Source:Kline-promises/content
A separate bond issue to provide for the construction of the proposed subway system, harbor improvements and new connections with the new Liberty Bridge will go before the voters in the near future.
This was the promise of Mayor Charles H. Kline yesterday in a formal statement announcing details of the people's bond issue to be voted upon at the primary election on May 18. The ordinances, providing for the improvements held as "absolutely essential" and which it is unofficially reported will total about $20,000,000, will be sent to Council today.
Regrets Need to Borrow.
Mayor Kline said he regretted that the city is compelled to go to the people for authority to borrow money to take care of "the Pittsburgh that is" rather than to plan and provide for the city's future growth. He said such action was necessary in order to keep the present facilities of the city in working order, and insure fire protection and a water system adequate to present needs.
The statement follows:
A bond issue for the City of Pittsburgh is a necessity at this time, not only for urgent improvements but for the purpose of maintaining the ordinary service of the City to its people. Only what is in immediate demand for absolutely essential purposes has been included in the propositions that will be submitted to Council. Large projects, such as the construction of the subway system, the improvement of wharves by flood walls, docks, etc., and the making of proper traffic connections with the new Liberty Bridge have had to be deferred. Those projects I hope to submit to the people in a separate bond issue in the near future.
To do these things at this time would involve, in addition to this bond issue, the entire exhaustion of the present seven per cent as required by law, and most of the additional three per cent, which cannot be touched until the seven per cent has been exhausted. To this the business interests of the City seem to be opposed, and yet it is from the business element of the community that the demands for these larger projects have come. It is to be remembered that we can never take advantage of the additional three per cent bonding power under the law, until we have exhausted the seven per cent.
Other Projects Hoped For.
In making plans for submitting this bond issue, it had been my original hope that a number of other projects might have been included, but these we have been compelled to omit. The City's fiscal and admistrative [sic] policies during recent years are largely responsible for this. The property of the City and its services and its facilities have not been kept up. Roofs are leaking, buildings that might have been saved and used for years, have so deteriorated that further repair is impossible. Bridges have rusted out, streets have been neglected, equipment of the Fire Department has been permitted to depreciate without adequate replacement. Provision has not been made for the proper housing or care or treatment of all of the wards of the City, in its homes and its hospitals; the sewers of the City have not been supplemented and increased as needed, and even the vital machinery, pipes and reservoirs on which the City's water supply depends, have been allowed to deteriorate, and are almost at the end of their usefulness.
So that this administration finds itself compelled to go to the people for authority to borrow money in order to keep the present facilities of the City in working order, in order to insure fire protection, water supply, even adequate to our present needs, and in fact, take care of the Pittsburgh that is, instead of being able to plan and provide for the City's future growth.
Calls It Prudence.
It is my hope that never again will the policies of any administration permit such a retrogression of municipal efficiency in Pittsbugh [sic]. I believe and I shall try to make the Council believe that it is only ordinary prudence and business judgment to provide for depreciation, to set aside funds annually to replace when needed any facilities of the City that are nearing the end of their usefulness.
No administration should be compelled to resort to bond issues to make good the accumulated annual deficiencies of past administrations, and yet that is exactly the situation that faces the city of Pittsburgh today, and it is this situation that is curtailing the power of to [sic] city to provide in this financing for many projects that would work out for the glory and the greatness and the future benefit of our people and our city I am speaking forcibly on this subject, because I feel very strongly the handicaps and the undeserved responsibility that have been handed down to me as heirlooms from a previous age of short-sighted municipal policies and which of necessity frustrate many of the plans so laboriously worked out by our planning bodies and civic organizations for the betterment of Pittsburgh.
Nevertheless, however culpable the neglect of the past, the duty of making up for these past sins of omission falls on us, and we should not attempt to dodge it or deny it. I trust that the voters and the taxpayers of Pittsburgh will understand from this statement the reason why so many projects of undoubted benefit and merit have had to be left out and why such a large proportion of the total of this issue is going toward replacements of existing facilities, which should have been maintained in the past.
To Complete Old Work.
It should also be remembered that a very considerable portion of the proposed bond issue is required to permit the completion of projects which were authorized years ago, but the cost of which at present will greatly exceed the estimates made at the time the projects were submitted to the people. For the delay in doing this work and for any increases in cost, like many other needed improvements, which have been passed by for so many years, this administration is in no wise responsible, but in submitting my candidacy for mayor to the people I positively pledged myself to the completion of these projects and declared that I would not hesitate to go to the people for any money that was needed to complete them.
