Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-05-26
|1REET W0RkT|ES
TRAFFIC. !
p.paying Job on Ridge Avenue
1 4 Broad Street Carried on,
In Rush Hours
|cuss WORDS, PERsPIRATIoN

ftttt tl w "a. H .l. IA. d
u, uerpetual tranlc jam extending
\ ,.ors than two blocks along Broad
n sereet at Ridge avenue greets the
n s,otorist who would traverse Philadel.
/. phla's principal thoroushfars at any
s,ms between s o'clock in the morning
yFand midnight.
X Stretched along Ridge avenue. almost
4 'ii;sompletely across Broad street, half 4
tdosen workmen toll from 8 o'clock until
a lalf. past 8 in the afternoon.
4 They have torn up the stone blocks
Ststween the trolley tracks, leaving only
4 narrow strip Of road on the west
lids Of Broad street, where all the
\ Rrcsd street and eastbound Ridee ave.
f'sus traffic must pass.
(; And 1t passes, with clamor 6f hoyns.
y ,Aouts Of motorists. shrill blasts Of the
n.fBc whistle, banging Of mudsuards.
i snd the merry tinkls Of broken slass
isiGns above the tumult of hundred
y HSumming motors. Mn
Y "Some traffic." remarked Patrolmau
NWilliam Addison, az he surveyed the
.s1ine of northbound automobiles that
4 Sretched as far as the eye could eee
y fowafd City Hall. Addison handles
,ihe Semaphore from s o'clock until half.
& eaa 4, when he turns over the signal
Y e Patrolman James Duffy.
M Pandemonium Starts
".It's this way from the time I come
.4A~'+As> khn v,nnpv1Snm nnkN
IN the job, and be gets the late after
\ ~ So6n n when the cars are coming bsct
4 I'm the ball park"
"A Addison shot the semaphore and i'm.
4Ssediately dozen machines were In
{notipn, all striving to gain the narrow
fSSssags across Ridge avenue. A motor.
,kuck ran up on the left side and tried
\ b cross In front Of the moving auto.
\ mobiles.
"Get back there" shouted Addison.
I Another traffic man came running up
from Ridge avenue, and directed the
! truck back and over Melon stree.
\ which runs into Broad at Ridge.
I'VE have to send the westbound
Ridge avenue automobiles down Melon
\ street" explained Addison. "The east
bound traffic on Ridge avenue goes down
Z Broad. This morning big truck tried
10 cross down the Ridge. The motor
salled when l stopped him, and laid
!, Sisht across Broad street. Talk about
Hobson bottling up Santiago harbor.
S BE had nothing on that truck"
Addison shot the semachore back and
stopped the Broad street traf6c while
/ Sbeveral trolleys rolled across Ridge
avenue, the motormen shouting at the
sworkmen as they scrambled from the
tracks.
Perpetual Auto Show
take a look down there" said
5Dp6y, who came up to relieve Addison.
BE pointed down Broad street. "Talk
fsheut your automobile shows. We've
N san outdoor exhibition right here
ttht beats anything they ever pulled In
~ armory. Stand down there on Broad
Et&eet and look 'em over. One Of the
4dys tells me salesman just sold the
ear he was in while he was waiting
Gown by Wallace street,
Some Job" said William J. Nee.
\ M, the foreman in charge Of the work,
% he mopped his brow with khaki
Agndkerchief. IA few more like this,
llsd well 90 wild. A motorman came
down Ridge avenue last night, when
~ were working overtime until 1OI
eclock. and wanted Duffy to pinch me.
Hs parked his big Brill right in the
middle Of our work and argued until |
Duty told |him to move along"
Meehan Is the son Of John Meehan,
Who has the contract for the work. |
Today he Is directing work fifteen feet
farther up Ridge avenue. This leaves
= one. way passage up Broad street for
sorthbound traffic only. All south.
bound traffic goes UP Fairmount ave.
1ue to Fifteenth street, and down FIJI. |
tsenth as far as they like. The Ridge |
svenue traffic is also being sent down |
Fifteenth. That relieves the conges.
ticn at Broad street and Ridge ave-
A!e, but necessitates trafiic men at four
sectional points, and causes q one
way procession down Fifteenth street.
Y To Finish Job Tuesday
Why isn't the job done at nisht?"
Heehan was asked.
~ can't answer that" he replied.
we took the Job as q regular contract,
end are handling It accordingly. We've
zen working overtime, and will have
Y done BY Tuesday night. Wen have
ne road cleared as soon as We can"
But meanwhile the horns toot, the
mnders click, the motorists swear and
70 outdoor automobile show goes on.
Dunlap Tells Of Hsndicaps
Chief Dunlap. Of the Bureau of High. =,
xsys, who goes to City Hall each day
tMom - MS home in Oak Lane by automo-
one and passes the construction work,
~ that he had ordered Meehan to
speed up as much as possible.
Il doubt that working a twenty.
wur. shift would make much dif-
.sseace IN tho compilation Of the con-
aements in the lob that do not appear
e nrst glance, such as tearing up the
olo blocks on Ridge avenue and then
waiting for the p. n. T. to lay its ties
snd rails, before the concrete can be
poured into place. Then, you can't
hurry the hardening Of the concrete. !"