USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Reading > Town of Reading Massachusetts annual report 1924 > Part 7
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West Side, South corner Summer Avenue.
West Side, North corner Hopkins.
West Side, North corner South.
West Side, South of No. 16.
Maple Street
East Side, in front of No. 4.
Middlesex Avenue
South Side, East corner Deering.
Middlesex Avenue Extension North Side, in front of No. 23.
Mill Street
South Side, opposite Pumping Station.
Mineral Street
North Side, East corner Vine. North Side, East corner Hancock. North Side, East corner Summer Avenue.
Minot Street
West Side, in front of No. 52. West Side, South of Warren Avenue. West Side, in front of No. 16.
,
Mt. Vernon Street
North Side, opposite Chute.
Oak Street North Side, West corner Hill Crest Road. North Side, opposite No. 78.
Orange Street
South Side, East corner Belmont.
Park Avenue North Side, opposite No. 24.
102
Parker Street
East Side, near Central Fire Station.
Pearl Street
East Side, South corner Thorndike
East Side, South corner Charles.
East Side, opposite No. 108.
East Side, in front of No. 143. East Side, opposite Forest.
Pierce Street
West Side, South corner Orange.
Pleasant Street
North Side, West corner Middle Pratt Street East Side, North corner Fairview Avenue Prescott Street
North Side, opposite C. H. Bangs Co.'s Shop.
North Side, West corner Arlington
North Side, West corner Washington
North Side, East corner Pratt.
North Side, East corner Perkins Avenue.
Prospect Street
West Side, in front of No. 34. West Side, North corner King. West Side, in front of No. 88.
Salem Street,
North Side, opposite John
North Side, in front of Memorial Park.
South Side, opposite Pearl. North Side, West corner Belmont.
North Side, West corner Bay State Road.
Scotland Road
South Side, opposite No. 21.
South Street
North Side, opposite No. 197. North Side, East corner Curtis. North Side, corner Walnut. East Side, corner South. East Side, West of No. 54.
Summer Avenue West Side, opposite Woodbine West Side, South of No. 103. West Side, opposite No. 130. West Side, North corner Prescott.
West Side, South corner Scotland Road. West Side, North corner Oak.
103
West Side, South of No. 253.
West Side, opposite No. 306. South Side, East corner Hopkins. North Side, West of No. 392. North Side, in front of No. 412.
Temple Street
North Side, opposite No. 38.
Union Street
South Side, West corner Middle.
Village Street
East Side, North corner Green.
Vine Street
South Side, East corner Vine.
Wakefield Street
North Side, East corner of Charles. North Side, East corner of Pearl.
Walnut Street North Side, near Hopkins. North Side, opposite No. 56. North Side, opposite Curtis. North Side, opposite South.
Warren Avenue South Side, opposite No. 15.
Washington Street
North Side, in front of No. 46. North Side, West corner Ash.
West Street West Side, South of No. 22. East Side, South of No. 34.
West Side, North of No. 46.
West Side, opposite Oak.
West Side, South of No. 128.
West Side, South of No. 164.
West Side, opposite King.
West Side, opposite No. 241.
East Side, South of house of Emma S. Knowles.
West Side, opposite house of George P. Abbott.
Willow Street North Side, opposite No. 30. West Side, South corner Summer Avenue.
Winter Street East Side, North corner Salem.
Winthrop Avenue East Side, South corner Weston Road.
104
Woburn Street
North Side, at Common.
North Side, East corner Sanborn.
North Side, West corner Linden.
North Side, East corner Chute.
North Side, East corner Washington.
North Side, East corner Temple.
North Side, opposite Pratt.
North Side, East corner Summer Avenue.
North Side, West corner Prospect.
North Side, West corner Berkeley.
Woodward Avenue
North Side, West corner Vale Road.
Private Hydrants
Ash Street
Reading Rubber Mfg. Co.
2 south of mill.
3 north of mill.
1 east of boiler house.
Sanford Mills
2 north of mill.
1 east of mill. 2 south of mill.
O. P. Symonds & Sons
1 west of mill.
John Street
Boston Stove Foundry 1 near office. 1 near water tank.