At that time also I outlined some of the other improvements that I felt should be made, particularly in relation to the provision for taking care of traffic from the new Liberty Bridge, the opening of the way to the development of our river traffic and others, but these must await a later opportunity for consideration by the voters or by Council.
There will be also doubtless some criticism because the proposed subway scheme is not included in this list. I have before me the reports of the transit commission, reports of the traffic commission and of the Water Street and Downtown Business Men's Association. They involve expenditures varying from $12,000,000 to $30,000,000, and therefore cannot possibly be placed before the voters at this time.
Needed Improvements.
The improvements for which provision is made in this bond issue for work previously authorized but insufficiently provided for in the people's bond issue of 1919, are of an urgent character, and the administration stands committed to their prompt prosecution.
That these projects have merit is shown by the fact that the people have already voted approval of them, and the amounts set up in this bond issue are simply additional sums which must be provided before we can go ahead because of the fact that the estimates on which the bond issue was based are insufficient to do the work for which the people have voted.
The items are:
A new bridge at North and Irwin avenues, over the Pennsylvania Railroad tracks, which is intended to replace what is popularly known as "The North Side Death Trap," and which is a narrow and dangerous portion of the main route of the Lincoln Highway at the intersection of North and Irwin avenues, North Side. From the 1919 bond issue item for this project there is $51,000 available. The total cost of this structure will be $210,000, from this also must be deducted $34,000, being the Pennsylvania Railroad Company's share of the cost, leaving a net balance of $125,000 to be supplied from this bond issue.
Mt. Washington Roadway.
The Mt. Washington roadway which has been the subject of litigation when the city attempted to go ahead with the improvement without sufficient funds to complete it, as provided at the bond issue election of 1919. The sum of $739,000 is on hand from the 1919 bonds, and it will take $1,000,000 more to complete the project which is an important link in the city's thoroughfare system.
The Irvine street improvement and abolition of grade crossings of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad on Second avenue, were approved by the people in 1919, and the sum provided for this improvement was $351,000. The plans for this improvement involve a new thoroughfare along Irvine street, taking traffic off that portion of Second avenue between Greenfield and Hazelwood avenues with proper connections at both ends. To do this work we have provided in this bond issue the sum of $370,000 in addition to the $351,000 originally set up and approved.
Another project which was approved by the people in 1919, is the construction of a bridge over East street from Charles street to Essen. This is to be a joint project with Allegheny County. The set up in the 1919 bond issue provided $210,000 to meet the city's share of the cost of this project, the county adding in the people's bond issue of 1924 the sum of $285,000, and the balance required to build this project as set up in this bond issue as $335,000.
Second Avenue Widening.
The last of the uncompleted items of the 1919 bond issue is the proposed widening of Second avenue at Ferry street for which $500,000 is required in addition to the provision in the former people's bond issue.
The people of Pittsburgh will remember that one of the pledges which was made to them during the municipal campaign last fall and assented to by a majority of the present Council, was that we would as soon as possible make provisions for additional playground and recreational facilities by new grounds in some parts of the city and also by equipping and putting in service others for which sites have been acquired. The need of recreational facilities is so apparent in several sections of the city and the commitments of this administration to the extension of recreational opportunities is so definite, that I have no hesitation in recommending and providing the item of $750,000 for recreational purposes.
The whole City of Pittsburgh seems to be clamoring for better streets and the City owes to its people a great improvement over present conditions in that respect. Many of our streets were honestly built and fairly up-to-date at the time that they were constructed, but some of them are from 20 to 30 years old, and neither in design nor in construction were they intended to take care of the heavy traffic of this day and generation. It is plainly the duty of the City Government to rebuild streets of this character and considering only the most important projects of this sort we have set up in this Bond Issue the item of $1,000,000, for this purpose. This is no repaving or resurfacing proposition but involves the entirely new construction of the streets, a work which should last for generations. It is the only way that some of our more important thoroughfares can be kept in service.
Traffic Relief Needed.
The growth of the City and the necessity for relieving the congestion of traffic is apparent to the most casual observer, and this condition is not confined to the so-called downtown triangle, where, however, it perhaps reaches its most flagrant peak.
To relieve the congestion major street construction projects have become urgent needs. The widening of Grant street from Seventh avenue to Water street can be done economically and without tremendous property damages, the total estimated cost being $1,620,000, and once widened throughout Grant street will do more to relieve triangle congestion than any other thoroughfare, and will pay for itself through increased valuation in a few years.
