Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1918-01-01
PROJECTS
!. H|NDERED BY WAR
Adverse Conditions Greatly Handicap
Program for Needed City I'm
prOvements Says Mayor.
BY MAYOR NJ. r.. CARLSON.

Moline, owing to the tremendous
building operations at Rock Island !
arsenal which required material and
was necessary for our improvements. |
On account of this it was necessary
for Moline to postpone several pend !
ing jobs which were ready for con-
tractors bids, and it was also neces-
sary to discontinue construction OF
sidewalks after four miles, out of a
program of seven, had been com
pleted.
consider the largest Improvement
completed was the widening OF Fifth
avenue from Thirteenth to Seven
teenth street, which was delayed for
many years by condemnation pro-
ceedings before the court flnally'con-
firmed the assessment roll AS soon
as the court gave the city title to the
widened portion of the avenue, We
started operations to improve it, first
having buildings set back to the prop
er line, changing many water connec-
tons to the mains, placing the wood
block pavement on the roadway, and
causing the street car company to
double track. thereby relieving the
congestion at the central point, and
giving better street car service and
finally completing new sidewalk.
The entire cost of this widening,
paving, sidewalk, etc, was $4,000, of
which about $4,000 is paid by the
City.
Start On Storm Drain.
After many years OF planning and
figuring we have started the construc
ton of a six-foot storm drain in First
street Moline and Rock Island each
paying half the entire cost Of the i'm
p~ovement apd will be a great benefit
to both cities
The Improvement of Nineteenth
street from Twelfth avenue to Tween
tythird avenue was commenced this
year. After the court confirmed this
improvement we Immediately COM
menced the construction of storm
drain. which has been completed. We
are now working on tie grading of
this Street. When this has been COM
peted it will be one of the most beau
tiful and useful streets in on. city
The street will be 100 feet wide. and
in the near future, when the time is
ripe for permanently improving the
road bed, the street will be sufficiently
wide to permit the construction Of a
! boulevard in the center. and will prove
to be one of our most attractive thor
/ oughfares.
| The grading of Twenty-seventh
/ street from Sixteenth to Twenty-third
avenue is important because it is pre-
| paratory work for the extension OF
( the Blue line from Fifteenth avenue
to Twenty-third avenue which will
/ prove a benefit to the people living
on the southeast bluff.
New and more adequate storm
>. drains along River road is an i'm
provementh worthy of mention, ii
gives added facilities for taking care
street.
We completed the paving of Seven
teenth avenue from Tenth to Fiji
teenth street A, and caused the street
car company to lay double track this
distance, resulting in the Elm street
line giving better service. Asphalt
was used
Saving in Fuel.
Forced draft CRATES have been in.
stalled under two of the boilers a
the waterworks. This, according t
engineers investigation and tests
will cut down the fuel consumption
19.1 per cent.
The laundry and boiler room at thu
hospital grounds will be slightly re
modelled this coming season, and will
be used for a detention ward wher'
patients with contagious disease
' will receive care They will have tn,
advantage of all modern convenience
and nurses when necessary
Grading of Nineteenth street run
ming into Twenty-fifth street to tn
southeast from Twelfth avenue is
marked improvement as is the storm
. drain placed therein. This require,
the establishing of permanent grade
which changes the character of tn
locality. This was accomplished at
cost of $4,000
We have tried to solve the problem
OF getting better crossing protection
Of our busiest intersections. The rail
, road companies and the city have fin
| ally decided to try regular policeme
, in uniform at these crossings. Will
, this is in the nature of an experiment
, We believe that it will prove to b
successful and that regular traffi
policemen will be permanent fix
q ture.
$4,000 for Browning Field.
= Browning field, although still in tn
! rough, as 1t were, is nevertheless i
S such condition that it can be use
4 for sports and games, and 1t is GU
earnest desire to complete this ath
'letlc field within the next few year:
:, AS we are able to devote only part G
e our park funds to this place we ar
l planning at present to expend approx
. imately $4,000 for necessary improve
e ments, which will inclnde a muc
/, needed comfort station, tennis court.
e small baseball diamond and foo,
ball gridi-on for small children, an
sodding the entertainments on III
= south end. and probably corstructin
D some sidewalks.
e, During the year the city has in
creased its fixed payrols to tn
!. amount of approximately $1,000,
< THIS increase went to the police, fire
8 men. men at the waterworks and fl
: ter plant, laborers and others in tn
: city employ. and it was quite a task I
0 meet owing to our financial conditio
!. Tor the last two years. However. i
n view of the increasing cost of Twin
J. expenses 1t was found necessary.
we start the new year with BE
DeJaeger As chief NJ nnlien He h,