The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1899-04-29
STREET DANGERS
Way to the Viaduct Covered
With Glass, Tin Cans,
Wire and Refuse.
wHEELMEN INDIGNANT
Bad Hole on Oak Street r.
A Barrel the Only
Warning.
WHEELMEN INDIGNANT

IN s-LEE ri
Contractor Henry Byrnes has a gang OF
men at work laying a new eve in Mer-
Ger street, west of Colgate street. The
sewer that is being replaced was built at
a considerable expense three years ago,
when the street was filed in and macad-
amized.
Mercer street, from Colgate street to
the viaduct is in a very bad condition II
is full of ruts and holes. The meadow
has sunk, and it is anything but pleas
! ant to ride a bicycle over it. The ruts are
bad enough, but to add to the misery OF
the hundreds of bicyclists who pass that
way each day, the road is covered with
tin cans, wire, bits of glass and refuse OF
all kinds.
The glass and tin that are strewn ovel
the street, nave been responsible for more
punctured tires than any other agency in
the city. The man who keeps q bicycle
repairing shop near the top of the Via
duct does a rushing business in repairing
punctured tires.
When interviewed by a News " repor-
ter yesterday afternoon, he said
we get dozens of tires that have been
punctured near the t~restle. on Union
street. The road is filled with glass"
The wheelmen who use the yiaduct are
indignant over the condition in which the
only cycle path from the. city to the
Boulevard is kept. The ground above
Colgate street is all made of piles and
filed in with refuse. The sinking of the
street is what is what damaged the
original sewer. TIL street is setting
rapidly and apparently no effort has been
made to repair it.
Complaints have been frequently made.
Contractor Byrne. on ~excavating 10 re-
move the damaged sewer pipe found that
fifty foot pile that were driven a few
years ago had proved insufficient. He
has. driven more piles to make a proper
bed for the new sewer.
Freeman Waters, who has charge of the
Job. said yesterday
Mercer street is sinking rapidly. 1t
will continue to settle for many years to
come. Montgomery street has been set
Ting for twenty-seven years and has
not stopped yet. So far as known moth
ing can be done to stop it."
A wheelman who was interviewed
said
'aThey may not be able to prevent Mer-
Ger street from settling and the city may
be too poor or too Indifferent to repair the
damaged road, but it seems to me that
the Street and Water Board might at
least keep the only street by which wheel
men can reach the Heights free from
broken glass and other objects which are
an injury to the wheels. AS Mercer
street. is at present it is nothing less than
an annex to the dumps at Fremont
street. 1t seems as if every person who
has refuse of any kind, in order to get
rid of it, thrown it on Mercer street"
There is a very bad hole in Clark street
between Sackett street and Jackson ave-
nue.. 1t is not due to any recent building.
It is a cavern of the asphalt. At night a
barrel isl n it without a light. It's a con-
slant menace to cyclists and drivers. The
asphalt contractors are responsible. Why
the police don't report it and the Street
and Water Board make the contractors
repair it is a mystery.
In front of No. 80 Washington street,
thre is a very dangerous hole. The
pavement block has SUM fully two feet.
There is no warning of any kind to
bicyclers or drivers.
The Board of Assessors is preparing the
preliminary assessments for the proposed
improvement of West Side avenue, from
the Pennsylvania Railroad to Communi-
paw avenue, which improvement was pc
titioned almost a year ago The Street
and Water Board will give a hearing to
the property owners along that thorough
fare within a week or SO. There has not
been a protest on the proposed improve
ment which the majority of the property
owners nave been eagerly working for,
for some time.
The dust on West Side avenue is an
abomination and has caused the residents
in that neighborhood no end of annoy
ance. The dust is at least three and four
inches deep.
There are many improvements being
made on the west side, which is being
built up very rapidly.
Kensington avenue, west Of West Side,
is being severed and four houses are be-
ing erected. Gautier avenue is being rap
idly built up. almost all of the sites near
West Sid avenue being occupied. The
residents on that street are grumbling
because of the poor condition of the
macadam pavement. They say the dust
is so bad that they dare not open their
windows. Some are speaking Of asking
the Street and Water Commissioners to
a the bad pavement remedied.