1911 California Outlook Arnold Transportation Problem Los Angeles 1
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Transcript of 1911 California Outlook Arnold Transportation Problem Los Angeles 1
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8/20/2019 1911 California Outlook Arnold Transportation Problem Los Angeles 1
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Containing
i.n ~ n
the Report Qf Bi9n
J. ~ r n o l d
on
5 Centll-- l.OO a Year
s
_.
-
-. -
.
SLJ·PPLEM.E,NT
.·.TO
LOll Angelell
and
San Francisco,
November 4, 1911
I. XI. No, 19
-
C
Z
o
mission,
which at that
time
consi st ed of
Messrs. Stoddard]
ess,
M. H.
ewmark
and
myself, the
members
of the
Board
of
Pub
lic
Utilities, at
that time cons is tin g
of
Messrs.
Meyer Lissner ,
].
M. Hunter
and
N. D. Da rlin gto n, an d the city engineer,
Mr. Homer
Hamlin.
This
committee
held
it s first meet in g f or o rg an iz in g a nd tr an s-
GEO.
A. DAMON,
Dean of
Throop
Polytechnic Insti
t ut e, Pasadena,
and manage r of
Mr. Arnold s Los
Angeles office,
upon w hom much of the respon
s ib il it y o f preparing th e report
rested.
acting business on the 18th day of Febru
ary
last. At th at
meeting
Mr. Meyer Liss
ne r suggested
that
in connection
with the
p la nn in g o f
the munic ipal
terminal rail
road, should be
taken
up
the matter
of
mak-
BION
].
ARNOLD,
Chief
Engi ne er , Boar d o f Sup er
vising
Engineers,
Chicago
Trac
tion.
MUNfCl l AL REFERENCE LIBRARY
A
,I ;
1 .
THt : PUBLIC L leRARY
03 CITY HAt.L
I S; NCELES 12. CAL IF
RNI
a
member, by
a
communication outlining
a plan made to that Boa rd on
the
16th
day
of
Januar,Y last.
The Board at once passed
a
r e s o l u t 1 o ~ requesting . me
to
prepare
a
commUnication
s ugge st tn g th e
municipal
railroad
with its advantages, to
be
pre
sented
by the Board to the
City
Council.
I prepared the communication, it was
adopted. on January 23rd, and by order of
th e
Board,
I
presented it
to the
City
Council
on
the
24th
day of
January.
Th e City
Council i m m e d i a t ~ l y t ook the mat
te r and. after holding a
special
meeting
dIscuss
It, ad?pted a resolution appoint
Ing as a commIttee to make and submit
plans for the municipal terminal railway
s ) st em , t he membe rs of the
Harbor
Com-
, .
~ h e
Transportation roblem
Los
ngeles
;J
r y ea rs I
have
believed that the
City
Los Angeles
would
find it to its inter
to construct
a
line of r ai lway f rom
harbor to its business
center;
i n fact,
ave long regarded it as necessary that
should be
done,
if the city is to reap
benefit from its h arb or which i t should
when t he Panama
Canal
is
opened.
THOS.
E. GIBBON
Chairman of the Commission on
Municipal e r m i n ~ Railways.
th:. fir.st of the year i t a ppea red
e that 1 1 vIew of t he ear ly complet ion
Can.;J,
th e time had
a rriv ed f or
Clt Y to 1
,: e up
the
enterprise of
build
this
mu
llcipal
railroad. Fo r
the pur-
e of. g
:tting the
matter
started
I
ught It to the attention of
the
Board
r
Commiss ione rs , o f which I am
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PO
THE
PRELIMIN RY REPORT
ransportation roblem
of
Los ng€·
By
BION
J
RNOLD
OCTOBER, 1911
can be
handled
to
the
greatest
to the c omme rc e o f the city.
As the resul
t of
this
emploYI
Arnold a
short
time ago submi tt
commit tee hav ing the
matter
in (
report
i l lustrated by
t en maps,
wh
reproduced in full. A careful
stu
report will show
that
in it Mr.
complied
very fully with
the f
the committee hav ing the matter
and
that
in
doi ng so
he
has out l
v el opment o f
the
transportation
of the City
of
Los
Angeles
withi,
ten
years which
draws
a magnificl
of what these interests
should
in
become.
Mr. rnold's
report,
while I
general in this matter,
gives
<
outlined plan which should as
go by, be filled in
by
the joint
the citizens of Los
Angeles
and
service
corporat ions that
serve 1
and the business of the city
portation.-Thos.
E . G ibbon.
dred
million
dollars,
and
has had in charge
the making of transportation
plans and
projects fo r many other cities.
In
giving him t his
commission
a nd o ut
l in ing the
work which
it
was
expected
thar
he should
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3
Distr ibution
POllulntlo tl Los Angeles
nutl
Ylclulty
A map ShoWing t he d is tr ibut ion of the
sleeping population as
near
as can be indi
cated by the
location
of dots each represent
in g 500
inhabitants-shows a
population
by
the last census o f
307,000
within a radius of
five
miles
of the corner of Sixth and Main
Streets,
which f rom
actual
calcUlation
is th e
center of the
p re sent c ity population.
Out
side of the five-mile circle and within the
l im it s o f Lo s
Angeles
County there was
an
additional
population
by
the 1910 census
of
197,000, makIng a total population of the
entire district, which may in time be called
Greater Los A ngel es amounting to
504 000.
is a uni qu e f ac t that
the center
of
Population
of this larger
district
is also at
Sixth and MaIn Streets. is sometimes
stated that the
center
of population IS mov
Ing toward
the
southwest at
the
rate
of
about
a c it y b lock each
year. This may
be
more or less
true
of t he c it y popul at io n, but
the growth of Glend...le Pasadena,
South
P asad ena , and t he towns In the
San Gabriel
Valley are at
a sutllcient rate to
balance
the
growth
of the bea ch communi ti es , s o that
t he c ent er
as fa r
as t ranspo rtat ion
to the
outer d istr ict
Is concerned probably will no t
move
fa r
from
the
present
Interurban
termi
nal at
Sixth
and Main streets.
There
Is
no
congestion
of population in
the
entire cIty and district. The greatest
denSIty is in a few of the
dis tricts near
the
center of t he c it y
where
t he re may be
found
105 persons to the
acre-but
when
thIs
is
compared
to the 200
persons
to
the acre
found in many
eastern cities
and to the
1200
persons t o .the acre In parts of
Manhattan
New
York
CIty I t wlll be
seen that Los
geles is fa r from
beIng
crowded. Some of
the
close-In
districts
which
now report
the
greatest
density
wll l l ose In
population from
thIs time on as
industrial p lants crowd ou t
the cheaver rooming houses. but there will
al ways be ... district just out si de o f t he busl.
ness district where the price of land
will
d ic ta te apartmen t houses with
a relative
h igh densi ty of population.
A stUdy of
the
growth
of
cit ies shows
that
with ai l expansion there is a correspondIng
contrac tion and·
that
there is
always
a per
centage of the population which tends to
crowd about the center . E ven If the
present
den sit y w it hin th e cit y limits,
both
...t the
center and in
the outlying
districts, is trebled
there
would still be room for
growth with
out
the necessity of adding
more
territory
to the ci ty-in
other
words, there is room
w ith in t he present city f or
three
t imes t he
population counted
by the
last census before
th ere is
any
d an g; er o f congestion.
mile or fifty miles. The c os t o f mov in g
goods
between any poin-t
in Los Angeles and the
harbor
terminal will be made up largely
of
t he cos t
Of
handling at both end s
rather
than the cost of
actual
transit.
The
use
of
the
auto-truck will
make
i t
possible to
deliver
from
wharf warehouse directly to store or
factory
and
thus
elim
i na te t he exp en se
of intermediate
transfers.
The
already extensive
use of
f reight automobiles
in
this
vicini t y is
proving th e practica
b il it y o f
this
-proposed arrangement.
2. As it may be impossible
for
the city
of Lo s
Angeles to
build,
maint ai n and own a h ig hway thr ough the count ry , and
as
it is
im
practicable, on a cc ount of
grades, to locate
the
proposed r ight-of
way in
th e
s tr ip o f land known as the shoestring strip, which con
nects
Lo s
Angeles
with Wilmington and
San
Pedro, it will prob
ably
be desirable to make some arrangement with the county
auth06ties
to secure this connecting
link.
