The globe-independent. (Hagerstown, Md.) 1943-19??, 1948-08-19

| the hrSt DlOck OF Jonathan street,
there has been practically no tie
ups whatever, and | think that if
the firms who are complaining check
their books in a few months, they
will find that after all, they haven't
lost any business at all. 1t is true,
of course, that there might have been
slight drop-oH of business for
little while after the non-parking
regulation went into effect, but
people will soon adjust themselves
to walking block to any store on
North Jonathan Street that they are
accustomed to trading with, just as
they have done in the first block of
Summit Avenue.
49,
| have received so many COM
plants from residents of the Half
way section concerning the condi-
ton of the Williamsport Highway
that is now under reconstruction,
that drove out there the other day
to look it over myself, and l must
admit that their claims are justified,
for the road around that section is
in pretty bad shape.
There is also considerable criti-
cism over the fact that the city has
had to spend some thirty thousand
dollars for the lowering of water
mains due to a couple Of hills being
taken out of the highway, with the
resultant necessary lowering of wa
ter mains With those against the
lowering of the hills claiming that it
was an absolutely unnecessary piece
of work, those in favor of it (who
amongst those / have spoken to are
very much in the minority claim
that the removal of the hills was
absolutely necessary and that the
highway when completed will be
one of the best in the county.
When the State Roads Commits
sion advised the city administration
that the hills were to be taken out
of the road, and as result the
water mains would have to be low
cred to the new level, there was
nothing else the Mayor and Council
could do but go ahead with the
work, as their contract with the
State Roads Commission, which per-
mitted the waited mains TO be laid
in the highway bed in the first place,
has a clause which forces the city
to change its water mains in the
event that the road bed is changed
at any time.
Originally the job was estimated
to cost fifteen thousand dollars, but
in one hill they ran into solid rock
and since it could not be blasted
without damaging the mains, it was
necessary to run the pipes around
the rock. This has not only doubled
the cost TO the city, but has also
caused a serious delay in completing
the road, since four Us that are
needed on the job are unobtainable
at the present time, and although
j. V. Jamison, Jr., who is member
of the advisory board of the State
Roads Commission, is pulling every
string possible to get the Roads
Commission to "beg, borrow or
steal' the rs right away, there is a
possibility that delivery on them
may not be made for perhaps as long
as two months
Any way you look at it, the roads
mess right now, but it just hap
pens to be one of those things, and
while you might censor this person
or that person for what some of us
might consider bad judgement, it's
too late to do anything about it now,
and the residents of Halfway, much
as they dislike it, will have to put
up with the inconvenience until such
time as the Us can be obtained and
the road completed.