Fighting the Waterfront Trestle
Property owners demand a street crossing, claiming railroad infrastructure is strangling access to the tide flats.
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 need of opening Weller street from South Fifth to South Third street was urged upon the board of public works yesterday by J. F. McNaught and Josiah Collins. They complained that the trestle of the Oregon Improvement Company was so constructed as to make access to their property exceedingly difficult. The owners of property for several blocks had to pay tribute to the Seattle Transfer Company. Commissioner Van Brocklin said it was a problem which the city government would have to grapple with before long. He promised to bring the subject before the advisory board. Meantime the property owners will prepare a petition for the construction of the street on piles where it is needed.
“The owners of property for several blocks had to pay tribute to the Seattle Transfer Company.”
This battle over street access and railroad infrastructure reflects the long-standing tension in Seattle between private freight interests and public street connectivity, a conflict that defined the development of the industrial SODO district.
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