Th e build ing of a
main
thoroughfare
o f t hi s
character will add
so much value to the coun
tr y through
which it passes
that
it should
no t
be
impos sible to
se cur e t he
enti re lengt h of the
right-of-way
a t a
v er y nomin al
cost. Such a right-of-way
would
make pos sible
th e
settling of a
beaut iful and fer ti le section of t he count ry
which
is now lacking
transportation
facilities, and would
make available
a number
of
. ideal si·tes fo r
model
industri.al c Ommunities such
as are
in great
favor in Europe and are
now
being in troduced
outside
of
New
York C it y a nd
several
other
large
Eastern cities.
DISTRI UTION
POPUL TION
L OS ~ ; ; ~ s ~ _ ~
~ : : : O D
LOSAH l.U
T ~ 1 4 J O j
em tOl L
Owe
_ ~ . U ~ _
_
C_c.
.. a c ~ . c 41 _ ....._
·c_w
ClTYi _ ..
T I j ~ C A L I F O ~ I A : OUTLOOY
c
This
right-of-way
should
be
at
least
250 feet
in width
~ r d e r t o p ro vide
fo r eight
railroad
tracks
an d
two
automobile
This
line and auto-speedway should be located through
·the en ti r e leng th
so
as t o avo id grade crossings
so
far as
prac
for it is t hi s fea tu re that wiII contribute the greatest point
immed ia te adv an tage to the plan.
In
fact th e en1erprise appeals
n gly on account o f
it s
a u t o m ~ b i l e
possibilities , for
Los Angeles
an
automob ile speedway with
all
crossings
eliminated
and
p ropo sed h ig hway between the
city
and the
sea is
most for
located,
both for
pleasure
and
business.
On such a
road
re would be no
necessi ty for
a low speed limit and with two
r oadway s ( so
that
t ra ve l c ou ld b e directed
in
opposite direc
without in ter ference) , the maximum
of
safety could
be as
The
automobile truck
is
being developed rap id ly
an d
it
is no t
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T l j ~ C A L I F O R N I A O U T O O ~
Saturday, ~ o v e m b e
PASSENGER STATIONS.
6. Th e above program is based upon the
assumpt
working
agreement will be pos si bl e b etween t he c it y a n
pany
desiring
to enter the city
with its interurban
se
c ity should remain,
in
my opinion ,
in
complete
control
surface
rights
along
its
main
thoroughfares,
an d this
r
by the c ity bui ld ing all
subway
structures
under its
own
renting the use
of th ese
permanent
rights-of-way to
,
company for a sufficient return
to p rovide
for interest
and r a Sinking
Fund
of say I% per
annum,
tire
th e
investment
inside
of
fifty
years.
\tVith
an
assl.: __
men t o f
this
kind
it
would be possible if
th e
City Charter
for
the ty to
finance
the
e x p ~ n d i t u r e issuing
bonds
the debt limit
and thus
th e
c tty' s c redi t
could
be
'used
these transit
improvemen'ts
without add ing
to
the
cit
debt
burden.
7.
It
should be made impract icable to attempt the
tion of
the
present
spur
and
switch tracks
in the
city
an
An in'terchange
agreement
must therefore
be made
with
th
railroads for th e use
.of t hese t racks
for
the
delivery
an
tion o f f oreign car load fr eigh t. Th e
three rai lroads
ha
terchange agreement of thi s k ind among them e lves at
th
time, which involves a switching
charge
of $2.50 per ca
delivery
to
or f rom ea ch other's l ines-so ,that
theoretic
shipper
has access to
all lines
i rrespect ive of
his loca
practice,
however,
it is
often
claimed
to be
difficult
to s ec
cars fo r
loading
the
shipment is
to
be made over a lin
to
the
one
upon wh ich
the
shipper is located.
There
considerable
advan'tage
to the
shippers of thi district if
que st ion o f
spur- track terminals could
be regulated
co
This
regulation
should
cover
the
securing
of the
permit,
pensation
to
be
paid
the city for th e use
of
the streets,
s
as 'to safety,
noise,
smoke,
and
character of freight, but
pa
the
arrangements which
mu
t
be made for
the joint u e
tracks
so
as
to make
them
equally
ava il ab le for use in c
with not only the present lines, but
also
with all
futu
carrying
l ines-both.
s,team and electric.
This complete in terchange agreement
which
will ma
individual spur
track
part of
one
comprehensive termin
an easy
problem, but i really the first requirement
for
efficient freight handl ing arrangement
for Los Angeles.
8.
s far as the municipal road is
conce rned , the
number
of locat ions
along
San
Ped ro S tr ee t whe re loca
delivery tracks
can
be put in,
and it
may
be
that
the
on
'o rk o ut the ult imate comprehensive terminal scheme w
establish
these fre il lht
deliverv
sub-stations as part of t:
ipal sy tern.
Bu t
the first effort
should be
to es
ablish
that t he ci ty has su ff ic ien t standing in the form of
r i ~ h
powers
of regulation. control, etc 0 become an equa l p
an i n t e r c h a n ~ e agreement which
practically
will
combine
present and future
switch tracks
into one union termina l.
9.
In
developing
the
network
of
spu r tr acks
which
provided to
e rv e t he
industrial district,
t he us e of the
elec
motive
will be
f oun d de i rabl e,
if
not absolutely neces s
tr ack s of
th e
municipal ra il road
on
San Pedro Street s
equipped
for the
electrical or-eration of
freight
s ervi ce , a
ours leading
off
from these
main line
tracks
can have
shorter radi..
than
if bui lt for steam locomotives. i t will
that
the
swi tch t rack sys tem deoending on San
Pedro
service can
be made
much more flexible
t han th e
steam li
system. Advanta;
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the development of the river
bed
itself
as a
railroad right-of'way
is a future pos sibi li ty which need not s er ious ly affect present plans.
Any elevated
structure
reaching
th e river, however , s houl d be
so
designed that
a sub-surface
or
lower t rack
terminal could
be built
so
as
to par allel a nd do ubl e the
upper
track capacity
at
s ome t ime
in the
distant future.
t he A rc ade Dayot s it e should
be
favored by the
railroads
and a Union
Station
arrangement can be agr eed upon, t he n t he c it y
should
adopt t he p la n
so
admirably
worked
ou t several yea rs ago
by
the Municipal
Art
Commiss ion and Mr. Charles Mul fo rd Rob:n
son
fo r
a beautiful
and
effective
approach
to be s ecur ed by w iden
ing and st raightening Fifth St reet from Lo s Angeles Street
to Cen·
tral Avenue. a Union
Station
is not pos sible, then it would ap
pear
belter to
encourage the Sou thern
Pacific and
Sal t Lake r oads
to
combine with
the Pacific
Electric
in a
splendid station adjoining
and
becoming p art of
th e
present
Pacific
Electric terminal
build
ing.
Union Depo t
at th e
Plaza
all
of
th e
competing t ranscont inen ta l s team roads
can be
brought
to cons ider a Union Depot ,
independent of
the Arcade
site,
then
the mo t natural thought in
regard
t o t hi s c ombined r ai lr oa d
entrance
to
the
city is to
have
one
g rand monumen ta l por ta l w it h
an
appropr iate sett ing o f op en spaces, parkways and surrounding
buildings.
This gat eway
to
th e city sho ul d
be
convenient
to the bus ines s
district with
plenty
of main arteries l ea di ng t o and from it; it
should be easy of access from the street railway
system,
and
par
ticularly
in he
c as e o f Los Angeles i t should
be a
mixing chamber
or clearinghouse
between
transcontinental and interurban
passen
ge r traffic.
t does
no t
take
a
lengthy
study of' th e
plan of the city an d
its transportation requirements
to d is cove r that
there
is one
site
5
TrnUSll
rtnt ion
Tlule
t
ro wth of th oDuuunHy
Inftll ne e
,nth passenger transportation,
distance
is
measured
by time
rather than
by miles .