1
105
HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT
To the Board of Public Works:
Gentlemen :- The following is the yearly report of the Highway Dept .:
Appropriations and Balances:
1. Voted in March Town Meeting for Highway Maintenance $50,000.00
2. Removal of Snow and Ice 4,000.00
3. Cleaning Drainage Ditches 3,000.00
4. Balance to be spent on Survey and Plans for Special Drainage System 1,000.00
5. Balance to be spent on Sidewalk No. Main St. 175.06
6. Balance to be spent on Forest St. 307.54
7. Balance to be spent on South St.
538.08
8. Voted in March Town Meeting for construction High Street Drain 20,000.00
9. Voted in March Town Meeting for the establishment of of Building Lines 2,500.00
Total $81 520.68
Expenditures and Balance of the Above Appropriations:
1. Appropriation for Highway Maintenance .. $50,000.00
2. Credit received from Employers' Liability Co. 98.29
Total
$50,098.29
Pay Roll Distribution :
1. General $ 4,223.36
2. Maintenance 6,378.65
3. Catch Basins 378.75
4. Gutters
669.48
5. Drains and Culverts
587.90
6. K. P. Patching
1,323.19
7. Repairs to Equipment
726.14
8. Shop
323.65
9. Burning Leaves 119.72
10. Crushing Stone
58.88
11. Cutting Brush
741.42
12. Sidewalks
83.97
13. Sand Pit 68.24
14. Gravel Pit 16.78
15. Miscellaneous 213.90
$15,914.03
of
106
Purchases :
1. General Repairs $ 2,369.37
2. Tools and Supplies 918.63
3. Oil and Gasoline 894.71
4. 45% Asphalt Oil 1,359.79
5. Signs 32.00
6. Auto Registration
12.00
7. Tarvia B.
14,780.58
8. Tarvia X
3,383.50
9. Tarvia K. P. 518.71
10. Crush Stone
3,145.03
11. Hauling Stone
185.46
12. Freight and Express
265.04
13. Sidewalk Construction
1,477.79
14 Municipal Light Dept.
50.63
15. Telephone
61.56
16. Printing
3.38
17. Drain Construction
593.09
18. Coal
300.02
19. Gravel Pit
108.50
20. Constructing Curbing
767.25
21. Office Supplies
58.97
22. Hauling Gravel
1,799.50
23. Miscellaneous
1,163.15
Total
$49,904.79
Balance unexpended
$ 193.50
2. Appropriation for the removal of
Snow and Ice
$ 4,000.00
Expended :
1. Pay Roll $ 2,643.23
2. Cost of Snow Plowing 945.50
3. Repairs to Equipment 599.72
4. Gasoline 145.22
5. State Snow Plowing 268.73
6. Freight and Express
33.61
7. Tools and Supplies 101.84
Total
$ 4,737.85
-
Balance unexpended
$ 737.85
107
3. Appropriation for Cleaning Drain- age Ditches
$ 3,000.00
Expended :
1. Pay Roll $ 710.43
2. Supplies 2,133.72
Total
$ 2,844.15
Balance unexpended
$ 155.85
4. Appropriation for Survey and Plans for Special Drainage
$ 1,000.00
Expended :
1. No expenditures in 1924 ..
$ 000.00
Balance unexpended
$ 1,000.00
5. Balance to be spent on sidewalk No. Main Street
$ 175.06
1. No expenditures in 1924 . .
$ 000.00
Balance unexpended $ 175.06
$ 307.54
6. Balance to be spent on Forest St.
Expended :
1. Pay Roll $ 124.12
2. Freight and Cinders 173.42
3. Miscellaneous 10.00
Total
$ 307.54
Balance unexpended
$ 000.00
7. Balance to be spent on South St. $ 538.08
Expended :
1. Pay Roll $ 371.46
2. Bills 70.24
Total
$ 441.70
Balance unexpended
$ 96.38
8. Appropriation for High St. Drain $20,000.00
Expended :
1. Pay Roll $ 1,095.11
2. Engineering 1,365.36
(
108
3. Contractor
14,577.62
4. Freight and Express 12.28
5. Miscellaneous 2,949.63
Total
$20,000.00
Balance unexpended
$ 000.00
9. Appropriation for Building Lines
Expended :
1. Engineering
$ 1,592.52
2. Plans
86.35
3. Miscellaneous 1.25
Total
$ 1,680.12
Balance unexpended
$ 819.88
Totals
Items
Appropriations Expenditures
Balance
Balance Carried Forward to 1925
1.
$50,098.29
$49,904.79
$ 193.50
$
2.
4,000.00
4,737.85
737.85
3.
3,000.00
2,844.15
155.85
4.
1,000.00
1,000.00
$1,000.00
5.
175.06
175.06
175.06
6.
307.54
307.54
000.00
7.
538.08
441.70
96.38
96.38
8.
20,000.00
20,000.00
00.00
9.
