The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-08-10
WOULD HONOR NORTH AVENUE
 BY WIDENING
STREET MAY BECOME PART OF GREAT TRUNK LINE CARRY ING PERMANENT PAVE
 MENT.
Editor of The Farmer:

Editor of The Farmer:
 Sir:--In reference to the proposed widening of Kings Highway, or North avenue, permit me to add a. few words.
 It would seem to an old resident of
 Bridgeport that we should honor this
 ancient highway by a thoroughfare worthy of our city of 100000 and more. we may point with pride? Almost none. Perhaps North Main street is 1 our best specimen. Yet what a story of toll and strife does this recall. It might have been a reality. some twen- l ty years ago when MT. Radel came l here with his extensive street railway 1 plans. Had it not been for the Gran his injunction, on account of the tree question, there would have been Q troll i ley at that time to Long Hill and old Parlor Rock. The project was retard- 1 ed by litigation and finally killed; hence North Main street, with it's great elevation and extensive outlook, which would naturally have been the only fine residential section all these years, has only just begun to develop, waiting apparently this long time for a decent thoroughfare to attract home seekers. Let no one infer that do not value
 city adorned with trees To a lover. of nature, what is more enjoyable than a stroll through a leafy lane where the bushes brush one out of the l.pathways and the branches arch over ones head? Yet, can this selfish idea of personal pleasure be so exaggerated as to prevent a dignified urban high way? Of course, there are times and
 places for everything under the sun.s Our city parks and country villages are appropriate settings for the tan-i 1@i icI,w sova rrqnf$ "a to say, certain specified hours in this
 city when the ordinary resident is looking for some speedy method of lo- comotion rather than speculating with Back to the Farm ideas.
 All progress in any field, be what 1t may, calls for sacrifice. We know the
 sacredness of human life; yet there have been occasions in the history of our country when it has been sacri- feed necessarily-whole armies of hu- man lives We likewise value the
 beauty of our trees; still there have been times in the history of our city when it has been necessity to elimi- nate one here and there. In this | North avenue widening we are to pay | passing price for an enduring en- hancement We are aware of the cost,-in money, very slight; in sent1- | ment. few trees. Now what do we gain?
 Tn repayment Of our sacrificed sen | timent, we preserve worthily Rev. olutionary highway, rich in its historic associations; while in return for our financial outlay we gain a roadway, | the finest in the city, and perhaps one | of the first in the state,-incidentally we increase property values.
 Now, one of the points of my argu- ment is this: With this widened road way, it will doubtless be chosen as I the new permanently paved inter- I~.k- l~ 4..s@~ Sr@x S 3G he
 most desirable route for such travel | in distance, for economy of construc- | tion, and for the tourist in beauty and speed,--o of the considerations
 being the elimination of draw bridges with the ever-present possibilities Of l delay and toll. It has become a de- cided fact among road builders that macadam is an impossible permanent | roadbed Of course the state tax on automobiles is really the cause of our wonderfully improved country roads. | It will as we know. be the state that will build this permanent trunk line for interstate communication, and wherever it passes through Bridgeport, it will be a lasting road. It would seem that North avenue is by far the most desirable route through the city. However the state does not build streets. Neither does the state ol Connecticut run around begging prop erty owners to give it a proper width. Moreover, the state does not await | the pleasure of the individuals of it's different cities; when ready, it chooses its route and goes ahead. If a desir- able roadway IS legally established other things being equal, the state takes the shortest route
 In passing, I might say that oul property holders who strenuously ob- ject have most of them, no trees what ever to be removed: yet, "Woodman spare that tree'' is their hue and cry l Where there are trees, in most in stances, the owners are progressive
 enough to sacrifice their own interests
 to public welfare. We have to go nc
 farther than Fairfield or Stratford tc
 learn lesson in the dignity of broad
 roadways. Have any of my readers
 ever happened to visit Pittsfeld
 Mass? Here is a city noted for its
 beauty, with it's leading stores on g
 street a block in width, rivalling il possible the ancient Appian Way The
 merchants and residents of this city
 are proud of their city beautiful. They
 could not understand the Bridgeport individual whose ideal would be, Mar
 row streets for the narrow-minded." ' Now then, is the cost too great. is
 civic pride too dormant, is patriotism
 indeed so dead that we at this par
 ticularly opportune season, shall fai
 to reform the original lines of th1f
 magnificent thoroughfare into the re,
 habflitated Kings Highway of 1912?