This map shows
the
scheduled
number
or
minutes required to reach
arlous
localities.
the
shaded por tion showing the
time
zones
of ten minutes-twenty
minutes
and
thirty
minutes
of
the
local
surface
s)'stems
and the
c ir cl es i nc lo si ng t he
numbers
Indicate
the
t ime dis tance In minutes
from
the downtown
terminals of the
interurban
s)'stems.
With the city system, II w ll be seen that
the
sections to
t he west
a nd south ha ve
the
advantage. which
explains
why the city has
grown In
these
dir ec ti ons . The
city
limits
directly east and
directly
west
correspond
very nearly to the
thirty-minute
limits.
On
some of
the
higher speed Interurban
lines It Is now possibe to go twice as fa r
from the cen te r of the city in
thirty
minutes
as
can be done on the local
street
c ar s a nd
on the In erurb·9.n
tracks
running
south
th e
rapid tr an sit c ar s g et
ou t Into
t he count ry
fifteen miles In the time It takes'a c it y c ar
to reach the five-mile circle, This latter fact
lllustrates
the
advantage
of high speed
ter·
mlnals for the interurban lines, fo r th e c ar s
of n, e
southern
divIsion of the Pacific Elec
t ri c l in es have the adv.9.ntage of a private
r lght -o f-wa)' and of the use of a surface
entrance to their
terminal
which
Is no t
con
ges ted unt il It reaches Main treet.
This
r i g h t - o t - , , ~ a y . ho rever, is
on grade
and
wlll becomE' le ss a n
advantage as
safety wlli
d ic ta te c on st an tl y s lowe r speed,
but
It
serves to show the pos sib llt le s of a co ..
prehenslve high
speed
terminal
for ail
the
Interurban c ar s. P ro vid e such a te rminal and
there
is no reason why
points twenty
miles
from t he c it y' s c en te r should
not
be reached
In
t h l r t ~
minutes.
Under
these clrcumstan
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6
TljsC LIFORNI
OUTLOOK
Saturday,
ov
which is
adapted
naturally
to
fulfill
the
requirements
of
a grand
cent ral depot
and
t rans fe r s ta tion and this location is in
the
im
mediate
vicinity
of
-the
Plaza.
The P laza was the exact center of the original
Spanish
grant
to the Mission
Padres
of one league each way from this central
po in t a nd this origina l
a re a o f twenty- ei gh t
square
miles
consti
ttrted the
city
limits of Los Angeles
up
to the year 1869 and was
no t
mat er ia ll y ext ended unt il t he
year 1896. The
Plaza
was
the
starting
Point
of
al l roads which
lead
in various directions, fol
lowing in their meanderings the natural
topography
of the count ry .
Then the street plan of the cent ral part of the c it y was th e out come
of effor ts to paral lel these original main highways. The result is
tha t the re is
no one s ite
in
the
entire
city which
can be
reached
so
easily from so many d if fe rent d ir ec ti ons as thi s o ri gina l P laza , an d
as
modern transportation naturally follows and accentuates prImI
tive
pathways, i t wou ld be bu t natural to
have thi s
original center
of the older town come into its own as the
permanent
por ta l o f
the
newer c it y which has grown up
about
it.
But there are many other
reasons
for
favoring
this
location
for
a
Union Station.
Here is a lready the beginning
of
a
splendid
civic and administration center-with the Court House. Hall of
Records,
Post Office and
Custom
House forming an imposing
group
of monumental buildings and a crystallized
sentiment tha t
in this
part
of the city should
be
l ocated t he
new
Cit y Hal l.
Further
more the
business
section, in seeking unobstructed sites for modern
buildings,
has
been growing
away from th is o rigina l c ente r.
values
of p rope rt y in
this vicinity
are not maintained
by
means
of public improvement of this character, this part of the city will
suffer
f rom slow
Paralysis and Los Angeles is too young and
active
a c it y to afford such a contingency in
any
o f i ts p ar ts .
The
natural l ay of the land at this point al lows
for a
double
UNION STATION, WASHINGTON, D.
C
Main
Waiting
Room.
deck
station with the trains on the lower level, while
the
broad
treets
and possibl e open spaces
will
allow
for
sub-surface subway
stations and
storage
tracks at a minimum
expense.
The gre at es t oppor tuni ty
exists here for the planning of
a
center
of
civic beaut y and
usefulness,
which would
hardly
have
an equa l
in all th e
efforts
being
made by the
cities throughout
the
country
to
surround their
pub li c bui ld ings w it h
impos ing s et ·
tings.
This repor t is no t
intended
to be a
city
planning program, but
as transportation is ,the fundamental of the c ity use fu l, i t
should
also become
the
foundation
for th e
city
beautiful. It is
pleasing to
find·
this splendid
opening for a portal which will
allow the city
to display
at it s
gat es t he evi dence o f
its growth, its
prosperity,
its
progress in government, and its
possibilities
in art.
The first
impressions
which
would
be
created
in
the minds
of
the
visitor would include
a
glimpse of the original Plaza and the Old
Mission directly
back
of
it. A
new Plaza ,
a central
p ark and op en
courts should take the place
of
the old buildings
between
the old
Plaza and the Post
OffIce,
a nd this
breathing
space
would
act as
a foreground to
the new
City Hall and to the Post Office, which
bui ld ings would natural ly
be
located with an open space between
them to
a ll ow for
the ir future growth. Back
of
these -buildings
would rise
the
Hil l S ide :park with t er raced gardens furnishing a
frame of
gr ee n a nd color. Have city bui lders
ever
had a more
inspiring opportunity?
I
recognize the
fact that
an
enterpr ise of
this
character
takes
form very
slowly
and only if it ha in it t he e lement s which wilt
attract to it a
consensus
of
favorable opinion can
it be
carr ied out?
I do no t advance the idea
as
an absol ut e n eces si ty a s I have
al
ready
pointed
out o ther
sites
for
railroad
stations which will
an
swer all t he commerc ia l purposes, but if the
city
is
really
desirous
of
putting its
front
yard in order , and
of
creating
such
a favorable
impression on the· visi tor within it s gates
that
his stay may be
all
the longer,
I can not but point out th at in the
d
this Plaza center will be found a
great
opportunity.
GRADE
CROSSINGS.
There
are three kinds oi grade crossings
which
it
eliminate, as
they
are an inconvenience
to
vehicle
tra
stant
menace to
life.
Of
the three
kinds , I
would
class the
crossings
of
electric
interurban system as
the
most dangerous,
the
main lines and sw itc hing tra ck s as the most inconve
transcontinental passenger
traffic
at
grade as the l
As a general rule I would say that it will not onl
but should
be
compulsory to
bring
the electric
interu
th e city
without
a
single
grade c ross ing and the m
complishing this
r es ul t a re
discussed
in a separat
report.
vVith
f re ight t racks and swi tching spurs , however
the
cost
of
complete grade separat ion would be so
prohi bitive under Los Angeles conditions. To comp
ment ei ther
by the
city,
by the rai lroad companies
or
tries affected would be too heavy a f inancial handicap
a
compromise
must be found.
Fortunately, natural conditions of topography pr
able solution.
Th e
s team roads
follow
the l ower
le
water courses
and
indus tr ia l development s have t ak
tiguous
to
good
shinpinl facilities.
Retail
busill Css
have sought
the
higher levels along t he banks of the
river. This
makes it possible by continuing the
bri
r iver and
present
railroad tracks.
to
provide
long
v
main highways, spanning the indust rial freight trac
remain
on
th e surfac e as
at
present.
r would suggest
that th e
first vi aduct of t his
cha
on Fourth Street
from
Main Street,
crossing
the
mun
tracks on
San
Pedro Street, cont inuing over the pre
Pacific
t ra ck s on and
contil1;uous
to
.
lameda
Street.
c
the
present
viaduct
over
the
Santa Fe yards ,
which
a
the river and is built over the Sal t Lake railroad
viaduct
was to
be
continued over
the
lowlands on th
the r iver t o a proner Krade on
Four th S tree t
in Boy
unbroken elevated highway would
be supplied
from
h
overhead structure should be amply wide to acco
stiee-t
car t ra ck s a s
well
as
to
provide
a highway
f
and other s tree t
vehicles and
pedestrians.