2,500.00
1,680.12
819.88
819.88
Totals
$81,618.97
$79,916.15
$1,702.82
$2,091.32
$ 2,500.00
The details of economic highway design are everywhere a local problem depending on the available materials, climatic conditions, and traffic requirements. Where funds are unlimited, the problem of good road construction is comparatively easy, and one which is strictly technical. Where funds are limited, however, the solution is more difficult, for one has to accomplish the same ultimate aim by the process of veneering. The latter, to a large degree, is the case of the Town of Reading, in road maintenance and construction, for the Board of Public Works has not had sufficient funds to construct what we term finished roads. Realizing that the tax payers deserve to have their money spent with care, the main design of the Board this past year has been to obtain the greatest mileage of passable roads from the
109
available funds, or stating it differently, to render as much serviceable and good road mileage as possible, well drained and for a reasonable expenditure, in keeping with the taxable resources of the Town, thus accomplishing the greatest good to the greatest number. Whether the Department has obtained this end, it is not for the Superintenedent of Public Works to say, but the following report will give one an idea of the work which has been done by the Highway Department.
The lack of proper equipment to free the roads from snow, made it necessary often times for the Department to start ploughing from 4 to 5 A. M. and continuing till 9 or 10 P. M. The work was arranged so as to avoid any waste of time, the tractors and road ploughs going continuously through the noon hour, and even so there was much dis- satisfaction expressed through telephone calls at the office and at the homes of Mr. Crowe and the Superintendent. When the men were not needed in the above work they were occupied in the overhauling and painting of the maintenance equipment, the mending of sidewalk ploughs, the bushing out of outlying streets, the cleaning of catch basins, ditches and culverts, patching of road surfaces broken by the rasping of tire chains, painting of street signs, etc. The above kept the Department busy during the first three months of the year.
Records show that during the month of April the snow equipment was put aside and the cleaning of gutters, constant K. P. patching, the dragging of outlying streets, and the filling in of mud holes was the program of the Department. The Square got in such a condition that it was found necessary on April 24, to scarify and apply Tarvia B to make it passable. The above date began our season's work.
As the roads were not thoroughly dried out at this time and as the bituminous macadam was found to be breaking up on Lowell Street by the Cemetery, as well as near the junction of Grove Street, this work was then taken up and the street was repaired at these two places. The amount of material used in the above work was 3350 gallons of Tarvia X and 183.75 tons of stone, which covered an area of approximately 1488 sq. yds, at a cost of $.30 per sq. yd.
After the completion of the above, general maintenance work was started by the Department. This year the Board used only two grades of road dressing: 45% asphalt oil and Tarvia B. It is interesting to note that the aggregate of this year's materials on the maintenance work exceeds last year's by 1,098 gallons. Also that 37,395 gallons of Tarvia were applied over the amount used this year. The amounts used this year are : 17,268 gallons of 45% asphalt oil and 117,870 gallons of Tarvia B. It took 707 loads of sand to cover the Tarvia B, the approximate weight of which would be 2,960 tons. The above application covered an approximate area of 540,552 square yards, at an average of a gallon ap- plied to every 4 square yards. It is interesting to note that 13% greater area was covered this year than last, and 110% more than during the year 1922. To give a clearer idea of the amount of road surface cov-
110
ered with the quantity of Tarvia and oil which we used this year, one might say that it would cover a 40-foot street 38.39 miles long with a road bed of 24 feet, 5 feet on each side used as a sidewalk and 3 feet for tree lawns.
It might be interesting to note that in the above maintenance work, Village Street and Parker Street were brought up to the proper grade by the hauling of some 844.5 cubic yards of coarse gravel before the 45% asphalt oil and Tarvia B were applied. Our Department trucks being busy on more necessary work, the hauling of the gravel was let out by contract and T. Quigley, of Winchester, Mass., was given this work to do. It took approximately 18 days of hauling in 5-ton trucks to complete the work.
The above application by no means covered all the streets in Town. The section north of Salem Street from Harrison Street to Winter Street, and south of Salem from John Street to Manning Street, did not receive attention by the Department this year. Auburn Street, Locust Street, Bancroft Avenue, north of Lowell, Beacon Street, and sections of others scattered about Town likewise did not get touched by the Department. To cover all the street area that one should an application of about 145,000 gallons of Tarvia B and 25,000 gallons of 45% asphalt oil would be required. The added length of time to do this work would add approximately three weeks of maintenance work to the highway pro- gram. The lack, both of sufficient appropriation and of time, was the cause of the above not being attended to, for beginning with the first of September, Salem Street from Pearl Street to the Town line of Wakefield, got into dangerous condition due to the breaking away of the shoulders on both sides. High Street also, between Haven and Woburn Streets, was becoming impassable and to have continued with the general maintenance work would have necessitated leaving High Street untouched.
