El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-04-15

/ Editor Fl Paso Herald:
! Two propositions have been submitted
/ to county Judge Eylar and the county
! commissioners for a road TO Fort Bliss
I il is aunOunced-One OF these TO re-
build the present road out Bliss street
I to the post and the other TO build a new
road from Piedras street at the eastern
/ terminus of Montana, across the new
Manhattan Heights addition
If the commissioners build the road
to accommodate the greatest numOer
OF bOnafide residents and at the same
time serve the people OF the post and
those who go TO and from the Country
club there seems but one solution Tor
the present Fort Bliss road tBllss
street, is now a thiclSly settled thor
OBshfare and has many dozens OF cosy
homes-cOttages and ngalOws-resi-
dences Of substantial citizens and tax
payers. from end to end
The road through Manhattan Heights
would serve few II any home owners
It would run through the new addition
a real estate speculation, in which lots
would sell the more readily after the
construction Of road, and would cross
q section of the city suburbs as vet
spaTsely settled, between Manhattan
Heights and the fort
The present road does not cross the
railroad track between the city and
the post. To get TO the Country club
It is necessary to cross the railroad
track twice. near the post.
The new road through Manhattan
Heights would cross the railroad twice
on its course TO Fort Bills and the
Country club visitors would still have
10 cross once. There would thus be
no Improvement for Country club Wis
itors. and It would force the Fort Bliss
soldiers and their freighting wagons
70 cross the railroad twice in either
direction Everybody knows the dan
ger Of railroad crossings to traffic and
the money that has been spent in get
ting safe crossings downtown in FL
PasO
The building a new road from the end
OF Montana street into Manhattan
Heights would entail the construction
of a very heavy grade. which would be
an expensive piece Of work.
The present Fort Bliss road is free
from heavy grades except the long hill
az the reservation, which would remain
anyhow.
The people who have built their
homes on Bliss street have done so in
good faith, believing that the road lai0
out by government engineers and built
by the government as the most feasible
~oute to and from the city. would be
continued as such. As pioneers in eN-
tending the city eastward. they deserve
consideration. Not only this. but there
IS a large settlement OF people south
Of Bliss street and east of Piedras
street in East FL PaSO, all home own
ers Of the substantial class, who use
Bliss street to get to and from the
city. A new road built upon the mesa
through Manhattan Heights would do
these people no good, as they could not
reach 1T. The new road would serve
only The traffic TO the post and Coun-
try club and that which might develop
IN tne future after the owners of the
present unimprOved property on the
mesa could sell at increased prices to
intending home builders.
The present Fort Bliss road would
have the advantage Of serving a large
number OF home owners who are al
ready paying their taxes to the city and
cOunty-at least zoo families-and at
the same time it would give the fort
as good a road to Fl PasO as the Man
haitian Heights road and with no cross
ing over the railroad tracks.
The present road to the fort il has
been said by engineers. could be re-
built in large part. Ola its present foun.
dation; If this is possible, II certainly
means a much less cost to the county
than the construction OF an entirely
new road such as would be necessary
over the mesa. If the present road had
to be rebuilt entirely, the cost could
not be as heavy as the cost of the new
road proposed through Manhattan
Heights, because Of the heavy grading