Los Angeles herald., 1907-02-23
Councilman Wallace
Makes a Plea for
Good Streets
Situation Ought to Be
Remedied at
Once
Every Dollar Spent In Engineers Of
flee Means $50 in improvements.
Thirty-two Miles O. Work
Pending

city Councilman A. ]. Wallace has
begun a campaign for better streets and
has just made public reasons why this
Issue is a paramount one in Los Ange-
les. Said Mr.. Wallace yesterday:
"In 1906 this city did about five miles
of paving.
"In 1906 this city did about five miles
of paving.
Los Angeles city at the present time
has thirty-four miles of paving on its
streets
Los Angeles city at the present time
has thirty-two miles of paving (or or
ders for paving) in the pgeon-holes of
the city engineers office. This is not
the fault of Homer Hamlin, as he has
been only a few weeks in that office.
ITO catch up to the street paving al
ready ordered at the rate of last years
work will take six years-this without
allowing for new work
Twelve miles of the street paving
held up in the engineers office, was or
dered by the city council in 1905 1t
cement is laid on most of these 1905 Or
ders.
Streets Are Disgraceful
THE streets of our city are a stand
Ing disgrace. Their condition is our
shame in the eyes of our eastern Wis
TORS
THE residents on forty-seven of these
streets come to the city hall and beg
Of the officials there to allow them to
pave the streets in front of their own
property at their own expense. paying
even the engineering department for all
maps and surveys and other essential
expenses Our answer in the city hall
Is: BE patient; we can't hire enough
clerks and draughtSmen to get this
work ready for you
1.-The amount involved is $1,250 000-
some of it ordered recently-some oe 1T a
year and a half ago.
"Some of these people whose streets
were ordered paved year or more ago,
discouraged by delay. are now clamor-
ing for board crossings.
"The whole question of road building
and street paving appeals as of vast
Importance. My attention was especial
ly called to this matter by delegation
from the Fifth ward, led by it's former
councilman, w. NJ. Bowen, who came
to my office to see what relief could be
secured In their petition for paving
Vermont avenue. This petition was
approved by the council thirteen
to the public works department, then
appealed to the city engineer, and later
talked with several members of the
engineering force.
Need More Men
1.-THE answer everywhere was: we
are pushing matters as rapidly as we
can: we need more men in the en-
gineer's office; and they all empha-
sized the difficulty of getting good men.
My reply everywhere was that the loss
to the city, due to delay in this work.
was so great and the present condition
of our streets so serious that something
must be DONE that If doubling the
space in the city engineers office and
doubling his force would remedy the
evil the money must be found for this
expense; that every dollar we'll spent
In the city engineers Office meant $50
to the city in street improvement, and
besides, each dollar spent in that office
Is supposed to come back In fees.
"Mr. Bowers Investigations led him
to conclude that 1t would be at least six
months before they would get chance
to start the paving on Vermont avenue,
as there were more than dozen orders
ahead of theirs.
Delay Is Surprising
"In the case of Vermont avenue there
understood, that is not the real
hindrance.
"My impression is that without blam-
Ing any officials, whose offices have been
overcrowded with work, our citizens
will demand that the situation as 1t now
exists be remedied. The people who are
willing, at their own expense, to pave
their streets must not be hindered by
the difficulty OF securing clerical help
In our city offices.
"It would take millions of dollars to
put our Gig streets in reasonably good
shape. The city has no funds for this
purpose, excepting for crossings and
Incidental repairs.
"If the people who year and half
ago began enthusiastically circulating
petitions to pave certain streets had
been rewarded by seeing those streets
paved six or nine months later, then
residents on other streets would have
been stimulated to like effort. Competi-
ton between streets would have been
aroused, but when men who get stirred
up over the condition of their streets
learn that they have to wait year and
half or two years before anything can
be done, the effect is depressing and
destructive of enterprise in that direc-
ton.
Explains Increase
"If, before midsummer, the contracts
could be let for the thirty-two miles of
street paving now filed I'm the engineers
office. the result would be that property
owners on thirty-two miles more of our
streets would take courage and their
petitions would come erowding into the
city hall"