The extension of the Boulevard of the Allies from Brady street eastwardly as originally planned is a project that commends itself to all citizens who have studied the situation, that faces us in Forbes street, beyond Brady. For this $2,000,000 is required.
Boulevard Widening
The widening of the Baum boulevard, Whitfield and Beatty streets, will cost $747,000. Baum boulevard roadway is now choked down from 40 to 20 feet in width beyond Rebecca street. It should be made 40 feet throughout. Whitfield and Beatty streets, serving as its feeders and distributors in the heart of the East Liberty district, and their usefulness is badly curtailed by insufficient width.
The situation in regard to the eastern end of the Baum boulevard is largely paralleled on the North Side where the Brighton road, the natural route for through traffic down the Ohio Valley and the Boulevard of the North Boroughs and northern wards of the City is to be reached only by a complicated series of twists and turns through crowded and inadequate streets. By widening Irwin avenue from 21 to 28 feet and opening it through a connection with the Brighton road near Columbus avenue, an ample and direct connection will be established between the Brighton road and the downtown and business sections of the City. The cost will be $690,000.
More and better main thoroughfare routes are required in various sections of the City and Council and myself have studied carefully the demand for the improvement of thoroughfares, presented to us by the Boards of Trade and civic bodies of various portions of the City, and have selected some that seemed most urgent and most promising in resulting convenience to citizens and development of districts that have been held back.
Lincoln Avenue Crowded.
Lincoln avenue the main and in fact the only inlet and outlet to a tremendous area that has been developed and is still developing is inadequate to serve the population tributary to it. There is not sufficient room now for vehicles to safely pass street cars. By widening the roadway from 30 to 34 feet, taking two feet form [sic] the sidewalk at each side, we may relieve congestion of traffic without becoming involved in heavy expense for property damages that would result if we actually cut into the abutting property. To straighten out one or two sharp angles is also a necessity to continuous traffic flow. The cost of the proposed improvement of Lincoln avenue into a 34-foot roadway, will be $200,000, and when one considers that the City must repave most of this thoroughfare anyway in the very near future, the conviction that this widening should be affected now becomes overpowering.
Both in the interest of through traffic and for the local needs of the Sheraden district, the Chartiers avenue route should be completed. At present it has been improved with modern pavement from Corliss to Allendale street, and widened beyond this point but not paved. This work should be completed, the cost being estimated at $138,000.
North Avenue Project.
On the North Side, North avenue is one of the principal east and west streets and should be an important artery of traffic from the Sixteenth and Fortieth street bridges and the recent East Ohio street thoroughfare, to lower Allegheny, thus relieving the congestion on Ohio street, and short routing much of the traffic. Owing to the fact that North avenue comes to a dead end at Allegheny avenue, this has not been possible so far. By cutting North avenue through to Fayette and Bidwell streets, a new route will be made available at a cost of only $133,000.
After a very careful examination and analysis of existing conditions in the City's Water Works, which include pumping stations, reservoirs, pipe lines, and the filtration plant, it has been found that there must be an immediate expenditure of $3,900,000 for improvements, replacements, additions and betterments of an extremely urgent nature.
If the projects provided for in this estimate are not carried out in the very near future, the water supply of the entire City will be imperiled, with a double hazard in certain sections dependent both upon the general system and the local facilities.
General Let-Down.
This general situation has been created by the following circumstances:
1. Existing reservoirs are in such condition that, unless immediately improved, they will continue as potential faiures [sic].
2. Shortage of water will soon result unless replacements and additions are provided to insure condition and capacity.
3. Pipe lines are imparatively [sic] needed to duplicate existing lines that are useless and ineffective because of deterioration and inadequacy, and to give an additional factor of safety and provide a system of co-ordination and extension.
City engineers have repeatedly examined and tested a number of city bridges that are in bad condition, and have found deterioration so general and permeating as to render them unsafe and useless [sic] rebuilt in periods ranging from one to three years, they will have to be abandoned. Among these are the California Avenue Bridge, which is a second-hand structure, bought from a railroad company years ago. It has had long and drastic use as a local city–county, state and interstate and street railway bridge. Its discontinuance would work serious inconvenience over the entire range of usage.
Other Spans Weak.