In
order to
avoid the possibil ity of damage to
prop
street,
the
height
of the
overhead roadwav
shoul d b
will be possible to col le ct and de liv er goods f rom t h
of the
buildings,
thus
greatly increasing
the
presen
handlinl goods in
and
out of warehouses and factories
the
viaduct.
Add
0
this
advantage the
privilege
o f
load freight to and f rom the buildings on
th e
lower
or
level,
and the double decking of the treet
will
bec
advantal e
which
will greatly add to,
rather
than det
value of all contiguous property.
the
Fourt h S tr ee t
viaduct proves
it s
usefuln
Street
viaduct over
the Salt
Lake tr acks , th e r iv er and
tracks can be
continued
in a
simi lar manner .
Another
connect ion between the business
center
a
part
of the city
across
the rive r and
tracks
can even
vided
by
building a simi lar viaduct for vehicle, p
street
cars on Sixth
Street, eX tending
f rom Main
S
Avenue,
thus in ime, providing three
main
highways
ness district to Boyle Heights.
From all of these
elevated roadways.
inclines, with
a
four
p er cen t g rade , s houl d l ead to the
street
level
points.
On account
of the
differ.ence in levels betwee
and
Los Ange le S tr ee t. th e v iaducts would
leave
Ma
bu t
very l it tle
rise. In
fact
h is
the natural depressio
place between
Main
Street
and Los Angeles Street
these suggestions reasonable.
Were it
not
for the top
place
the
wholesale
and industrial district
would
very
been scattered
in all
direct ions around
the
retail d i
lower
level between
Main
Street a nd the
river
now
f
industrial district which
is
next
to
the s te am road
tra
banks of the r iver . This contiguity
of
warehouses, t r
makes it practicable to r ever se the usual
order
of t
and subway s treets as f ound in
other
cities
and
to
el
highways leaving the secondary
streets
and swi tch t r
thus
provirling a
very acceptable
compromise
to
comp
aration, at a consirlerab
1
e less
expense.
Beyond
the
limits
of
the
strictly indu
trial
dis t
several
bad
grade crossings. Following the precedent
a number
of highway bridges
over
the rail road
tracks
with
the
foregoing suggest ion to carry the
main
highw
throughout the wholesale, warehouse
and
manufactur
the
c ity, i t would appear
best
to standardize the pract
and e lim in at e g rade s, a s
a rule, by car ry ing th e st
tracks.
In
connect ion with
g rade separat ion of
the
pa
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8/20/2019 1911 California Outlook Arnold Transportation Problem Los Angeles 1
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l erritorlnJ
r o w tl a C lt y o f Lo s ngele
Th e
Plaza w as
the exact
center
ot
th e
original
Spanish grant to th e
Mission
Padres
tor th e
Pueblo
of
Los Angel es
in 17 1 an d
th e
area ot twenty-eight
square mlles or
one pan ish
league
each wa y from
th e
cen
tral point was the original lim its of th e
City of
Lo s
A ng ele s w hen
it
w as incor
porated Aprll 4 1850.
Successive additions,
as shown by th e
map,
have been
largely
to the
West of t h e o r ig ina l
center
an d there ha s ev ident ly been
a
con
test
b etwee n t he
call of t he f oo th ll ls
an d
th e lure
ot
th e
sea. Th e annexation of th e
shoe-str ing
strip an d t he c on so li da ti on
w it h W llm ing to n an d
San
Pedro
have
put
Lo s
Angeles
on
th e
map
as an actual sea
port. Th e bullding ot
a
municipal
harbor
twenty-one
m lle s fr om
t he P laz a
introduces
new problems
of t ra ns po rt at io n, t he s ol u
tion of which will have a
decided
influence
upon
th e tuture gro l th ot
th e
City.
The next
immediate proposed
additions
to
th e
City are
to
t he n or th
an d
west.
T he d is
tr icts
to
the south and
west,
howeve r, have
a natural
topographical advantage which
only
Improved transportation
facIlities dn
th e
other d i rec ti on can in a measure otrset.
The l ay ou t
ot
th e
streets in
t he o ri gi na l
city w as
larF;ely
t he r es ul t
of
tQPograph y
but
nearly
all of th e streets in t b e annexed
districts
have
been
platted
to c on fo rm to
th e
United
States
sectlon lines. The map
how t he o rig inal m ai n t ho ro ug hfa re s m ean
dered
away
from
the Plaza on
th e
easiest
grades. Al l
present
an d f u tu re t ra n spo rt a
tion facllities must be a tr ec ted by
t he se s ame
natural influences.
Th e
rallroads
se
..k
tIl
water
level route ..
an d
locations a.mi
th e
industr ial par t
of th
..
community must tol
low th e railroads.
The l oc at io n
t addi
tional harbor rallroad connections to
th e
South added to the
present
natural g.rowth
ot
t he i nd us tr ia l
district in that direction
wlll result
in a
growth ot
th e city
to
th e
south
an d west which wlll balance, -In a
measure,
the grow th
ot th e city n
other
directions,
making
Los Ange le s
a round
or
c i rcu la r c ity wi th i t s o rig in al origin n ot
fa r from
it s
eventual center,
The city limits of
th e
City of Los An
ge le s, how ever, Include onll
a
small
par t
ot tb e district, Which, under some form ot
central government,
wlll
no doubt be known
in time
a s G re at er LJ:>s
Angeles,
TOT l SOU
f
GAfNAJ lA
1699
HOLLYWOOD
CfTY
sCALe
L.._ =:lIo
__
e==:i _ _
ot::==
N M
T ~ g L I F O R N I O U T L O O ~
TERRITORY ANNEXED
TOTHE
CITY OF LOS ANGELES
ACCOMPANYING THE REPORT OF
SION
.J
ARNOLD
ON THE
LOS
ANGELES TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM
TO THE
CITY OouNCIL
S N p RO
JolTEO LINES I IJlCATE
GRFFITli
Fl IRK
e
- ..0
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8/20/2019 1911 California Outlook Arnold Transportation Problem Los Angeles 1
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8
T l j ~ C L I F O R N I
OUT OO
Saturday, Novem
tion,
particularly
if
t here are
stringent
regulations
'Is
to n
and
the obstruction
to
the street for a ny
length
of time.
the
district
which lies
between
Main Street
an
Street is
turned
into
a n in du str ia l se ction se rved wit
switch tracks, there will be an add it iona l r eason for pro
eral overhead highways
across this
section
for
the
use of
and the l ighter vehicles, le av ing t he sur face o f t he
street
and s lowe r mov ing t ru ck s. this double de cking of
which is discussed in more det ai l· in ano ther par t of
t
p roves to
be
a
natural and
favored
arrangement, there
is
why
this
plan
should
no t
be extended
to
Los Angel es S
convenience
of
Los Angeles
Street
to the business cente
it
the logical location
for
wholesale
busine and
rec
very
fine
warehouses
have been
constructed along
this
s tr
are
two
ser ious d rawbacks , however , t o
its future-its
at orne parts and it? lack
of
witch track connectio
further expensive
buildings
are erected
this street
straightened and widened between
Fourth
and S ix th S
width of
at
l ea st e ig ht y (eet.
Even with this
increa
the handling
of
merchandise will continue to be hampe
street
congestion due to th e conflict between the incomin
going
trucks
and
the
present 'system
of loading
and
unl
con ti nue the use
of
the s idewalks as temporary stor
whereas t he s id ewal ks
were
intended
fo r another pu
the
street
can stand only a certain amount
of
~ h i s kind
tion much
of the future wholes ale busine ss
will natu
locations-but
by so
doi ng t he
convenience and
a
hich
naturally belong to
Los n ~ e l e s Street will
be
lost
The solution, in my opinion , IS to double deck this
tween
Fi r
t
and
Six th Stree ts , making
an
oppor tuni ty to
heavy freight
on t·he present s t reet level
and
providing f
vehicles a n un ob str uc te d h ighway on the
level
of the
p
ond story
and
almost on a g rade w ith Main Street.
