Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 21, Number 22, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 December 1899 — ABOLISHING THE GRADE CROSSING [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

ABOLISHING THE GRADE CROSSING

ggjhsjQ'HlS Is the story of how Chicago Bpif T dealt with grade crossings, mainlip* ly condensed from the Chronicle: • Fifteen years ago Chicago was interpHcted in every direction and at all posOlble angles with railroad tracks. Ev|«fy track was laid at the grade of the ' Wtreets or alleys it crossed. Accidents • fatalities, for grade crossm tag accidents rarely stop short of the Ipiatti ®f the victim—were of daily, al- : Most hourly, occurrence. Chicago be||fui to murmur and rebel against the crossing—it was determined to .abolish them once for all. The railroad companies were willing i-te elvate or depress the numerous "tracks, >ut were not willing to under,go the hardship and expense of the im-

/provement. Guards and watchmen ||*were maintained at the crossings, time I tables were public property, and the Inroads saw no reoson why they should pbe called upon to bear millions of dol|i!ars extra expense to remedy the diffi■jtfty. t The grade status in Chicago to-day is | can excellent exemplar of what ChicaI goans can do when they will it Huuiwdreds of miles of tracks have been ele p*vated or depressed, hundreds of cross- | dogs abolished,. either subways or viacontaining the offending tracks, [.and the roads have paid out nearly

117,000,000. The city has not been at 4*ny expense at all in accomplishing this feat Ninety per cent, of the tracks no longer menace the public on foot or horseback or in carriages. Every : spadeful of earth, every block of masonry, every bolt in every piece of iron provided for by ordinance has been put In place. Chicago won the tight as she generally wins whatever she seeks. But it was a long, botely contested and inter--esting contest just the same, for the big lines are no mean antagonists, and had many fairly sound arguments to advance to show they should not bear

•vail the expense, interruption to traffic *and worry incidental to such a colossal ' undertaking. But in the end they had wibis to do just the same. First it was held by the lines that they could not be compelled to elevate their tracks or in any other manner alter the grades. ’<Fhla point was argued laboriously afmonths and even years of skillful research in the law books; it took the court in the State but a few Scutes to destroy the illusion. £ Ten years ago the question of elevating the tracks was a political issue in this City. battled over the ■igßtfoii, one side being inclined to the Mrf.tbat the city lacked the power t»jfojC#t* he road * t 0 j 1^ 1 «®d the^other

spoken in favor of sending up all the tracks and making the roads pay the bills. To-day no administration looks upon the question as anything more than a mere matter of detail. Ordinances must be drawn and accepted by the roads and work done under them as regularly as streets are paved or cleaned—ln fact, more regularly than can be said of the cleaning process. Under the administration of the elder Harrison a determined effort was made to get at the matter in a busi-ness-like manner. The roads at first merely laughed at the Idea as a visionary plan utterly impossible of accomplishment. They held that neither they nor the city could afford the expense even if they could stand the interruption to their ordinary business

while their tracks were being elevated. The first objection raised was that the roads would practically be forced to suspend business while this work was going on. The Mayor thought differently, but in conclusion said let them suspend then, for the lives and limbs of the people were valuable beyond any mere financial computation. But it was also shown by engineering experts that the elevation could be accomplished without substantial interruption to traffic, a contention which has been demonstrated daily ever since the first carload of material was dumped in a right of way. The roads did not deny that if the thing could be done it would be a valuable thing for both sides, but the roads also declined to consider the proposition in any guise. They had laid their tracks under charters and ordinances, had complied with the laws, and no body or corporation could disturb their possession. They sometimes carried this contention to such an extent as to battle among themselves to prevent some rival line from crossing thenrights of way. Work was done on Sunday aud holidays to evade, if possible. the interference of police or sheriff. But these attempts were always met by a like determination, resulting finally in defeat or compromise. Woeo the roads learned that the courts had held that the power lay in. the city, under general regulations of police as well as under charter provisions, to force changes of grade to meet modern necessities, they asked who would pay for it. When told that they would be expected to do this, a new fight was commenced, for they at first absolutely refused to do any such thing. It was discovered to the deep disgust of the companies that they could be forced to alter any grade named and

also be forced to foot the bill. Then the element of suggested compromise entered into the controversy early in 1890. The companies began to spar for wind and suggest that each side pay half. But the city had won every round in court and was not inclined to help one little bit. The roads were successively notified to begin the work. No exact plan was adopted, but pronies were furnished by the city engineer as a basis for the work. The roads might do It any way which seemed best to them, provided they did It. But with masterly inactivity they did nothing. The city sent warning after warning and even threatened to begin the work

