The Street Fight Over Seattle's Tide Flats

There is no more important business before the city council than the matter of deciding whether or not any streets across the tide flats shall be vacated and, if any shall be, which of them. It is a subject of so much importance that deliberation is desirable, but a mere failure to take any action is not deliberation.

The city some years ago extended its upland streets over the tide lands for the purpose of enabling manufactories to be established free from the fear of having to be removed by subsequent platting. The tide land appraisers, in laying out a plat for the tide lands, have disregarded those lines in many instances. The result is that the owners of factories are harassed by having two inconsistent lines of streets; and some of those in the appraiser's plat cut through buildings already erected. If it proves to be for the best interests of the city, those buildings must be removed, but the uncertainty is working an entirely unnecessary hardship.

The difficulty confronting the council may be illustrated by the case of Depot street. Between the outer lines of that street as produced the Lake Union sewer tunnel runs, and it seems out of the question that the city should abandon that street and accept the street outlined by the tide land appraisers. This, however, is an exceptional case, and it will probably need legislative action to adjust the matter.

No such obstacle stands in the way of determining the lines of most of the streets south of Yesler avenue. The only difficulty in the way is the impossibility of having all streets continued directly eastward from the upland lines. But while that method would look more symmetrical on paper it is not a necessity in the interest of traffic. A wide avenue is to run north and south, so that there will be ample room to make the crossing diagonally. Moreover, there is more safety in crossing railroad tracks in that way than directly.

There are good reasons, too, why some of the intermediate streets should be vacated. Retention of the streets laid out by the city and also those laid out by the appraisers will make it impossible to have at any one place sufficient wharf frontage for large vessels or even for the construction of docks with enough adjacent space on which to lay down spurs and erect buildings.

Several important additions to the manufacturing industries of Seattle are awaiting settlement of these questions and the city council should lose no time. Petitions have been presented to the council that the inconsistencies be adjusted, but they have been relegated to committees which need, it seems, spurring up to prompter action. The great need of Seattle is the establishment of industries in which labor can be employed, and as everything points to an early resumption of activity in all lines of manufacture every inducement should be held out by the fixed determination of questions affecting title to available sites.