Th e
proposition,
at first
sight,
may appea r t o be mo
radical, bu t
it
is
an
arrangement
which has
been proposed
c it ie s which are no t favored
with
as for tuna te a comb
favorable conditions
a ar e
found here. os ngele
natural f re ight subway alr eady constructed-all it needs
w-hich can
be
used
for vehic les. It
is
a gre ed by
all s
t ranspor tat ion problems that t he h andl in g o f mer ch and
community is as
important
from an economic
standpo
moving of passenger s.
In Chicago, millions
of dol la rs
invested
in a comprehensive freight
tunnel
system conn
business
and who le sa le d is tr ic ts w it h th e f re ight
termin
s imil ar f re ight subway has been under consideration
York
City. Although there is
now
more o r less
question
financial
success o f
the Chicago undertaking up to dat e
too
early
to
predict what the ult imate result
will be. In
Lo
however, the rapid development and successful use of
mobile
motor truck
will
have
a
decided influence
over th
method
of
local f reight t ransfer .
Th e
delivery
of car lo
directly to
or even
into the whole sa le
warehouse-the
of
goods 'by
escalators,
elevators
and
t rucks, and the
del iv
same means to an
auto-truck which
can leave
the
buildin
conflict with
the
incoming
merchandise,-i a system wh
adopted
in
Los Angele s
with a
minimum
expense.
T
deck
proposed
for Los
Angeles
Street should connect with
head veh ic le highway proposed
fo r F ir st S tr ee t and t
viaduct along Fourth Street,
thus
completing a system
mobile boulevards connecting
the
cen tr al bus iness d is
t he who le sa le
s ec ti on and
both
with the
local
freigh
l ivery yards. These highways would be entirely free fr
r ai lr oad c ro ss ings and
while forming
the
loop conne
ferred to above would a ls o e st ab li sh main thorough
tween
the
retail and
wholesale districts
and t he sec ti o
:ity
east of
the river, which ar e now
handicapoed
in
velopment on account of the
grades
and cross ings
al
Third, Fourth
and
Seventh Streets .
The
l es s t han car lo ad f re ig ht house d es ign ed for
car load lot s
should be as
near as pos sib le to the cen
business distr ict.
There
are many good reasons
fo r
freight
depot
of
this class.
the
suggestion for a
unified terminal for
t he u se
of all
the
p re sent and f utu re
suggested
in a no th er p ar t
of
this
report,
can be
acc
eventually, t,hen the local less t han car load f re ight bus in
be
provided
for
by
perhaps
one
main
freight
depot
o r mor e fre ight s ub-s ta tio ns to be located as the city g
the double d e k i n ~
of
some
of
the
main
tho
through the
industrial
dIstr ict should
become
an acc
fact, it is very
probable
that the
railroad
offic ia ls wil l
the advantage
of
this
arrangement
and provide two-sto
r0u es
with
mechanical
f re ig ht h andl in g
d e v i e ~
to
place
of
the one-story freight
deno s
and the hand t ru
are today
the most effective
package handl ing equ ipm
able.
,
In
this connect io n t he c it y
street
car lines sho ul d b
aged to r levelop a system
of p ackage
and light
freigh
ARTISTIC
ELEVATED
STREETS.
Mulberry
Street
Bridge, Showing Inc li ne .
That
elevated
structures-particularly through
industrial
districts-may be made to
add to
the city
beautiful,
as well
as contribute
to
the
city efficient,
is shown by t hi s p ic tu re
of
a viaduct recently finished at Harrisburg h, Pa. T he re
cent concret e b ridges
over
the
Los
Angel es R iv er a re equall y
good
illustrations
of
the possibi li ti es o f
the art is ti c
design
of concret e overhead s truc tu res.
miles in length for t he purpose of connecting factor ies and
ware
houses directly with the
railroads. There is
plenty
of
room
for
the
extension
of
switch-track
systems,
but
the convenient opportunitie
for
add it ions are l arge ly away f rom
the
business district . There
is
a district, however, d ir ec tl y con ti guou s to t he retail streets which
has
heretofore been
used l arge ly for r es iden ts and
re ta il business
purposes,
bu t which is naturally adapted for
wholesale
business
and
manufactories,
if
it o nly
had
th e a dv an ta ge of ca r load
freight de
livery. To
supply
this district with
freight service
will requi re the
use of some of th e ci ty
street
for rai lroad t racks as t he reach ing
of each
parcel of property over a
private right-of-way
is
becoming
more e xpensive y ea r by ye ar.
To
thus turn the
streets over
to
private business
i a
serious
s tep, and
can
only b e j ustif ied by th e
fact
that
it is the first duty of the city to foster it s own industries.
these industrial
t racks were
required
to
be elevated
or
depressed
th e expense would p rohi bi t t he p ropo sed use o f th is d is tr ic t for
industrial purposes.
To remove the
objec ti on to
the use
of
the
streets
fo r. f re ig ht ca r switc hin g it would be possible to limit
the movement
of
the cars
l arge ly to
night hours.
As
this
district
will naturally cease to be a
r es idence sec ti on and
th e car s would
be
handled
by
electric locomotives,
there
remains very
l i tt le objec-
t racks, the city. will be c al le d
UPOII
to pass
upon
the
plans
for a
passenger termlllal
fo r at least
the
Southern 1'acitic
and the Salt
Lake
roads
within
the
no t
far
distant future. One of the first con
siderations governing the a pp ro va l o f thes e
plans
should be the
entire
elimination
of
the
passenger
tracks
c ro ssi ng a ny str ee t a t
grade.
this requiremen t is
insisted
upon
the
grade crossing dan
ge r from all passenger t rain movement will be removed a the anta
Fe
t racks are
along
th e r iv er and
in·time
may
all
be crossed by
the
continuation
of
the
river
bridges.
Th e expense of grade separat ion
by
means of overhead street
via
duc ts should be shared
by the rai lroad companies ,
by the
city
and
by
the
local
street
car company .
In Chicago
the
plans for the
elimination of grade
crossings whi ch have been
mainly completed,
called
fo r
the expendi ture
of $150,000,000 in
round numbers
which
shows how important
this
problem
of
grade separation may become.
It
is
an improvement
which cannot
be much longer
delayed in
Los
Angeles , and
if the steam
railroads
are no t called up on to r emove
t he ir t racks from the city
street
level t hey should be expected to
contribute
liberally
to
the
compromise
plan
of elevating
the
main
thoroughfares crossing
the industr ial d is tr ict.
FREIGHT HANDLING.
Th e
industrial
efficiency
of
any
city depends
in a
large measure
upon
the conveni ence and adequacy of its f re ight t ermina ls . In the
building of Los
Angeles the
freIght
track
have been l oc at ed
con
veniently, and at the present
time
cannot be said to 'be inadequate
the serious problem is to pro\'ide sufficient future factlities, a easy
of
access
as the present spur
tracks.
Ther e are at present in
the
ci ty ten m iles
o f te am tra ck for
less
than
ca r load freight,
and
separate spur t racks aggregating sixty-five
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8/20/2019 1911 California Outlook Arnold Transportation Problem Los Angeles 1
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This diagram s how s the number of seats
pas sing any g iven point going
In
one d ir ec
tion
during
the hour
of
heaviest
travel of a
business day.
As fa r
as the
scheduled number of seats
on each
route
can do
this,
the d iagram In
dicates the relat ive demand f or
transporta
tion
In various parts
of
th e communlty
both u rban and Int erurban,
This
map
shows at once
he lack or
cross
t own connec ti on s, and how nearly al l of th e
lines ar e radial
lines
from th e c en te r
of
the c it y
With,
as
yet,
ver y few
circuit
lines
which would divert some of the
seats
around
the business center
and a ll ow
the t raff ic to
redistribute I tsel f before
It
reaches the busi
ness d is t ric t.
The ci rcui tous
routes of some of th e
lines
ar e also
Indicated,
emphasizing the
difficul
ties
of
topography and
street pl3 n
with which
t he s ur fa ce c ar
system
must contend.
