The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1903-02-25
new BRIDGE,
TO BE ; /: BUILT /; Il
Positive Utterdnce Made by.
President Sitterding.
SELL JoH +l ISLAND Isl! M
ItWill Eventually Be Disposed of Of by tn. the
Company-New Structure Intended
Only for the Use Of Trolley
SELL JoHNSoN'S ISLAND N

.sYou may quote me as saying that tho
Virginia Passenger and Power COM
pany,', said Mr. Fritz sitteil1ing yester-
q day afternoon, will with,it the next
twelve monthssb the proud possstesstor n Of O
4 bridge Of It's own over lanes R Z e,
connecting Richmond and Manchester.
] IT IS our purpose to bring the Petersburg Ut
! cars into Richmond, and this will be ac-
compIished by menas OF new structure
3 within a year.
Continuing, Mr.. sitterdlng said that
4 plans for the new bridge had been sdra Y yyn
By engineers OF the company and had
been accepted as complete In every de-
tail by officials Of the concern. + he said
that 1t would be a INA tier Of only a snort
I time. probably n OF over N month, belore
fl estimates for the construc tion l&of u the
bridge are advertised for, after which
the work will BIO Immediately undertaken.
REPORT CSFOUNDED.
President Sitterding said that the re-
port that tho Virginia Passenger and
Power Company had abandoned the idea
OF erecting new bridge and strength
ching the present FREQ Bridge In order
to accommodate the heavy Petcrsours
cars. was unfounded.
When It is understood that the COM
pany Is at present paying for the priv
icge OF crossing the Free Bridge Sl.9o9
per annum 1t may be readily seen Z
would be an unyfise move on Their part
to strengthen the structure 1T thelr own sl1
cost, after which they would be required
4 to give up an additional sum for the privi-
lego Of bringing tho Petersburg cars
over tho river. f5# "a
st has never been contemplated" said
s Mr. sItterding, that the new bridge
would touch Johnson's Island. which VIII
eventually BIO abandoned by the COM
proposed will touch Browns Island, and
tho bridge will. when It Is completed.
make It possible to bring the cars up
Seventh Street. as at present The ter
n!nal Of the Petersburg cars will be at
Broad ana Seventh Streets. this city"
BRIDGE ONLY FOR CARS.
Asked il the now plans for the bridge
contemplated the accommodation Of
i wagons or foot passengers. President
s!tterdlng said that no provision would
be made for either, The structure Will
be erected with the sole idea In view OF
use by trolley cars and no private con,
yeyances or pedestrians VIII pc alio"eu
to 20 upon the bridge.
The reasons Of tho company Tor TINS
IS plain At present on the Free Bridge
tho street car traffic Is interfered with
by private conVeynnces and foot passen-
gers. The motormen are compelled 70
use extra care in order to avoid acct
dents, as q result Of which much unnec-
cssary time Is lost by the cars IN going
to and from Richmond and Manchester.
: The idea in bringing the cars from Pe-i
-tersburg to Richmond is to give the trav-
cling public better accommodation ana
put the limo on competing basis with
the steam railroads. It is absolutely nee
essary that the trip from petersburg 20
this city be made as quickly as the Trip
Is now made to Manchester, and In or
der to do this tho cars must have an
5unobstructcd track over the bridge, snch
ps 1t would now DO impossible to acquire.
A DOUBLE TRACK.
1T Is tho scheme Of the company to
make the new bridge sufficiently commo-
dlous to accommodate q double track
and sufficiently strong to maintain the
heaviest cars while moving at high
rate Of speed; 1t is calculated to lose
little or no time on the bridge. and 1t
may be that special pair of rails will
DO provided especially for the Peters
burg cars.
Within the next year 1t Ia stated that
the Passenger and Power Company will
abandon Johnson's Island, after which
the property will bo for sale, This Is tho
natural result of improvements which
will be made In the power house at the
foot>of Twelfth Street. which will even
tually be used exclusively for the pur-
pose of supplying current to the city