The Struggle for Twelfth Street Transit
The Tacoma Railway and Power Company refuses to upgrade infrastructure before street paving, stalling local transit expansion.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The Tacoma Railway and Power Company will not double track Twelfth Street before it is paved. Final notice to that effect was given to the Twelfth Street Improvement Club last night by Manager Dimmock. He had taken the matter up with Stone & Webster at Boston and the head office had turned the proposition down. The club also discussed the West End park, and having secured assurance from the park board that it would secure Franklin Lake and convert it into a park, the organization voted to endorse the bond project.
“The T. R. & P. company will not double track Twelfth street before it is paved.”
The tension between private utility companies and neighborhood improvement groups over infrastructure investment mirrors ongoing debates in Tacoma regarding transit-oriented development and city-led versus private-led improvements. Twelfth Street, now known as South 12th, remains a critical artery for Tacoma’s transit network today.
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