The large number of routes which oper
at e
al l
of
the ir cars
to
t he out er
end
of
the
lines
Is
noticeable, and
this fact taken I
conjunction with the ext en sion o f the sys
tems into outiylng
territory
Indicates that
the
local compan has a
liberal
polley as
to
ca r
service.
As
compared
to
other cities ha vi ng a p
pro?,lmately
the
same amount of
local an
nual earn ings ,
the number of mlles
o r s ingl e
track
Is from
45 pe r cen t to 50 per c en t more
In Los
Angeles than
In
these other Ameri
can
cities.
The
number
of
C3 r
mlles for
each
dollar
earned, however, Is about
equal
to
the a vera ge . T he size < f t he c ar s
Is
rela
tively
larger than
In mos t c it ie s
and
type
of
equipment
Is fa r
abo ve t he ave rage .
The good servi ce and perhaps
also
the cli
mate
in Los
Angeles
Is reflected
In the rec
ord
of
the
earnings
p er c ap it a which
ar e
h igh enough
here
to make the total earn
Ings
of
the
local
system
compare favorab ly
with
those of other America n c ities of 50
per cent greater popu la ti on. The riding
habit In
Los
Angeles
Is
about twice as
great
p er I nh ab it an t a s It
Is In other
cities
of about
the
same
size-which
would ap
parently prove that the rIding habit can be
cultivated
by
good
service.
T ~ s L I F O R N I UT k
_
.:z
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TljgC LIFORNI OUT OO
Saturday, November 4
is only possible,
however,
by eliminating the interurban
electric
cars from the surface tracks and partic ularly from Main Street.
As soon
as
the
movemen t o f
the surface cars can be acceler
ated on Main S tr ee t d uri ng th e rush
hours,
a very
decided
im
provement in ca r service
can
be e ffec ted
throughout
the down
town section. An effort s hould be made to pass the cars
through
this
district in
such
a
way
as to avoid the
curves
at street in
tersections.
A
car
passing around a
curve
takes fully 50 more
time to clear
the
cross ing than a car passing d irec tl y across a
stree t at right angles;
th e
difficulties
of the
traffic
police
in
clearing the way
for th e cars
on curv es
ar e
much
greater
and
the threa ding of the cars
from the
traffic of one street i nt o t ha t
of
another makes impract icable
the
running of cars in pairs at
high
speed
at street intersections.
It is
quite
feasible
to
work o ut a s cheme o f d own-town ro ut
ing, which by connect ing the rou tes on opposite
side s of
the
city
so
as
to form through routes, will make
it
pos si bl e to have nea rl y
all of
the intersections
right
angle
crossings
with
bu t
very
few
curves
or
loops.
As
already stated,
however , this
great improve
ment in operation is contll1gent on taking the interurban rars
off the
Main Street
tracks,
which
can be done
as
suggested in
another Part
of this report.
.
The
sur face sys tem is singular ly lacking in cross-town
and
circuit
lines, particularly inside the four mI le ci rcl e. Radiating
lines have been p rov id ed
with
libera lity a nd exte ns io ns in to the
non-pay ing out -l ying d is tr ic ts have
been built even when the
long haul and the
small
amount
of bus iness
could
mean
nothing
bu t loss to th e company-but th e c ros s connecting lines,
which
ART ISTIC ELEVATED STREETS .
Mulberry
Street
Bridge.
Showing
Railroad
Tracks, Har ri sburgh , Pa.
are usual ly considered as desirable
parts
of a system of this size
have
been neglected.
In planning
these circuit routes,
two resul ts should be sought
one to ge t a
route
an d eventua lly more th an on e route , e ntire ly
a rou nd the c ity outside of the down -town con ge ste d distric t, a nd
the
other
result
is to use parts of
these
cross-town lines
for the
connection
of
certain parts
of
radiating lines,
thus
forming a
se rie s o f outside loops which will mak e it possible to increase
the servi ce
in
the
shor t -haul dist rict wi thout running all
th e c ars
to the
extreme
ends of
the lines
or
switching them back and
mak in g th e pa ss eng ers ta ke the
next
car.
• The earnings of the local lines are now increasing at such a
sat is factory rate · that
it is
no t
u nre aso nable to e xpe ct th e local
company
to make
a
considerable addit ion
to
it s
trackage each
year-but
these
extensions
should
be l ocat ed whe re
they
will
p roduce t he
greatest
good to the largest number. Exten ions
beyond th e
four-mile
circle should
be put
in with caut ion.
on
paying branches can only be operated at the sacrifice
of
possible
service· over th e rema in de r of the s ys tem and
it
is quite a ques
tion
in
city planning whether the opening
up
of new
sub-divisions
around
the
periphery
of
a city
before
the closer in sections have
been
fairly well bui lt up is a good civic policy.
Beyond th e five-mile limit it is to be expected that cen te rs o f
population will begin to
gather,
particularly at regular stopping
points on the rapid
transit lines r unni ng i nt o
t he bus iness
part
of
the
main
city. a sufficient number of these
high spe ea
outlets a re p rovi ded t he re will be comparatively
little
reason for
the
extension of the local
systems
beyond the th irt y-m in ute o r
five-mile
radius
circle, as
the
interurban lines
can reach the out
lying
district in a
much
shor te r running time. this interurban
system is provided with t racks enti rely independent of
t he s tr ee t
g ra de s a nd nea rly
all
city
stops
are el iminated,
t·
higher
pow
e re d ca rs should
r each th e
five-mile circle in
from ten
t o twe lve
minut es and in thirty minutes
should
reach cent er s fully twelve
to fifteen
mil es f rom
t he bus in es s cen te r.
This
superior
service
as
fa r
as time is
concerned , emphasi zes the
fundamental differ
ence between
the
city or local lines and the rapid transit
or
interurban lines, and
would
seem to
indicate
that
beyond
tain d is tance f rom the city s
center
the
territory
can be
served
by the
high
speed sys tem.
Th e time is
now ripe for
a
discussion of
this
whole
quest
additions
and extensions to t he c it y r ai lway systems and the
ent and future relations between the
company
and the
There
are a number o f fundamental considera ti ons which,
oplOion,
should
be
recognized.
First: The
business
of urban transportation is a natura
nopoly.
Here
is
one case where compet it ion
is
wastefu l an
effective. One city-one fare-through routes and uni
transfers
are
the re sults of ha ving
one
company serve
the
community.
Second:
This monopoly
should
be completely under eff
municipal cont rol, both for the protection
of
the communit
also
for t he s af egua rd ing o f t he
interests
of the
corporation
Thi s con tr ol
should
secure adequate
service
at
the
lowest
should encourage
the
opera ti on of the
road
at a constantly
ressing efficiency and should p rovi de ext en si on s and add it io
accordance with public necessity and demand. Public c
means
publicity
of
al l financial and operating r ecor ds and
effective,
the
public officials cha rg ed w it h the responsibili
exercising
this
power should be .able, honest and beyond the
of political
and particularly
local influence.
Third: On
the
other
hand
the
actual
investment in
property,
both present and
future,
should be secu re and pro t
Before extensions ar e required
or
rates reduced, the demand
opera ti ng expenses, t axes , main tenance renewal s,
amortizati
intangible values, and
a fair profit
t o cap it al
must
be recog
there
is a
surplus, the city and company shoul d
be
partner
mutually decide whether the surplus is to be u sed for the exte
of
the system, for the reduction
of
the
fares or
for th e
bette
of
the service.
Fourth: The
length
of time
of the
franchise
or
permit
t
the city
streets
should be indet ermina te . Th e city should
effective
and cont inuous
con tr ol o f all
it s
streets
and
this
can be
secured
best
by
the company surrendering its
present
o f t ermi na l f ranchi se s for a blanket permit securing a
te
dur ing good behav io r, and g iv ing the c ity th e
right
t o pur
the
enti re system at a fair value determined
up on an
agreed
Under these rest r ict ions I
can
see
no
re as on why the
muni ty should no t continue in comparative harmony w ith i ts
public utility transit company,
no r
why the c ompa ny shoul
give adequate
service
over a constantly growing system.
investment is protected, the company
can
proceed
to develo
property without fear of loss or confiscation. Th e advocat
municipal
ownership should
see in this arrangement
t he u lt
opportunity for t he c it y
to
secure the lines at a fair
price
w
worki ng an i nj us ti ce on
the
investors who
have
done so mu
bring prosper i ty
to
the
city.
