New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1902-04-01
FOR AN EAST SIDE TUNNEL.
STEPS TAKEN FOR CONSTRUCTION OF SUBWAY BRANCH TO
RELIEVE THE CONGESTION ABOVE FzFTY-NLN7H STREET:


In response TO the appeal OF residents and
property owners on the East Side for share
In the blessings Of rapid transit which will fol-
low the completion of the subway, steps have
already been taken for the construction OF a
great eastern branch Of the tunnel to drain the
congested district to the east Of Central Park
As was told 81 The Tribune last Friday, the
tracks OF the tunnel In Fourth-aye. at Thirty
eighth-st- laid so as to permit the future
construction of a branch 10 the east in Forty
second-st- Further action on the part of the
Rapid Transit Commission, however, is urgently
asked. In order that work this eastern branch
may begin without unnecessary delay.
II has been learned from past experience that
the preliminary obstacles TO be found in various
legal entanglenents, in obtaining the permission
OF property owners and the appropriation of suf-
hcient funds by the city are more difficult to
surmount. and consume far more time. than
the engineering problems. 1t not until nine
years after the winter of 1891. when Governor
Hill signed the original Rapid Transit act. that
the first spadeful Of dirt was thrown out Of the
present tunnel and actual work began. The
completion of the tunnel is now expected by
next spring, after little more than three years
work Thus it is that the completion of
the tunnel from engineering standpoint is to
take about one-third the time consumed In pre-
pairing plans and paving the way for this great
undertaking.
That the East Side demands rapid transit can
not be controverted. A casual glance at a map
OF Manhattan Island is enough TO convince one
OF the needs Of this great and congested part Of
the city. The number of inhabitants the
East Side, from Fifty ninth-st to hundred
and-tenth-st.. is nearly twice great on the
West Side bounded north and south by the same
streets. In area the East Side is also greater
AT Eighty-sixth-st- il is nearly one-half wide
again the strip of city to the west of the
park at that point. The elevated railroads in
Second and Third when built were ex-
pected to give this district of the city adequate
transportation facilities. but their present over
crowded condition. together with the regular
evening crush at the City Hall terminal, are
clear evidence that there must be further facili-
ties for those who live east of Central Park.
IT was thought when the plans were adopted
for the tunnel that its eastern branch, which
leaves the trunk line in Broadway at One-hun-
dred-and-fourth-st and. running under the
northwest corner Of Central Park, turns north
in Lenox-aye. would some extent tap the
upper part of the East Side. AS result of the
increasing crowding of the tenement dis
trict extending back from the East River how
ever, il has been found that the centre of popu-
lation is, matter Of fact. tending eastward
from Lenox-ave-. although this thoroughfare
may be regarded as the territorial centre
The chief reason that the trunk tunnel Is be-
ing constructed the West Side in Broadway
as stated b. The Rapid Transit Commission at
TIE time ot Its acceptance Of the present plan
was that the West Side north of Fifty-ninth-st
has but one elevated line for its rapidly increas-
irg population. The board has already passed
resolutions favoring the extension of the present
iisle to Brooklyn by the way of the Battery.
Ttlo~e who have taken the subject of East Side
10 rid transit most to heart do not ask much
for the immediate construction of supple
mental branch OF the subway to the east of