Los Angeles herald., 1906-04-07
BIGGEST BORE
IS DEMANDED
HILL STREET OWNERS WANT
55 FOOT TUNNEL
Demand a World Beater, Which Will
Be a Credt-Trolley Company
Pays Half of the
Expense

Los Angeles is to have the widest
tunnel in the world IL the wishes of
property owners on Hill street are
found to be feasible.
These property owners yesterday told
the board Of public works that they
want the tunnel through the hill from
First to Temple to be f1fty-f1ve feet
wide. City Engineer Stafford opened
his eyes very wide when this desire
was made known to him.
why, the widest tunnel in the world,
as far as L know is only fifty three feet
wide,' he said. 81 don't know as it is
an engineering impossibility to con-
struct q tunnel fifty-five feet wide, but
L want to go into the subject pretty
deeply before saying positively that it
can be built
Lawrence Holmes, acting for the
Hill street property owners, presented
petitions to the board of public works
yesterday asking that the tunnel
through Hill street, connecting First
with Temple, be fifty-five feet wide
These petitions were signed by all the
principal property owners on Hill
street, those between First and Fourth,
who will have to bear the greatest eX-
pense of the big bore, being almost
unanimously in favor of it.
Pays Half
The same petitions stated that the
Los Angeles-Pacific railway company
will pay half the entire expense of the
cost of constructing the tunnel, pro-
yded the corporation is allowed the
use of twenty-five feet through which
to run the Hollywood branch of it's
.f Iii, t. IL
materially reduce the cost of the tun-
mel to the property owners.
o. f. Parish, of the real estate firm
of Mines &S Parish, was the only op-
poser of the scheme for a tunnel to be
used by the street car company.
IF the Los Angeles-Pacific is allowed
the use of the tunnel it will practically
oonfiscate it as far as vehicles and
pedestrians are concerned" said Mr..
Parish. 'It would be unsafe to drive
horses through the tunnel for fear they
would become frightened at the street
cars
The Horse Problem
Mr.. Farish's attention was drawn to
the fact that fractions horses could be
driven around the same way they are
compelled to go now, while the less
terrified animals would not shy at cars
"a a tunnel any more than they would
OIL the street.
When it was suggested that bore
of the size wanted would probably cost
more than two smaller bores, one to be
used by the Los Angeles-Pacillc and
the other by veiicles and pedestrians,
the property owners, who appeared in
force before the board yesterday, de-
clared they would rather have the big
bore if it cost four times as much as
two smaller ones.
I'VE want something that will be a
credit to the city. If we can have the
biggest tunnel in the world, all the bet
ter" declared Mr.. Holmes, and he was
warmly seconded by several others.
The plan for the big tunnel is to de-
vote twenty-five feet to the street cars,
eight feet to Il sidewalk for pedestrians
and the remainder for wagons. If it
proves an engineering possibility and it
is found that street cars interfere to
any extent with other uses of the tun-
mel, the street car company has de-
cared it will erect wall at it's own eX-
'pense.
Fourth street is agitating for a 80
foot tunnel, which is larger than the
average. The Broadway tunnel is forty
feet wide and the Third-street tun-
rel thirty-two feet wide.