Evening star., 1927-08-14
LATERAL STREET CUTTING IS
SERIOUS MUNICIPAL PROBLEM

paved with concrete. There should be
no occasion to dig 1t up then. But
suspicion Is strongly founded that
when the beautiful white stretch of
concrete is completed somebody will
decide to build on one Of the few re-
manning lots, and the inevitable gang
will appear again and joyfully. but
with great effort, mar the surface
with yawning chasms.
Filling in lateral cuts in the Dis
trict's streets has come to be one of
the greatest problems with which the
highway department has to deal. Last
year there were some 10000 cuts filled
in at a cost of about 100000. The
cost Is charged against the property
owners. Fully 95 per cent of these
cuts are lateral. running from the
curb to the longitudinal mains, which
follow the direction of the street.
There are about 300 working days in
the year, which means that cuts must
be filled in all over the District at the
rate Of about zoo a day. The cuts
cannot be repaired Immediately, for
the earth must have a chance to
settle. But when there is hard rain
and much traffic, the cuts become so
deep that repairs must be made
quickly. Cuts left unrepaired, with
churning traffic and after washing
rains, become actual menaces to life
and limb.
The evil seems to be comparable to
cutting teeth. 1t is something that is
widely recognized as deplorable
nuisance, but so far nothing has been
suggested to do away with it. In the
case of "x' street it would seem fea.
sible to have required all the owners Of
abutting property to have made their
water connections at the same time.
In this manner, the constant work OF
repairing new cuts, stretching now
| over about four years, would have
been done away with. But this sys-
| tenn was tried as long ago as 1890. At
| that time owners Of property were re-
quired to make their water connec.
tons when the longitudinal mains
vera laid. When the time came to
construct the houses the street was
not disturbed. Eut the plan was un-
successful and the requirement was
| revoked.
| Something has been done about the
| longitudinal cuts. When a street ID
| to be paved, the District usually
waits until it Is at least IS per cent
built up" before ordering the work,
and in any case a committee OK engl-
neers at the District Building inspects
the project and either suggests or
orders the public service corporations
to complete their longitudinal mains
before the paving work begins. This
saves tearing up the street for longi-
tudinal mains after it is paved. But
the lateral cuts continue to be a prob
lem. There is no uniformity about
the time of their completion. A
street may be 70 per cent built up"
and when the paving is completed the
property owners of the remaining 20
per cent vacant land decide to build,
and Immediately the newly laid sur
face is torn up. This is unfair to the
other property owners who have been
assessed and have paid for the new
street.
A repaired street is not as good as a
new street. In addition, the growing
number of automobiles and their con.
slant passage over filled-in cuts have
made the problem more vexatious. In
the old days it was considered good
practice to leave the cut unCepaired
for some time, while the earth settled.
Now repairs must be made within q
very short time, especially IL there is
a period of bad weather. Unless this
is done, there will be broken axles,
broken springs and perhaps broken
necks to pay for the delay. So the
process continues Of paving a street
one week and tearing 1t up the next.
1t is going on in communities where
there Is much building activity and is
| a bothersome type of growing pain
which the District now is suffering.
Any one with a practical suggestion
for remedy will be received with open
arms by c. B. Hunt, the engineer Of
highways.