The same disabilities inhere in greater or lesser degrees in the Millvale Avenue, South Aiken Avenue, Twenty-eighth Street and Elizabeth Street bridges. Other suspicious structures of smaller size are also suggested for reconstruction, at once. All are under constant inspection by bridge inspector and bridge engineers. For reconstruction and repair of these bridges $1,450,000 is required.
Constant expansion of the population with consequent widening of the building area of Pittsburgh has narrowed sewer capacity to such an extent as to make proper flow under these circumstances impossible. Flooding of cellars and basements and streets have been and are of frequent and expensive occurrence in all such sections of congestion all over the city. Sewers, based on increases in construction and erection have already vastly exceeded capacity and are not serving respective communities. Damages, dismoforts [sic] and menace to the health compel immediate provision for a newer and more modern system of correlated sewers to protect the present and future of the municipality from indicated inflictions and afflictions.
Main sewers in most instances are entirely too small to take care of laterals and of rainfalls. Some of these sewers have been under this strain for the last 10 or 15 years and conditions of this nature demand immediate relief.
State Wants Action.
The state health department, which has jurisdiction over these things, insists upon early action by the city to safeguard municipal health. Civic bodies, individuals and community centers are all complaining of conditions, remedial only by construction of many new, larger sewers.
All of the new sewers for general relief should be included in a group at an estimated cost of $2,000,000.
The conditions that obtain in the City Home and Hospital at Mayview are such as should bring a blush to the cheek of any Pittsburgher. In the first place, the capacity of the institution has been so limited that as a matter of fact 2,781 patients are now crowded into accommodations which under the state health law are insufficient for more than 1,600 patients. The overcrowded condition extends to all the buildings and the result is that the congestion not only prevents the proper classification and treatment of the various cases, but is actually a menace to the health of the entire community.
Patients Crowded.
Patients afflicted with inoffensive types of mental sickness are crowded into wards in which the noisy, dangerous and destructive classes are housed. The fire hazard is such as constitutes a positive menace. Many of the buildings are 33 years old and veritable fire traps. Should a fire occur it is almost certain that the loss of life would appal the community and shame the city before the world. So crowded are the buildings that there is not space for recreation or rest. The corridors are given over to benches and even then patients are standing in line to get a chance to sit down. Many of the patients who are too weak and ill to stand, sit on the floor for lack of seats.
The expense and upkeep are much above what they should be because of lack of storehouse room and a refrigerator plant. Supplies are distributed around among 10 different buildings with a great consequent loss of time in the preparation of meals. It is impossible to buy meat, butter, eggs, etc., at wholesale prices and in quantity because there is no refrigeration available for them. This means that the city is paying retail prices for these things for which it should be paying wholesale prices. For these improvements $2,500,000 has been provided.
Becoming Inadequate.
In the generous heart of Pittsburgh was born the desire that this municipality take the lead in caring for her sick and distressed in the establishing of its tuberculosis sanitarium. The city undertook this work for the benefit of her citizens and the story of the success of Pittsburgh in the proper operation of its tuberculosis hospital has become so widely known throughout the city that the hospital is now utterly inadequate to meet the demands that are being made upon it.
To begin with, only one class of tuberculars are treated there; those suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis, and the capacity of the hospital is taxed by 170 patients now therein. Scores of others are scrambling for admission.
This dread disease assumes many phases other than pulmonary tuberculosis. It has been impossible to afford treatment for any tuberculars other than those in the pulmonary class.
$250,000 Set Up.
Improvements at the institution are essential if it is to do the proper work in this city, and the item of $250,000 set up for the purpose of accomplishing this is one which the city of Pittsburgh can ill afford to refuse, because for that sum scores of additional victims of the white scourge may be restored to complete health and others saved from the ravages of any advanced form of tuberculosis each year.
Adequate fire protection to the city has been endangered due to the fact that the equipment in the bureau of fire and, in particular, fire engines, are in such shape that new apparatus will have to be bought to replace that which has already been scrapped or should be scrapped.
Need More Money.
In the councilmanic bond issue of 1921 authorization was given for the erection of combined fire and police stations in the West End, North Side and East End districts. The West End station has been completed, but the work has been held up on the other two for several reasons; the most important of which is that the amounts provided in the bond issue were insufficient to do the work, and provision therefor is made in this bond issue.
Many of the city's engine houses in other parts of the city have been so neglected through lack of proper systematic repair and have become so obsolete and unsafe that it will be necessary to rebuild and reconstruct a number of them. For fire bureau items the sum of $600,000 has been set up in this issue.