There can be no economy in endeavoring to save money at the expense of maintenance. Take for example two roads equal in value for travel and construction. One is maintained and kept in repair by a small crew of men working periodically. The other is left un- repaired. The result is, the one maintained has stood up and is in just as good condition today as it was when first opened for traffic. The other road has so deteriorated as to be in need of entire resurfacing. It can be seen that the economical road is the one on which funds were spent for maintenance, and the more costly road, the one which was built and then so to speak, forgotten. The same holds true in relation to resurfacing the roads with material each year; for those streets, upon which no work was done this year, will require in proportion more work next year.
The question now arises, as it often does during the year, by those interested in our highways, why not build an ultimate road, one which we might forget. Here I might say that we do not know what the ulti-
111
mate road will be and we do know that the cost would be prohibitive. With a certain appropriation for road building and maintenance, one must make a general study of conditions and use that fund so as best to meet the needs of the most people. If the Board started to build an expensive concrete road with the funds that would carry it only a short distance, with an expensive but small addition each year, they would soon meet with decided opposition.
The building out of the shoulders of Salem Street turned out to be more of a job than was contemplated. Certain sections of the street had to be entirely rebuilt and it required careful management to do this work and allow the traffic to pass at the same time. Fourteen hun- dred and eighty-five tons of different grades of stone were used, with : 19,920 gallons of X. The area covered is approximately 11,382 sq. yds. at a cost of approximately $.50 per sq. yd. It might be said that this work extended on Salem Street, from Pearl Street, to the Town line.
As another piece of repair work Mineral Street hill, from near the junction of High Street to Mineral Street bridge, was laid down with bituminous macadam. Due to the constant washing, stones pro- truded in such a way as to make it dangerous, and realizing that the only suitable treatment was macadamizing, the Board instructed this work to be done. The materials used for this work were 345.40 tons of different grades of stone, and 4,000 gallons of Tarvia X. The area cov- ered was approximately 1,777 sq. yds. at a cost of $.81 per sq. yd.
The laying down of High Street with bituminous macadam, from Woburn Street crossing to the junction of Haven Street, smoothed up one of the worst pieces of heavily traveled roads that we had in Town. It was impracticable to do this work previous to this year, for the in- lets to the old drain, which was under the north sidewalk, varied so in clevation, that to obtain a smooth grade was impossible. The construction of the 36-inch tile block drain, with catch basins set at the proper ele- vation, made it possible to do away with the old inlets and to obtain a grade suitable for the street. The work was so carried on as to let traffic through during the process of construction. The materials used for this work were: 430.10 tons of different grades of stone and 8,670 gallons of Tarvia X. The area covered was approximately 3,152 sq. vds. at a cost of $.86 per sq. yd.
In order to avoid having to keep certain highways partly shut-off over week ends through the construction of water and sewer connections, or. Saturday mornings the Water and Sewer Department men were kept busy on cleaning drainage ditches. It was found necessary to totally je-ditch the waterway on the left of North Main Street opposite Mr. Nesmith's property, same having entirely grown in with weeds and witch grass. Attention was also given to the open ditches in the back of the Reading Rubber Co., the ditch that runs between Main Street, Prescott Street and Woburn Street, and also at the junction of Summer Avenue, West and Willow Streets. To tabluate them all is not necessary,
112
but as much time as possible was put into this work. On account of the side walls of the old stone catch basins falling in, which made a dan- gerous condition, three were rebuilt of the proper size and depth at ihe following places: West corner of Minot and Park Avenue, junction of Minot and Washington Streets, and at the Southwest corner of Kenney's Garage on South Main Street. The old tile connections to the above rebuilt catch basins, being very near to the surface of the street, lad caved in, due to heavy trucking, and they were replaced by expanded metal connections. The side walls of the old stone culvert on South Street, 300 feet in from West Street, having gradually fallen in, finally blocked off the passage of the waterway and caused the flooding of a considerable amount of back area. At this location, too, a 36-inch expanded metal culvert was substituted. In order to haul sand out of the sand pit, the culvert under the roadway was likewise fixed with the same material. Several others were attended to in like manner about Town. A new catch basin and an inspection man-hole were constructed on Deering Street to take care of the surface water and the maintenance of the drain running along Harriman Avenue. The latter was cleaned and flushed this past year.
The Town raised and appropriated, through Article 19 of the March town meeting, $20,000.00 for the construction of a surface water drain, extending from the open ditch at Washington Street crossing up High Street to the intersection of the west side line of Woburn Street. The reason for constructing this drain was that a great deal of the Town surface water was flowing on the Boston & Maine property. The old stone culvert under High Street sidewalk, which was the outlet of the above, was in very poor condition from being filled up, thus causing a dangerous backing up of the water on the railroad. The side walls were also loose, allowing water to filter through into basements along High Street, and to repair it would be practically the cost of a new one, and in a short period of time it would again become unfit for use.
