Tacoma Looks to Seattle for Paving Lessons
Tacoma city officials plan a trip to Seattle to study paving techniques, hoping to resolve a long-standing dispute over the condition of Pacific Avenue.
Tomorrow the mayor, board of public works, city engineer and city attorney will go on the Flyer to Seattle to inspect the paving of Lake street with a view to adopting a similar plan here on Pacific avenue. It is proposed to have district paving bonds issued for the work, instead of proceeding under the old system of collecting assessments for the work immediately. The question of paving Pacific avenue is the chief topic before the city government at the present time. The property owners are and have been so divided on the subject of the style of pavement to be adopted and are so fearful of being heavily assessed that the street is in a disgraceful condition.
“The property owners are and have been so divided on the subject of the style of pavement to be adopted and are so fearful of being heavily assessed that the street is in a disgraceful condition.”
The struggle to fund and maintain public infrastructure through bond measures versus direct assessments is a civic debate that persists in Washington cities today. The 'disgraceful condition' of Pacific Avenue in 1895 highlights how early urban development was often stalled by the same political and financial friction we see in modern municipal projects.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.