A contract ordinance adhering
closely
to
these fundam
princ ip les should p rove
as e ffec tive in Lo s
Angeles
as a
s
o rd inance has p roven in Chicago-although it
must
be under
that
the
greater
den sit y of
street
ca r t raf fic in Chicago c
conditions
there which ar e somewha t
different
than tho
Lo s
Angeles
and t he re fo re i t cannot be expected
that
the Ch
settlement will apply in all of it s details to the si tuation her
INTERURBAN ELECTRIC
RAILWAYS
Los Angele s owes much of its prosperity as a commercia
te r and
i ts pre-eminence
as a resort
c ity to
it s interurban
el
system.
Located as it is, part way between the mountain
the sea, i t na tu ra ll y gets the benefit of the
extraordinary
g
of popul at ion and wealt h which
is taking
place
in all
direction
must be recognized,
however,
that had it not been
for
the
constructive policy fol lowed by t he p re sent
management
in
ducing the netw ork of electric lines
which
binds
togethe
different communities of
t he d is tr ic t, t he
City
of
Lo Angeles
would be less attractive both for
bu si ne ss and pl ea su re .
electr ic railway systems
play
a
large part
in
the prosperit
happiness of the pe ople of
this
en ti re sec ti on , and I believe
a fortunate circumstance that
the
enti re system is under one
trol. Much depends
upon
th e f utu re attitude
of
the c it ize
Lo s
Angeles
and the
present
owner s of
th e
system-the
Sou
Pacific Railroad.
Th e
continual
growth
of
this interurban system
should
n
hampered. Immediate at tention
must
be paid to the sub je
terminal faciliti'es' as t he p re sent
arrangements
ar e a lr eady
loaded. suggestion
has b een
made
in another
section o
report, for the use
of
San Pedro S tr ee t
and the
handling
o
interurban cars from t he lower floor of the present Pacific El
depot,
bu t while
this plan will
relieve
at
once
the congest i
Main Street and
provide
a
means
o f k eepi ng
the
cars
on
schedule, i t mus t be regarded as bu t a temporary expedient an
as a
permanent
terminal
solution.
There are p romising possibilities in
the
use of an
ele
structure
or
a subway running
from
the rear
of
the presen
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T ~ s C A L I F O R N I A O U T O O ~
-
_ 6 _
_
~ E : ~ . : . : : : ~ . : = ~
, , .
witch or l ur T ru ck
rhere
are three separate systems
of
steam
road spur
tracks in Lo s Angeles .
These
·
re
located. pract ica lly para l le l
to
one another
along the
river
banks- the
Southern Pacific
occupying the
old river bed.
while
the Santa.
Fe extends along
the
wes t b ank of
th e
Pres
en t cou rse o f the
s tream. wtth
the Salt Lake
on the
east
bank. Th Is
natural
l ocat ion o r
the
s team ral lroads dictates th e limit s
of
th e
Industrial d is tr ic t a s
the
factories and
warehouses must be located whe re t hey
ar e
convenient
to
a spu r t ra ck
from
one
of
the
three
present
roads.
The three spur t ra ck s ys tems
are
prac
tically
Independent.
the main
connection
being at the
points
of interchange
shown
upon
the map. will be not iced. however,
that
the
two
networks
of
tracks belonging
to the Southern Pacific and tbe Santa Fe on
the west side of t he ri ver
cross
each other
at
numerous point s
IndIcating considerable
rl
va-Iry
In the location
of switch tracks In
thIs
district.
wlll be seen that If switch tracks
re
Installed
on
San
Pedro
Street that
an
entirely
new part of the cIty will be opened fo r in
dustrial
purpo ses. which
Is no t availabl
ro any
the
present s team roads.
wil l a lso
be
noticed
that
I t wou ld
no t
be
a dIf ficult matter to connect tracks on San
Pedro
Street
a t
It s
northern
end
with the
tracks
of t he Sou th ern
PacIfic
and
Santa
Fe and by means of th e Pacific Electric
tracks on Aliso
Street
with the
Salt
Lake
tracks on
the o ther side
of
the river.
H
t he fou r
track
road of th e Pacific Elec
t rI c I nt er urban l in e on Long Beach Avenue
should
eventually become ava il ab le for
In
dustr ia l switchIng purposes. the fan shaped
IndustrIal
distrIc t would have five dlyerglng
maIn
l in e f ee de rs
whI ch wou ld
allow
any
poInt In the dist rIc t to be etl ectlvely
reached
by
a
cross connection of
reasonable length.
• •
= :
_
SPUR TR CK M P
~ ~ ~ £ ~
o o ~ ~
S
v«L[ S
T ~ T 1 O l P ftOSLtP l
aTY
COl OCL
:1inal
bui ld ing and
back
to
and a cr os s th e r iver , with a connec
tion. in the v ic in ity of th e present S o ~ t h e r n Pacific
Arcade Depo t
to the four tracks of the Southern Division of t he e le ct ri c i nt er
urban system running
to Long
Beach,
San
Pedro, Santa Ana, Whit
t ~ r etc.
After
crossin , t he r iv er ,
th is extension
shou ld connec t
with th e Northern DivisIOn, which
serves Pasadena, Alhambra
and
the
other
foothill communities.
.
Outside of
t he a ss is tance o f a
f ra nchi se f rom the city,
this
en
tire imprO\ ement could be built by th e own ers of th e p re se nt
~ y s t e m without t he city s aid,
credit
or
money , a nd
although
th e
In\ estment would be conside rable, i t wou ld seem to
be
justified.
I ~ e l i e v e that th e
company
s ho ul d b e encouraged to work ou t
disclose
a p lan t o p ro vi de t hi s permanent way
for
an entrance
l ~ t o
th e c it y, f re e
f rom g rade c ro ss ings ,
and at the same time
~ s c l o s e
their
plans for a tunnel connec ti on running n o r t h w c ~ t
rom Hill Street parallel to S ixth Street. Several
years
ago a
t u n n ~ l enterprise was
proposed to take care of the
traffic
to
Sallla
o n ~ c and
vicinity,
b ut th e financial
depression
caused a delay in
~ h s h l n g the undertaking. The
growth of t he Hol lywood district,
the Opening up of the San Fernando Valley
and
t he e xt en si on o f
. e electric
lines
into
this d is tr ic t t h rough t he Cahuenga Pass
;oUbld seem
to be additional
reasons
fo r
the const ruction of
this
ou Ie
track
out le t t hrough
th e hills we
t
of
the
business
center.
\
ow that
al l
of
th e
interurban
lines ar e
u nd er o ne
con t ro l, thi s
western
s ~ b - s u r f a c e
branch
should be designed to connect with
t he o th er d iv is ions of t he sys tem I by a
sub-way
under t he stl{eets
of th e
down- town d is tr ic t
to
the Pacific E le ctr ic T ermin al a t
S ixth a nd
Main Streets.
Care s houl d be llsed ,
h o w e v e ~
in
th e
l oc at ion of t hi s cross-town sub:,, ay; so that it will not int er fe re
with
longitudinal
subways
which
eventually
may
be
located
on
Broadway, Spring 01 Main
Streets. It
will be a question. as to
which
subway should h av e t he right-of-way on t he upper l ~ v e l as
crossings at th e
same l evel would no t
be
advisable.
It will thus
be possible for th e interurban electric
company
to
be p rovi ded w it h a h igh s pe ed . t erminal equipment of its own
design, construction and ownership. These
roads
should have all
ent rance i nt o t he
city
ent ir el y i nd ependent o f any
other
transpor
t at ion sys tem, and if they are to expend the millions
which
this
s ugge t ed terminal will cost, it woul d s eem right
that they shou ld
have a l ong t erm
franchise.
An indetermina te franchise,
such
as
might
be adv is ab le w it h t he
surface
railway
system.
wou ld p rob
a bl y not be as applicable
in
thi s case as ,
on the
on e
hand, t he Com
pany
would not want to pa rt with their expensive terminals , an d
on th e other, the city would. hardly
care
to
e xe rc is e its r ig ht · to
purchase terminal facilities
only, without acquir ing the conttnuous
lines.
