The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-09-05
PROBLEM NOT YET SOLVED

underpaSSeS which deserve careful at- tention. It appears that Birmingham is suffering from lack of foresight in guiding its past development of track age and associated shipping stations, warehouses and other allied construc- tion. Inasmuch as certain construction has been established according to the private purpose, and in accord with no general plan, what would have been a simple problem thirty, or even twenty, that is difficult to resolve. It is noted that General Sibert finds objections to viaducts as we'll as to underpasses, but views the viaducts as far less objection able
 The objections to the underpass plan, as viewed by General Sibert, are, first, that "it forces vehicles to cross railroad tracks at grade on Powell ave- nue and Avenue A after emerging from the underpass. Automobiles going southeast would speed into the under pass in order to make the grade on the other side and thus dart out onto Powell avenue tracks" This is obviously dan- gerous, and needs to be considered care fully. The second objection, as to marr- ing the view on Twentieth street, is not decisive. The third objection as to the expense the railroads would have to in- pr1r ic of consideration for ho roads would have to incur expense in either case. It is believed that the rail roads can solve the engineering difficult ties involved. A far more serious ob- jection is that the underpass plan for Twentieth, Eighteenth and Fourteenth streets would forever block the construc- tion of either viaducts or underpasses at Seventeenth, Sixteenth and Fifteenth streets, as we'll as at Nineteenth street, because of spreading service trackage. The fourth objection that the underpass plan will have an initial cost of one mil lion dollars more than the viaduct plan is not valid over the long period of fu- ture years, if the public welfare is other wise better served by underpasses.
 The city commission then has two really serious objections to underpasses which ought to be carefully studied and eliminated as far as possible. The first is that the grades will still remain un- separated at Powell avenue and Avenue A. This result would in some respects increase the menace. These grades must be taken care of. The second is that certain important streets will be forever blocked to either viaducts or underpasses. That also is result to which the com mission cannot close its eyes, and which this municipality cannot afford to per init. These streets are now of no great moment, but to disregard them now would be to create for the future diff culties as great as or greater than past mismanagement has already created for the present.
 It is unfortunate that some of these points are being brought out at such a late date, and that the commission's fondness for underground discussion has kept the public in ignorance of certain vital considerations. In spite of the pressing nature of the grade-crossing emergency, it is better to be right before going ahead than to precipitate a sit uation that will cause endless trouble, expense and annoyance to this city for all future time. If major operation is necessary, then let major operation be performed. But let there be no inad- equate program which will merely defer problems that eventually must be solved and at greater cost in the future than if solved now.
 The objections raised by General Si- bert, while notnecessarily inclining the de- cision in favor of his plan, yet reveal grave weaknesses in the underpass program which have apparently been deliberately concealed from the public, and which in- dicate that either courage or enterprise has been lacking to face the situation squarely and to undertake whatever re- vision of the present location of track age and other construction may be nec- essary to correct the mistakes of the past. The incompetence of the present commission was never more glaringly in evidence than in this crisis, nor was it's effort to hide behind the walls of fear ful secrecy ever more noticeable or sub versive of the public interest. The pub lie is willing to cooperate with those who are in honest perplexity, but the public can only be suspicious of official efforts to keep vital facts from the public.
 
 CHINA'S CIVIL WAR
 Many warships, including several