El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1915-02-06
MAKING CITY STREETSATTRACTIVE
REQUIRE5PL PLANNING Of De TAILS
Problem Of Street Furnishing Is a Modern One But Is
Gaining Converts in Many Cities; Economy Is the
First Requisite; One Fixture Should Serve
in Capacity of Many Purposes.

7 many hundreds of pedestrians to one
! vehicle. while on an avenue, where the
! street may be the Same width as the
/ one between the skyscrapers or tene-
( ments, the traffic is mainly composed
/ Of motor cars and carriages.
Plan Favored by Architects.
The plan most favored by city archi-
/ tects is one in which various arterial
/ streets radiate from a common business
{ center, these being the main traffic
| streets. Located between and connect
] ing these are the minor streets, which,
/ offering to the resident refuge from
! the stream of traffic on the longer
thorOughfare, become the residential
! thoroughfare. BY the radial system
the greatest area is reached with the
least length Of street
Traffic streets should be direct,
/ broad and of easy grace AS to how
( wide they should be it is impossible to
designate an exact standard, but in
these modern days Of rapid transit and
increasing travel, and also increase in
the size of transporting units, sufficient
width should be allowed to make it pos
sibIe for the travel upon them to move
safely. easily and swiftly. These main
streets win, most of them carry surface
tramway lines. The ideal way to pro-
vide for these is with a distinct right
of way. which, if in the center Of the
roadway, and a sufficient space al
lowed on either side for trees, shrubs
etc. LAAG HAAGGL WOulu aQLl muEn 10 the
beauty of the city as well as lowering
cost of street construction land dead
ening a lot Of noise.
The Minor Street.
For the minor street it is just-as hard
to set a standard These streets not
wishing to invite traffic. need not al
ways be straight or Of easy grade, but
rather should be quiet by-ways for res
licences and given a correspOndingly
coy and domestic character. They
can be developed only from the point
Of view of making the best Of the sites
for the buildings. The width of the
roadway need be only sufficient for
easy turning or for vehicles to step on
either side without blocking progress.
Regarding sidewalks the accepted
judgment based on both economy and
superior attractiveuess, is for the mar
row walk with the grass border. Very
often in their margins. trees. shrubs
and flowers are planted. If a certain
street width is necessary to give air
space, how much better to put the extra
space into something restful to the eve.
rather than in pavement, which being
provocative Of much dust is never
healthy.
Assuming good pavement and even
curb, we come to the street furnish
ings In this day of civic art the I'M
slightly, overhead wires have either
been put underground or relegated to
the aAteySs taxing WIN Lnen1, OF course,
the poles which supported them, but
included in the fixtures of the street
we have the necessary lighting appar-
atus, the street name signs the post
boxes and the fire alarm boxes Also.
on business streets, the variegated ad-
vertisements with which business pla-
cards the way Another item should
be added to these. also, and that is
isles of safety" which are almost es-
sential at busy crossings, a platform OF
refuge where timid pedestrians may
take breath while crossing the crowd
ed roadway.
Is Modern Plan.
This problem Of street furnishings is
a modern one and its gradual devel-
Opment makes an interesting study As
an example, in the beginning street
lighting was considered a private.
rather than public, matter. Mankind
began by staying home at night, taking
the hint that darkness meant the day
was over.
If duty or pleasure took man abroad
after nightfall he went at his own risk