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T ~ ~ C A L f F O R N I A U T ~
Saturday, November
Attention
should
be called
to the
fact
however,
that
although
the
building
o f th ese terminal
connections
will probably be
found
des ir ab le by
both company
and the
city, that
this
arrangement
ultimately will be found
lacking
in
adequacy as t he
extension ar e
directly
at right angles
to the city s
most
probable direction
of
growth and t he re fo re conge st ion a t a concentrated terminal even
tually
will
result.
t will
take
a number
of
years growth, how
ever, to
develop
this
defect,
at which
time
addi tional terminal
facilities will be needed in any
event,
so
that
t he p roposed ele
vated and tunnel
lines
which
can
be·
built
within the next
fcw
years, will always continue to be useful
up
to tneir full capacity,
and
their
building at the present wil·1 interfere in no way with but
rather
will supplement, future terminal
arrangements.
Ult imately there will
be
need
for an elongated sub-surface
terminal along
the a xis
o f n at ur al g rowth
a nd with
a
n umbe r of
stations
for
the distribution
and . col lect ion of passenger s.
Such
a terminal
would collect
the
electric
interurban lines of
the
west
and nor thwes t a t a point near the original Plaza, and interurban
liiles
entering
the
c it y f rom
the sou th , t he wes t and sou thwest at
a center located in the
v ic in it y o f
Pico and
Main
Streets. By
means of exp re ss t ra cks para.lleled by local tracks,
as the New
York subway,
it
would prOVide. convel11ent outlets for Interurban
traffic to the entire busincss distr ict. vVhile s uc h a n e lo ng ate d
terminal would serve a certain amount of.
short
hau l local patron
age, its principal function would be to provide a h igh speed
con
nection
through
the city for t he e lect ri c lines
radiating
to and
connect ing t he cen te rs
of population which
ar e
now growing up
THE OPEN
CUT METHOD
OF
CONSTRUCTION
Sub-surface railway construction in Lo s Angeles should
be
of
th e ope n
cut type
as
f ar as possibl e.
Thi s h as
been
described
as a subwaY without a
roof....
and is
particularly
ad ap ted to th e
climate
of Southern California. Th e
accom
panying i llus trat ion shows the
four
t rack depress ion
recently
cons tructed through the F la tbush
section
of Brooklyn, N. Y.
Many
of
th e homes a lo ng this road wer e bui lt after the
road was constructed. showing th e sma ll objection to
this
tY pe of construct ion.
all ab ou t the city.
The best service to these
outlying distric-ts
can
be provided
only
by the e limina ti on
of al l stops
on t he exp re ss
tracks
w it hi n t he c it y
limits
of
Los
Angeles,
except
the
four
sug
gested in the
business district .
local
stops
within th e c ity a nd
just outs ide
the city a re to
be
provided
in
connection
with the
high s pe ed
interurban service,
t hi s can
be done bes t
by
providing
four
tracks
for
some
distance,
using ·two of the tracks for
local
and two for express
service,
then
dropping down
to
three tracks in the more
removed distr icts ,
u sin g th e
odd
track for one-way rush-hour traffic into the
city
in the morning , a nd away from t he c it y in the evening
of
working
days and always with t he c rowd upon hol id ay s and
Sundays.
On
account o f t he l engt h of · many of
th e
interurban runs it
will be ,found more e conomica l to
store
the c ars
carrying much
of·
this
one-way traffic
n ea r the
central
terminal
dur ing t he middle
of
the
business
day,
an d the
design
of
the complete terminal
should
include provision
for
these
storage
tracks. Transfer
stations
should
be
p rovid ed between t he two
high
speed t ermina l sys tems
\v.here they intersect near
S ix th and
Main, and the subway which
will serv e the largest n umber
of
patrons should be
located
on
t·he
upper
level.
The
development of high speed t erminal s for t he int erurban
systems·
will have the same effect on the business center of Los
Ang ele s as
the
moving into the
pre sent c it y
limits
of a
large
amount. of the
surrounding
population. With real rapid
transit
to
Pasadena, for
instance, the
35 000
people
a t p re sent
living there
. · would be-
as
n-ear t he s hopp ing
c-enter
of Los Angel es
a
-residents
of
the
c it y i ts el f n ow
living
between the
three an
m il e c ir cl es . There is apparently .no
way
in which Los A
can ext end its sphere of
influence;
both for plea sure a nd b u
as easily and effectively as providing an unobstructed
entran
exit for the
interurban
electr ic system. The
rides pe r
ca
the people of this district are alre ady very high
bu t
eve
provement
which will
make it
still
easier to tra ve l from on
ter to all other
centers
will fur ther i ncrease the
riding
Th e r emarkabl e h is to ry o f t he bui ld ing
up of
the towns and
of this district and the correlation existing between
the
pro
of the
community
and the activity of
its
people
which
was
pos sible by the
splendid electr ic
car
servi ce can
only
be
couragement for still greater improvements
and extension
all
possible
betterments, the
building
of a comprehensiv
.
ngeles c it y
terminal for
the
interurban sys tem will be
greatest benefit.
Pending the
remova l of the
interurban
cars
entirely fro
surface
of
the s tree ts
of
Los Angeles city t here should be
rangement
made
which will make it
possible
to transfer fr o
sys tem to the other
inside
the c it y limits. The Pacific Elect
tem now operates about seventy miles of
track,
located
up
s tree ts of t he c ity
(not
including Wilmington and San Pedr
car ry ing out of the comprehensive
plan
fo r a
high
speed te
will eventually do away with the use of any tra cks on the
of the
streets
by the interurban cars-and
at
s uch time the
tion
of
these
street
ca r
lines
should be turned over to
th
company so as to secure one system for the en t i re c it y.
I n o rd er
t o obt ai n p ract ic all y t he s ame r esul t without th
incident
.to
the carrying ou t of the termina l
plan,
it
sho
pos sib le f or t he two compani es t o
enter
into
a l oca l t ransfer
ment, cover ing the
interchange
of passengers inside
the
city
only, and I would s ugge st t ha t
at
the first opportunity
s
agreement
be ins is ted
upon.
IMMEDIATE RELIEF FROM MAIN STREET
CONGES
There
can
be
little
doubt
that
the
step to be tak
ward improving
the
transit conditions in Los Angel es and
is to relieve
the
congest ion of traffic due to the opera
both
interurban
and local sur fa ce car s on Main Street.
40 000 ride rs on b oth systems are del ayed
from
five to fo rt
utes d urin g the rush ho urs each
day
and
as
many mor e
ar e
venienced
during
the non-rush hours, due to the funda
defects of the
t ransportat ion ar rangements a long
Main
Even a part ial l is t of t he se d ef ec ts makes a formidable ca
of possibil it ies for improvements.
At
the
interurban
terminal building of the
Pacific
E
Company at Sixth
and
Main Streets we tind a stub
en
minal
arranged in such a
way
that t he i ncoming track
north
division
of the interurban system i nt er sect s t he ou
track of
the
south di vi sio n. All of the ente ring
and
leaving
contain
curves
directly in front of the
building
upon Main
which car ri es a heavy vehicle and local surface
ca r
traffic
movement of the
cars
in and ou t of t hi s bui ld ing, theref
hampered constantly.
All
interurban
c ars using this te rm in al must wait the
to d is cha rg e and load th eir passengers and no pr ovi sio n ha
made,
by
means
of
storage
trac ks, to s upply
trippers or
to
ta ke the
place
of del ayed
cars.
The loading
arrangeme
no longer
sui tabl e to handl e crowds conveni en tl y
or comfo
In ord er
to
take a car from the terminal waiting-room
on
stand before a close d g ate until hi s car is called, and
schedul e becomes d isar ranged during t he b lo ck ade there
way of telling
when any
particular car is to be expected
quent ly t he
delays
to t he s tand ing pat rons become
exce
t ed ious and
when
the car does come there is a general sc
and contest t o obt ain a seat. The height of the car steps ab
ground level platform make s th e lo ad ing slow and inconv
especially to passeng