MODERN CITY ROADWAYS. 



533 



no repairs to speak of, and its condition to-day compares very favor- 

 al)ly with almost any street pavement of eqnal age which has been 

 subjected to similar traffic. 



Another kind of street improvement which must be considered 

 is macadam. In small towns, and some quite large cities, most of 

 the streets are improved in this way. When w^ell maintained and 

 kept smooth, but not too hard, it forms a most agreeable surface 

 for driving. It should not, in the writer's judgment, be classed as a 

 pavement at all, certainly not as a permanent one, and its use should 

 be restricted to park drives and boulevards (for maintaining which 

 liberal appropriations can be secured), and to suburban roads, where 

 sewers and subsurface pipes have not yet been laid, and where tem- 

 porary roads are required to furnish convenient communication 

 between centers of population, and to assist in developing these 

 districts. 



jMacadam has no place in a city street, nor is it wise to lay it on 

 the entire width of a roadw^ay. It best serves its purpose when laid 

 in a comparatively narrow strip, leaving the sides of the road unim- 

 proved, except for the formation of earth gutters, so that the sur- 



Ax Old Cedar Block Pavement. 



face water can readily soak away where the soil is sufficiently 

 porous. 



Macadam is the most expensive of all street surfaces to keep in 

 thoroughly good condition, and in this country it is rarely, if ever, 

 so maintained, except in some of our park roads. 



The pavement which is to-day, more generally than any other, 

 superseding stone on all streets where the traffic is not excessive 



