STREET REPAIRING

Evening Star, Issue 19407, 16 November 1926, Page 3

STREET REPAIRING

TO TUB EDITOR. Sir, —1 have been wondering if tho average citizen takes much interest in his immediate -surroundings, or is just content to cast his vote at the municipal elections, and accept whatever is handed out to him by the council, with no comment beyond an oc-. casional “grouse.” These thoughts are aroused by tho sight of our streets, and a consideration of the surprising—to a layman—methods adopted in repairing them. Two schemes seem to bo generally in force-one apparently of gross extravagance and the other of pure waste. As an instance of the former I would select King street. Here, as in other parts of the city, good macadam .has been torn up to a depth of six to eight inches and replaced by an equal amount of concrete, which is itself to form margin for the paved centre commonly adopted. In the face of tho_ opinion of ono of the highest authorities in England, tho need of removing the original foundation is. to say the least, questionable, but- when we learn that the reason for this course is to provide a more stable base for vehicles which may have to stand there, common sense and a little observation make us demur. Not only is the asphalt on other streets—Moray place, the Octagon, Crawford street as a whole, may bo quoted as examples—but the concrete already down, particularly in King and Crawford streets, is breaking up fast, not only at the longitudinal junction, but ,in the centre In front-of the hospital, where vehicles stand for long periods, the original asphalt which has been down for many years, is standing far bettor than the concrete, yet it is proposed to tear this up and replace it with concrete and trinidad. For sheer waste take the illustrations where no sealing of the surface has been done; George street north will do. Here tho, method has been to scarify, spread some small metal, roll a bit, and leave the surface to take care of itself. The consequences is that in a few' days the material is worked loose and throw'n out, and in no time the road is as bad as before tho reoairing. The instances T have quoted can he repeated < many times ; they are sufficient to indicate the general scheme.

One other point. While money ran be spent thus lavishly on hack streets, there seems to be little to spare for ’die main ones. Alost of Princes street and George street to Frederick is in n deplorable condition; to the inexpert it is simply ludicrous to fill up holes with raw asphalt while traffic is in full swing and expect the patch to remain. Trusting some other ratepayer will follow up this matter.—l am, etc., F. W. AliTcnEim. November 16.