New Britain herald., 1920-01-08
OPENING OF A NEW STREET.

The proposition that Lake street be opened up through to Main, although the details of the plan for the pro- cedure are not made public, sounds as though it might prove very feasible and there is no doubt but that, if an equitable method Of accomplish ment is suggested, tho city will ult1- mate1y gain considerable from the making Of a new thoroughfare ill the heart of the city and the business dis trict
 Tine Mayor prefers to remain aecre- tive upon the plan and will not tell how the city is going about making the change. However, providing there is not a large sum of money spent unnecessarily, alr est any scheme should be worth careful consideration and probable adoption. We take it, from what we can glean, that there Is a possibility of oating a corporation of Main street business men and property owners in tho immediate ncighborhood of the railroad and Main street which will undcrwrltc d part of the expense at least. Their operations will not be entirely phiian- thropic, they will probably realize on the boost in property values to con- siderable extert. Nevertheless there is a genuine public spirit back of the move, if we have judged it right.
 1nI>lg which stand in tho way, should not be hard to obtain by the city, even though real estate prices are now on the crest. Condemnation proceedings may be necessary, but we arc of the opinion that, once the owners of the buildings are satisfied that the city is in earnest, they will accept small profit without the need of going to the final steps for the acquiring of property. The street should have
 been cut through some years ago, it would have been cheaper to have
 done so then. but, by the same process
 of reasoning, it will probably be less costly to do it now than it will be ten S yours ICDNS dltd lIS utiH lo iiStN "1ASii it las to be done.
 With the elimination of the blind ending of Court street which is planned, and q similar change on Lake street, there will be no thor oughfares m the immediate center of 1 the city that come to a sudden end. 1 Therc will be no cul- de-sa in traffic, l points which business consistently 1 avoids. There will be nothing to stand | in tho way of the up-ouilding of office 1 structures and stores, and there will 1 be an increase i'll the valuation of all ] properties on the streets which have 1 become through rassways and along
 which the public may travel to and 1 from work or on shopping trips 1 without the need of retracinS it's l steps.
 ! The too familiar proposition of
 hlgh costs in city changes comes up in connection with these plans as if l has with every recommendation to the. l public that has been advanced during 1 the past few years. They will mean ] additions to our expenses as have ! school mproH ements, water works, 1 and other indispensable additions to 1 our etuipment. But the fact must be ! faced tat New Britain is growing ! rapidly and is in the same position 1 as q personal business that has in 1 creased by d large percentage in d 1 few years, it has to have more facili- | ties and chances to expand. We must 1 pay for our conveniences. Eetroa C. | tive clements W no wish 10 retard our 1 growth by rcfusing to support need 1 ed improvements shoud be frowncd
 upon by the citizens. Careless eX- 1 penditure, for little return by city of-
 ticials in any direction, should be ab-
 solutely disallowed by the same peo- pie. A dollar spent with wisdom and l. efficiency now will return itself many 1 fold ater on. A dollar wasted, | wherever it is pla ced, is gone forever.
 We must look far forward for our
 needs as they are cheaper now, if we
 look ahead, than they will ever be
 But we must first make up for tardi- | ness in taking care of this business
 of ours, the city.