The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-10-21
GRADE CROSSING PLANS TO TOTAL
 OVER s3,OOO,OOO City Commission To Adopt Ordinance At Meeting
 Tuesday Morning MUST START WORK
 WITHIN 90 DAYS l.. & N. Willing To Build 24th St. Viaduct On
 65-35 Basis

It will cost $3,O1O,OOO to carry out the grade crossing elimination plans which the city commission will adopt by ordinance Tuesday and for ward to the railroads with an ultimatum to start work with in 90 days and complete the program in 360 working days.
 Cost estimates of the proj- ects, which call for under passes at Fourteenth, Eigh- teenth and Twentieth streets an da viaduct at Twenty fourth street, were made pub- lie for the first time Monday afternoon, after the ordinances had been placed in final form by City Engineer A. J. Flaw kins and City Attorney w. J. Wynn.
 Actual cost of construction of the four projects, exclusive of track eleva- ton between the intersecting streets, is placed at $606, 800, divided as fol- lows: Fourteenth street, $128,O00; Eighteenth street, $263, ,500; Twen- tieth street, $215,000; Twenty-fourth street, $310,000.
 The remainder of the $3 3,010, GOO will be expended in street Impressions and track elevations, The ordinances pro aEisle for M 1sax u strseE depression of 35h feet and q track elevation of ap-- proximately 15 feet.
 Plans Revised
 At recent joint conference between the railroad executives, commission members and a special chamber of commerce committee, the total cost of the three underpasses was estimated at $2, ,25O, 900, but after the city's plans were revised in accordance with the of John W. Reid, De- troit street commissioner, who last week a local survey, the commis- sion decided it was necessary to in- crease this estimate 20 per cent. This brings the total cost of the three un- derpasses to $2, 2,7OO,OOO, and, added to the viaduct cost of $310,OOO, makes a tSA0AN tOtaA OA ROgOAOyOSVs
 'eThese estimates are conservative" said Street Commissioner Dickson. 'The commission and it's engineers and legal department, together with expert advice from other sources, has prepared that we believe are bomb proof. They will be adopted Tuesday, and the next move will be up to the railroads"
 The commission expects the railroads to begin court fight in an effort to block the program outlined, but it feels that 1t can easily win this fight, though it may take several years.
 The total cost of the grade separation program is much lower than most vf- ficials originally predicted it would be.
 Roads Must Pay All
 The ordinances provide that the en- tire cost of all the projects shall be borne by the railroads. If the carriers had agreed to the city's plans at re- cent conference, the city would have agreed to bear 25 per cent of the cost of construction.
 A few days ago the commission made n final proposal to the railroads in an effort to avoid litigation over the Twan- ty-1ourth street VIaduct, since all parties agreed that an underpass was out of the question there. The city offered to bear 25 per cent of the cost, but the carriers, through W. l.. Mapother, pres ident of the Louisville and Nashville railroad, in a reply which reached the Monday, rejected this pro- posal and insisted that the city should pay 35 per cent of the cost! The city's answer to the railroads counter-pro- pOsal will be given Tuesday in the en- actment of ordinances forcing the roads to stand the cost of all four projects.
 In his letter, Mir. Mapother said the three underpasses demanded by the city would cost $2,730,OOO, which is only $30,0O0 more than the city's own esti- mate. He urged the commission to re- consider the plans for viaducts at all the crossings.