The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-08-27
TRACKELEVATION DECLARED SOUND BY KIRKPATRICK
Former City Engineer Scores Plans For
 New .Yiaducts

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 The proposal to erect viaduct at Eighteenth street is unsound, according to Walter c. Kirkpatrick, former city engineer, who now is doing special engineering work for the city of Waco, Texas In letter to Thomas H. Mol ton of the Motion Realty company, he asserts that underpasses will solve the grade crossing problem and sahrply crit icizes the viaduct plan offered by. Gen W. l.. Sibert.
 Mir. Fitzpatrick was city engineer dur ing a period when the crossing situa- tion was under almost constant discus , sion. His letter follows:
 MT. Thomas H. Motion, care Motion Realty O., Third Avenue, Birming- ham, Ala.
 Dear Mir. M0lten :-Only my profes- sional interest in the successful sepa- ration of the grades in tue d0wnsown business districte of Birmingham prompts me again to speak about it, thought each time II do so, I feel that it should be the last.
 s5 It is intensely disappointing that the city commission and the city engineer, who have strongly and persistenly stood llS now, when action seems to be near, with a construction agreement appar- ently in sight, abandon this plan,- yield to the argument of the railroads and agree to having separate via . duct for each of the main streets from Fourteenth to Twentieth streets. The last position is called compromise and the reason may be that some com promise must be made to get going {; but adopting viaduct for Eighteenth street IS no compromise; it is abandon ;ng the whole plaHS for if Eighteenth street hasa vfaducfit is not practicable to have anything else at Twentieth and the rest of the streets to the west. The property damage from a viaduct at Twentieth street would be immense, that at Eighteenth also immense; and h seems that the fcompromise" pro- poses that the city shall pay the prop erty damage. a
 Sums Up Objections
 Practically all the objections to track elevations may be summed up by saying that the construction will cost the railroads a lot of moneyl Such cost would not be justified, if Birming- ham were small or weak city. as if was when the present layout of rail- road tracks and buildings was started. During the intervening years, additions. renewals and extension of this layout have naturally followed, until the change required by track elevation in- wolves a general and rather radical un- setting of it. Naturally the railroads object to this and its expense. Just such great changes and cost have Ynef the requirements of progress in other cities; but if they. are warranted by the city's growth and future, it. is best to just brace up and undertake them. Tracks may have to be moved. freight depots be re-erected elsewhere, ware houses be changed to unload in the second story, and similar radical changes be made; but if the results are worth the cost, why, just 20 at it and stand the cost and ineonveniences dur. ing the construction.
 Would Elevate Tracks
 The advantages of track eleynt;ya are many and you are no doubt fa- smlllar with them. Once adopted, 1t would be adopting a policy, rather than sa plan for single street crossing; it would provide for eliminating grade VI ~HssAAAeSt AAVb OAAAy Ut AWGHIl6L0, tIlEns teenth and Fourteenth streets. but for all others east and west. Tho long i'm passable stretch, something like a mile, between Twelfth and the ice factory, along by Alice furnace, could be broken up and streets could be opened up to greatly facilitate the passage of traffic. to increase business and raise property values and the citys income thatIwould thereby result. The crossing going to the cemetery would no longer be a menace. To the east there are also long stretches of impossible tracks. re- quiring traffic to detour and these would be provided for, with great bene- fits. There would be no great amount of property damage for making any crossing underneath the elevated tracks 1: the development of business, the con venience of traffic, the raise in prop- rty values can hardly be foretold. SO