Ogden Standard-Examiner | 1920-04-14 | Page 4 | Paving North Washington

i PAVING- NORTH WASHINGTON, On Tuesday Mayor Francis, Commissioner Flygare and Engineer ; Tracy were in conference in Salt Lake with Governor Bamberger and the other members of the state road commission and, as a rc- ! suit, a decision was reached as to the form of paving to be required of the street railway company in the district north of Ogden river bridge to the city limits. The day before the street railway officials, including the general manager were called in by the. city commissioners and were invited to state whether their company could finance the paving of a double track from the bridge north. General Manager "Whitney stated that the company was unable to borrow except frm the men who already had been burdened to the limit in carrying an unprofitable business, and who would not be averse to shifting the responsibility to the j city, if that were possible without serious injury to the entire com munity. "But here is the situation," said Mr. "Whitney. "Either the j road north of the bridge must be reconstructed or abandoned. Jt can be rebuilt only at an outlay exceeding any prospect of an immediate im-mediate return in revenue. To rebuild and pave the entire distance at once is beyond the resources of the railway or any source of avail- able funds within our reach. But we can brrrow and put down a ,1 j double track, pave all the intersections and crossings, and curb and LJ gravel between intersections if that is acceptable to the people. At , the same time we will pave the crossing at South Washington when the Eiverdale road enters "Washington avenue, and also pave the a terscction at Thirtieth street with the understanding that all of ; South "Washington will be paved as fast as funds can be obtained and the paving of Xorth Washington will be completed whenever a 1 surplus is accumulated in the treasury, to the exclusion of any hope j! of paying dividends." This proposal was taken before the slate road commission by the city officiate and after a discussion of the situation, during I which it, was generally conceded that the street railway company 1 was being tested to the limit of its financial resources, the decision jj was unanimously arrived at to allow the paving to proceed on the ji basis proposed. I The state is paying $25,000 of the total cost of the Xorth Wash- I mgton avenue work, and, therefore-, is directly concerned in every V' phase of the undertaking. On South Washington the same condi-I condi-I ' tion existed, the state paying for a part or tljp construction, ji The final decision in this matter, rests with ha abutting prop- ; erty owners on North Washington and on South -Washington, whu I J ardto'.be called irito conference vtyth the cijy commissioners. The I H property owners will be informed as to all the details aiul-they will I bc; invited to pass judgment. The city arbitrarily could force the i uniform paving of the. entire districts, hioluding the' street ear tracks, 1j and they would not hesitate to do this if they knew how to extract 4 blood from a turnip, lint they are facing the possibility oF an aban-B aban-B doncd traction line and cannot see their way out from beneath the extreme obligation which would be upon them, if the entire street H ear system were to break down under the strain. Therefore they are Pl doing the next best thing which is to compel the street ear company II t0 So to the limit of its ability in meeting the paving requirements, I Snd to grant an extended period in which the entire work may be H performed, v .