The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-10-29
Kirkpatrick Submits Plan
for Putting Streets on
Systematic Basis
CITY COMMISSION
TO ACT TUESDAY
Appalling Number OF Repetitions in
Names of Streets and Avenues
Cited 10y the City
Engineer

Reducing the number of street names
in birmingham from the appalling NUM-
Der of 2i00 to Just l61. City Engineer l<irk-
patrick yesterday made his report To the
city commission upon the remaining and
renumbering of the city's streets and
houses. The report was passed over un-
til next Tuesday when ii Will be called
up again for action after having been
examined by the members of The commits
sion.
In a lengthy statement MI kirkpatrick
explains the system followed in making
the new names aud Members and explains
the conditions existing at present. The
number Of repettions i'm street names rs
appalling, an example being that there
are at present 81 Third avenues 30 Second
avenues % First avenues and ON down
the line until it is shown that only ls2
names have been used in designating St
different streets IN the same city
New System in Nutshell
In a complete list Of the streets, Mr..
Kirkpatrick then shows the old name. It's
location what it has been connected with
If anything and its new name. lie de-
seribes the new system as Follows
each highway running approximate
ly north and south is called street eN-
eept when adjacent to the rear of building
lots and then called lHnc. Each high
way running Approximately east and west
is called avenue, except when adjacent
to the rear Of building lots and then
called alley The ianes and alleys In
elude nearly all highways less than %
feet wide
lie states further:
Is Easily Understood
"rhe system proposed Is easily under-
stood; is easily used; admits Of unlimited
growth and espansion; indicates simp)&~
by the street name and house number the
location OF every house; afferes easy
reckoning for distances between any two
points and il makes the least possible
change FROM the existing street nantes
aud house numbers. Tho street NAMES
are very brief for use ON street signs
records stationery and elsewhere, TIE
names of future streets ate almost fNed
IN advance.
NECESSARILY there are Wunoef ef In
cal Irregularities and some ne9nsistencies
in the application of the, system, because
the streets in continuous districts are
not parallel nor contiguous and the sub
divisions are often not rectangular nor
harmonious. The city engineer earnestly
hopes llHl icE+HidAApu YAH lif hittfNfN"
which viii provide such control as TO
stop the haphazard subdivdmg of city
and suburban property and not leave the
city to hopelessly accept any street. ana
alleys that nay he offered.
AS a result Of sYstematzne the street
names the number of names used has
been greatly reduced In tie old sys-
tenn, there were 2i53 highways separately
named BY bringing together the. several
sections OF long highways under one name
for each such highway. there are In the
new system only 52S highways separately
( named. or one-fourth as mauy as former
1 ~ The actual number OF names used
| In only about half of this latter number,
! because the same numerical name occurs
| for both north and south avenues as
well az for both east and west streets
1ndexing the names is very much short
ened
Some Confusion at First
Some confusion and some inconNenl-
ence must follow the adoption OF this
propose plan until the new names and
| numbers are marked on the highway
and the houses and their use becomes
established 1t is desirable that this
, marking be done as promptly as prac-
tieable: II should commence where the
changes are greatest that is, in the west
ern part Of the city In many parts tt
will only be necessary to check up exist
ing numbers of houses and made e."
correcuuns.
For marking highways, it Is pronoseN
to place on the diagOnaiiy opposite eoi
ners OF each intersection sign for each
highway making -four signs at each ln-
tersection or one sign on each corner.