The Topeka state journal., 1901-06-22
CITY RAILWAY PAVING.
Shall the Company Be Allowed
Its Own Time and Pleasure
to Pave Right Of WayG

The wave Of generosity and enthu-
siasm which carried the city railway
company safely over the reef Of city
pavement ordinances has receaea
somewhat. and the company may tina
the city council in a different MOOD
when it meets next Monday night
The counciImen are being talked 70
BY their constituents. and are oesln-
ming 10 realize what they have done
when they all0 we'd the railway com
panv the wholesale privilege Of paving
its tracks at its own pleasure on It's
own time A.,
words. when talking about the sltua-
tion but he evidently has cadght tns
drift of public sentiment IN the mat
1T is not my place. said Mayor
Hughes. ITO criticise the action of the
council. I had no voice in the passass
of the resolution granting the stree
rer r.1u7Dauv relief from the city OF
dinauce which requires that its tracks
shall be paved on paved streets
think the resolution was sprung on the
council very suddenly, and /. for one.
have not considered it carefuily-
don't know what the sentiment of the
council is in regard to a reconslQeEA-
fion of the question 1t seems TO me
that the position of the street car com
pany and the property owner VINO IS
analogous The property owners VINO
are in the minority have no way OF
avoiding paying for the pavement IN
front Of their homes if the majority
wants it, The council has not grante4
such people any relief. has it,
It has been discovered that the city
has placed itself in a dilemma Wnlcn
must be solved Immediately in some
wav. The position OF the city IS this:
it has given the railway company the
right to leave its tracks unpaVed IN
definitely This means that not only
the space between the rails viii be lett
unpaved or he filled with cinders. but
that a strip eighteen inches wide on
the outside of each rail. viii not p
paved. The city Will therefore pave
the street up to within eighteen inches
of the track and the company can
leave it's tracks as they now are or
dump in something to fill the space.
The paving contracts have been most
IS let. and no provision is made FOR
paving for the 2-inch oak plank. or
header" as it is called. along both
sides of the car tracks 1t was entirely
overlooked by the council IN It's burst
of generosity
The oak headers will cost from $7E
to 800 a block. depending on the Length n
of the block Who will pay the blll
The city. the street car company. on the
kind hearted contractor who lays tho
pavement2 or viii the city allow the
pavement to go to pieces at the edges.
in order that the street car company
may be relieved from the 1nDmeGldlG lG
responsibility with which the pOsses-
sion of Its valuable city franchise is
attended,
one of the officials of the city says
that he has been informed that If tile
council starts 10 make a disturbance
about this question. the company would
offer to c0np promise the case by paving
it's portion OF the street up to the rails
Of the track. thus avoiding the neces-
sity of laying headers along both sides
of the track
The whole question turns on whether
It is proper and legal or just to the
property owners who pave their por-
ton of the street to permit the railway
company as a financial accomn oda-
tIon to leave for a time unpaved the
central portion OF the street covered by
its right of way. whether the city viii
permit a strip through the center Of
newly paved streets to be left as it is
or to be filled with cinders or mac
adam for an indefinite time, simply be-
cause it viii cost the railway company
a large amount Of money to pave its
share. The company expended in 1909
SIS. 900 for paving its tracks. In 1900 it
expended $4,000 This year it IS un-
derstood it simply wishes to spend
what 1t thinks ii can afford to invest In
this manner outside of its other fnan-
cfal requirements and necessities.