The construction of the proposed drain (which was built in ac- cordance with the plans submitted by F. A. Barbour, who has recently handed to the Board a design of the Drainage System of Reading), takes care of the water shed area which extends from Washington Street Cross- ing up High Street, Vine, Mineral, High, back to Middlesex Avenue, down Middlesex Avenue to Lowell, Lowell to Sanborn, Haven Street, 7-8 of Gou!d and Green Streets. The contract, which was awarded to Antony Cefalo, cne of the fifteen who bid on the work, did not take in the entire area described above, but that area along High Street, with catelı basin connections on Green, Haven, Chute and Woburn Streets. The old flag-stone culvert on Washington Street Crossing was replaced by one of reinforced concrete of proper size and capacity. The contractors were allowed to bid on either reinforced concrete pipe, reinforced concrete section, or a vitrified tile block section. The latter by the bids was the lowest, which ranged from $13,000.00 to $22,000.00. Although its
113
construction was apparently new in this immediate vicinity, it had been extensively used in the West for such purposes and proved to be. very satisfactory, so the Board of Public Works sanctioned the construction with this material.
Two hundred thirty-eight and seventy-five hundredths (238.75) tons of different grades of stone have been used in patching about Town this year. It is an increase of one hundred seventeen and thirty-five hun- dredths (117.35) tons over last year. Approximately one hundred and fifty tons of stone dust have been hauled and spread on sidewalks.
In accordance with the general custom, the Board of Public Works advertised in The Reading Chronicle that the Highway Department would construct sidewalks during the latter part of the year, half the cost to be paid by the abutters. Five applications were received. The Board, realizing that certain repairs on sidewalks about Town were also necessary, let this work out by contract, since the Highway Department had all that they could attend to. The contract was awarded to Johr. F. McDonough of Andover. Nineteen hundred eighty-three and sixty- rine hundredths square yards were laid in different sections about Town. Although the area covered exceeded last year's by five hundred twenty- three and sixty-nine hundredths sq. yds., this work had to be called off due to shortage of funds.
As there was no curbing along the edge of the sidewalk in front of Dr. Brown's property on Harnden Street, and the sidewalk was from ten to fourteen inches above the gutter in a jagged and dangerous: condition, the Board authorized the construction of a concrete edge: stone to be installed. One hundred and forty-five feet of reinforced. curbing was built and is proving to be very satisfactory indeed.
To some extent, the gravel bank on Mishawum Road, Woburn, has been used to build up on different streets the old road surfaces which were badly worn. Other work was performed, of less importance, such as hauling coal, lime and alumina to the Pumping Station, moving elec- tion booths, etc., and a table at the end of this report will give the total! amount spent on each street this past year, itemizing the account into, different kinds of work, and the miscellaneous expenditures, the totall of which shows the distribution of the Highway appropriation for the year.
Beside laying out a carefully prepared program for road dragging, oiling, applying tarvia, and permanent construction of our Highways similar to the lines pursued during the past four years, a further devel- opment of our drainage system should be considered. The storm on September 10th, which registered the heaviest rainfall on record, 4.84 inches in twelve hours, produced troublesome conditions about Town too numerous to tabulate.
These troubles, as we all know, are due to the inadequate drainage system. The construction of our Highway program makes it imperative that along with it our drainage system be developed, for whereas the
114
old drains would take care of the water (previous to the present Highway work) they are now too few in number, too small in size, and, until conditions are revised, drainage damage to property will continue. It is the sincerest wish of the Superintendent that the townspeople of Reading support the Board of Public Works in whatever undertaking they might decide upon to further the development of our drainage system. The importance of this work cannot be too strongly impressed upon the minds of the citizens, for such development will be the foun - dation of better roads, better living conditions and better health.
A concrete curbing should be laid on the South side of High Street, from the junction of Vine up High to about opposite Dudley Street, to prevent surface water from running on private property.
The old autocar chassis should be turned in this year. It is now four years old and thoroughly worn out.
The roof of the Highway Barn should be reshingled and it would materially help in the general upkeep of our various kinds of work to add a band-saw to our repair maintenance kit.
Although a good many street signs have been replaced by new ones this past year many still are in poor condition. A standard post set in concrete at all street intersections should be erected, with proper signs placed thereon, whenever such an expenditure seems warranted in view of other pressing needs.
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