The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-03-15
WEATHERLY TELLS OF WADUCT WORK Minor Details Again Delay
 Formal Signing OUT OF THE COURTS Commissioner Thinks It Better to Secure Results at Once by Agree
 ment Than by Tedious
 Litigation
OUT OF THE COURTS

Litigation
 few minor details have caused an- other delay in the executing of the via
 duet contract for Twenty first street That T. B. Brooks of the Louisville
 and Nashville railroad might view the altered contract, a delay was agreed
 upon until Friday morning at 10 o'clock At that session, the city formally will agree to pay 20 per cent of the cost of the viaduct, which will be twice as broad
 as the present bridge, and will be open to the heaviest traffic. The railroads must | ratify it later.
 Though the plans of the city call for large number of viaducts to eliminate all grade crossings, this will be the sec ond viaduct to be built in Birmingham. The antecedents of the viaduct proposi- tion are not well known hence, James Weatherly, for whom one viaduct is named, and the commissioner of public utilities, has prepared a little outline of their history and purpose. It follows: The present Twenty-first street via duct was built about 25 years ago by the city at it's own expense, without contribu- tion by the railroads, they consenting to the structure being built over and to it's supports resting on their property "Twentyfirst street was not one of the open dedicated streets across the rail- roads and this crossing was closed to the
 public until the present viaduct was built.
 It then became dedicated to the public use only to the extent and width of the via duct The present width is only 40 feet and six inches. Therefore, the existing highway as dedicated at present is only 4O feet and six inches
 TO BE EIGHTY FEET WIDE "The proposed viaduct will be the full width of Twenty-first street, namely, 80 feet Had not the railroads agreed to this, the city would have been forced to condemnation proceedings in the courts to acquire this additional aerial space over the railroad tracks and resting ground for the new structure on the rail- road property beneath. The city claimed the right to do this. The railroads de- nied it, claiming that the existing laws gave no right to the city to condemn aerial space, but only a crossing over the tracks at grade This controversy was settled by the railroads agreeing to con tribute 80 per cent of the entire cost of construction and the city 70 per cent Thereby long and expensive lawsuit was avoided, and the viaduct can be built now. instead of two or three years from now.
 That the present structure is inade- quate does not admit of serious contro- versy. Its cost of maintenance is very heavy. That it is unsafe is claimed or apprehended by many. Only the light traffic is permitted over it now. Even the fire department is barred from it's use now. The city could not have per mitted its use by the public without mak- | ing extensive and costly repairs and al- terations at cost of not less than s20,- 900 to s40.000. This would have had to bS borrowed at interest from the banks ABOLISH GRADE CROSSINGS 'But one of the most important conse- quences of the agreement with the rail- roads is that it practically opens the way for the carrying out within req sonable time of the plan for the abolition of all the grade crossings from Thirty second street to Fourteenth street, in elusive, over the rights of way and tracks os the railroads between these points. Tt is a distinct public service and bet ter for having been accomplished by and WitH tHe CO-OpeIdtlOI OI the rdllrOdOS, rather than by bitter and protracted legal warfare, with the outcome as with all court litigation. involved is uncer- tanty The First avenue or Weatherly viaduct not only benefited the old city where it is located, but it's beneficent advan- tages have been even more felt by the thousands of taxpaying citizens living in the eastern part of Greater Birmingham. WILL OPEN UP TRAFFIC And so, the new Twenty-first street viaduct will not only benefit the busi- ness district of the older city, but will prove great boon to all of the resi- dents north and south of the railroad tracks, from the confines of North Bir-
 mingham to the heights of Red mountain Both viaducts, in the larger and truer sense, are for the good of the whole city, and all the inhabitants thereof. And now, l let us put thls new viaduct in our list l of accomplished facts and a look forward 1 toward the abolition of those other dan gerous grade crossings in other parts of | the greater city,
 war, there would be numerous measures | to pass"
 | c'Do you think that Birmingham has a
 chance to get the armor plate plant?'
 | Yes. I see no reason why it should
 not get it. But the most absorbing mat /, ter to me is the Valley creek canal. It
 would mean more to the Birmingham
 district than any plant I can imagine" ! But is it practical?"
 | "That is a question that remains for
 l the engineers to decide Engineers,
 previously, have reported it to be feas-
 !, ble But, at all events I do think that | it ought to be investigated fully ard