Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-07-25
JULIUS ADLER
On Street Problems Of PhlladeIr

On Street Problems OF Philadelphia
NIELL.PAVED streets constitute one of
w the principal assets of any. city, large
or small. and money spent on their construc-
tion and maintenance is always a good in.
vestment, says Julius. Adler. Deputy Chief
Of the City Bureau of Highways.
''Ths advantages of fine, we'll paved
streets. entirely aside from the good impress.
sion which they make upon strangers visit
ing a city" said Deputy Chief Adler. "are
Of the first Importance. In the first place,
the cost Of hauling over we'll paved streets
as compared with the cost over roughly
paved highways Is almost beyond calcula-
ton. and the more that motor DIR wen traffic
comes into use the greater is the saving.
oline consumed. in the wear and tear on
the vehicle itself, In the time necessary for
the haul and in the entire cost Of the opera
tion.
Many Other Advantages
"While this may be considered the main
physical advantage to be derived from we'll
paved streets there are others which are
scarcely less important. The second,
should say. is In the smaller number of ac-
cidents resulting in claims against the city
good road any vehicle, no matter what it's
motive power, is much more easily con-
trolled than on n badly paved road or one
which is full of holes. In accidents Of this
KlnQ tnPre are TWO cldSSeS Vi clulInS,
pedestrian and vehicular, and experience
has shown a vastly smaller number of acct
dents where the streets are in fine condition
than where they are not
1.-THE third advantage is in the greatly re-
duced cost of street cleaning. and the fourth
is that on well paved streets there is always
a better class of property. Given equal con-
ditions. the well paved street will soon
prove to be the better business street and
the better properties which are maintained
there result in more taxes for the city.
1.-The street problem In Philadelphia Is
in some ways more complicated than in
some of the other large cities. This had its
origin probably In the fact that the origi-
nal plans for the city contemplated what are
today considered to be very narrow streets,
the city except Broad and Market streets.
At the same time. Philadelphia being so es-
sentially an industrial city, there is weight
of traffic on the streets which few other
| cities have.
The Other Large Cities
Contrast the situation here with that of
New York, for example. We always think
cities in the world and yet the average width
of the cartway. or the distance from curb
to curb. in New York is one and a half or
twice that of Philadelphia. Therefore, we
have to handle about as much traffic here,
when the industrial nature Of our city Is
| considered, in about ne-half the cartway
space. And, in addition, there is an un.
usual amount Of heavily laden traffic here,
although this same condition exists in every
"Baltimore has Repavins Commission
which has been in operation some ten or
twelve years and has repaved from the bot.
tom up; that Is, has put in modern con-
crete foundations in the great bulk of the i'm
portant streets Of that city. Washington
is one Of the few cities of the United States
which was built from a preconceived plan
from the beginning and, therefore, all its
streets are of great, or at least sufficient,
width and there is practically no industrial
traffic.
Philadelphia's Problem
1.-THE problem here Is TO use the available
space to the best advantage, and this means
modern pavements and maintenance of
them to high degree OF efficiency. Phila- =
delphia did not adopt the concrete fOunda- =
tion under the surface of the paving so early
as some of the other cities did. The foun- :
dation here was In many instances crushed
stone and sometimes only dirt. The old
pranite block roads of the city were often
laid on few inches of sand and the asphalt
on crushed stone or broken c0bbles. The
result of an insufficient foundation Is an
uneven surface.
! 342 miles OF granite block paving, probably