avenue, wcre notsfn work.
ing order last evening. This house
fish the power and In case Of an accF
6ouf tn fhfn engine the road n In