formed an association for mutual protection. This was held out to be an association to protect business, prevent rate-slashing, and by concert of action get all roads into line on a general policy. It was really designed to fight the elevation scheme. But even injunction-made laws failed them, for the courts held that the city had the power to act. It looked along in the years just before the World’s Fair as If a direct conflict would take place between the city officers on one band and road employes on the other. Expert engineers declared that it would cost as much or more to elevate or depress the tracks as it had cost In the original construction of the roads. Road attorneys, using this as a basis, argued that the hardship on the roads was so great that even conceding the power of the city to force action no court would force such an extremity of hardship. The lawyers also argued that this expense, heavy as it would be, would be but a trifle when compared with the loss entailed by the interruption of traffic. The contention of the experts regarding the cost has been proved to be under rather than over the actual expenditure. It has cost the roads about $59,000 a mile to do the work. But the alleged loss due to interrupted traffic has been proved to be but a dream. The roads suffered inconvenience, to be sure, but no line lost a pound of freight or a single passenger on this account. The tribunals also disappointed the legal lights by calmly saying the city would force the roads to do what was needed. Not an Inch of track has been established according to the new grade without a persistent fight in which all the skill, foresight and acumen of the companies has been expended. The expense, as has been shown, has been enormous, even if no other cost bad been involved than the filling In and retaining of the roadbed within the limits prescribed. But every step in the progression has been fought over bitterly, entailing additional expense on the roads. So far as the city is concerned, the battle has been substantial-

ly without expense beyond that provided for in the ordinary administration of public affairs. Jan. 1, 1892, not a mile of the hundreds of tiacks in the city had been elevated. Probably somewhere near 2,000 crossings were in existence. In one year—last year—nearly 200 crossings were eliminated. This is a mere straw to show how rapidly the tide set in the other way when once the city got down to business. With every crossing on grade in the beginning of the initial year of actual elevation, the year closed with some fifty miles in the air and a large iramber of dangerous crossings, especially on the south side, no longer menaced the people. Seven years ago every train, freight or passenger, which entered the city poked along slowly from the limits to the depots with very few exceptions. Ordinances provided that only a certain speed should be maintained inside the city limits, that the peril to pedestrians or other citizens in the city might be reduced to a minimum. Some few express trains rushed along at a high rate of speed, but they were guarded at block intervals for six or seven miles. Gates were dropped when the trains were half a mile distant, and the gongs rattled without ceasing until after the rushing express had passed. There is no diminution of this speed to-day. It is rather increased, for the trains can run at sixty miles an hour without running the slightest risk of killing a citizen at any grade crossing. With the World’s Fair coming on, one road saw the advantage of elevated tracks to hurry visitors down to the grounds. By the time the ceremonies of dedication in October, 1892, were all arranged for the Illinois Central had elevated its tracks as far south as 63d street Like all others, this road fought the whole thing bitterly, but seeing no escape, the road accepted the ordinances passed to provide for the work on its lines. These ordinances are really plans carefully prepared to obviate engineering difficulties and enable the line to elevate or depress the tracks at the smallest estimated cost The city pays nothing, but has enforced its demands until few roads wish to make the fight any longer.

This beginning inspired the people and authorities with reason to feel that the grade crossing would have to go. It also taught the railroad companies that all they could do would be to fight for time; they must all get in the bandwagon in the end. So when the World’s Fair Mayor was elected it was believed that considerable progress would be made. One thing had militated against progress, and that was that the city was trying to do too much at once. The city had been trying to battle the combined roads as a combination. Ordinances were being prepared which were blankets covering the entire system in the city. These necessarily faded from too great complication.

In 1893 a change in plan was inaugurated. It was decided to go at the roads in detail, taking one or two at a time, drawing up ordinances on engineering schemes agreed upon between the city engineer and the experts of the roads. All other roads would be left alone for the time being, the city determining to fight the enemy in detail instead of in bulk. The result was at once apparent, for the roads were tangled up, and each had its own particular fight on its hands. The Northwestern was the second to get to work, for in 1893 plans were submitted for the elevation of the Galena division, which, with some unimportant modifications,

Were decided upon as good working plans.

ENGLWOOD AND WENTWORTH AVENUES.

ILLINOIS CENTRAL AT 55th STREET.

WEST LAKE AND ROCKWELL STREETS.

SUBWAY, 55TH ST. BOUL. UNDER P., F. W. & C. RAILWAY.

DIVERSEY AVENUE AND C. & N. W. TRACKS.