Capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1919-1980, 1920-02-18
COMMITTEE GIVES
REASONS FOR PAVING
HIGHLAND AVENUE

-. North salem Improvement as
INC @ is strongly urging the pay
socA highland avenue. Therefore
ing o. .s,ion asked by the pessimists
ne s~helieyers in any marked pros
ana S sor salem. is most pertinent
Ipss"ss. ps%s why pave Highland avenue
lnuss~ .nswer is: Because 1t is the
s.+ ~. broad. unobstructed route
sS .rsn the Pacific highway to the hear'
a the city. e.. hoa,,or
s'. shan any other unpaved street
ls,.m !. .,SsI length in the city.
q nNssnsa e the ten year bonding per-
a. This street expires this year
~ ,Ss ~, eity will not be forced to keep
!. !, repair as heretofore under the
Is of the bonding ordinance.
',,S Dasorse the present cost of annual
rs is very great and entirely out
l,pO !, ~roOOrtibn to the results secured.
,SAa walter Low.)
Recause, having a well graded ana
~or,,ed macadam base, it can be
p.Ssd more cheaply than any similar
p,.ast IN the city. (See Walter Skel-
toni rr,,oa oouo
IN easily increase the desirability,
me stability, the rentabilty, and the
..t,ao,veness to investors, of proper
~ an This street sufficiently to cover
M cost of the Improvement with a
nrof,t before all the annual assess
ments fall due.
BECAUSE we know that the paving
=, highland avenue will lead to the
navmg Of other residence streets in
North Salem, which in turn will tend
n increase values on Highland aven-
ma For instance the paving of Hazel
straet TO the deaf school lis already
practically assured
Because, in spite of fine natural ad-
vsrtages and proximity to the great
rortb and south arteries of valley
traffic, North Salem must either have
more paved and improved streets or
h4come veritable shack town, that
painful nightmare Of luckless prop
prty owners, who wake up too late.
The reason is simple, In this auto age,
sensible people of means will not
build good homes on unpaved streets.
Because most of the thirty thou
sand visitors In q day at the last state
fair had to drive over Highland ave-
nue. and, considering the many thou
sands of dollars which the state fair
leaves IN Salem every year, the most
elementary common business sense
and civic pride would seem to de-
mand that the city bestir itself to see
that broad paved street is extend
ed to the fair gates, and that much
at least is done toward making the
attendance forty thousand next year.
Because all traffic to another state
institution, the state school for deaf,
must pass over Highland avenue, and
as this school has spent nearly ahalf
million dollars in Salem since it was
moved to its present site, some civic
recognition of the fact is about due,
the money no doubt being very ac-
teptable.
Because big talk of a mighty well
come and the glad hand to new in
dustries such assthe Valley Packing
plant and the Kings Products COM
pany are very nice, but swift and
decisive action to get the main traf-
Tic arteries paved to their place of
business, paved streets that will save
them and their patrons time, temper
and money, every day in the year, is
Inc real wecome-the kind that will
attract more such plants.
Finally, because with the three
coast states spending over $125,0OO,-
wv on roads, and the near prospect
Of paved roads from Canada to Mex
leo' Salem public spirit and Salem ini-
uauve will look pltlfully weak, if,
al'er 1870, she continues to welcome
her guests over fifty miles of pave
: meht from Portland or a hundred
ana fifty miles from Astoria, with a
disgusting half mile of bumps, mud
~ aust inside the city limits, and
aAewlse thus speed the parting guest
Hom the south to the north, glad in
"erai sense to shake the dust of
a'sln from his clothes, knowing that
ne has pavement by the hundred
miles ahead
the property owners of abund-
an' means on this street do their
part there is not a particle of doubt
nay highland will be paved, that its
pesOse as main traffic artery will
maintained, that other streets lead
s !" 1t will soon follow suit and
y 'ne public institutions, and prop
ag IN North Salem will be benefit
Su' ~. as well as these owners them
F'sss' and the city at large.
submitted by, Mark e. Elliott. w
Dre'z' J. A. Carpenter, committee
M @Operty owners on Highland ave-
ni,,.s ana approved by paving COM