392 On the Construction of Highways with reference to 



by the sidewalk from putting their heads through the win- 

 dows. Hence, even in our smaller country villages, the in- 

 habitants are excessively annoyed by dust from the streets, 

 and suffer many of those inconveniences which are tolerated 

 because they cannot be avoided in the city. The advocates 

 for the present system would say that the first cost of build- 

 ing wider streets would be greater, and more expense would 

 be annually required to keep them in repair. That the first 

 cost would be greater is admitted ; but the expense of repair- 

 ing a wider street would not be increased, unless its greater 

 width increased the amount of travelling. 



The most of our cross-roads are laid out by speculators in 

 real estate ; and in many cases, in the centre of a village a 

 greater width might be impracticable by too greatly reducing 

 the size of tlie building lots. But whenever a wide street 

 could be conveniently made, a speculator might obtain some 

 advantage from it, by the consequent greater value of the 

 lots adjoining it, compared with those adjoining a narrow 

 one. There are but few men who would not pay more for 

 a quarter of an acre of land, on a wide street, with a wide 

 sidewalk between their enclosures and its dusty centre, than 

 they would give for the same quantity of land in a narrow 

 street, with a sidewalk only three or four feet wide. 



What improvements ought then to be made in the con- 

 struction of our highways ? When a street is already laid 

 out of the common width, and does not admit of being 

 widened, the evil, in many situations, might be remedied, by 

 locating the houses a proportional greater distance from its 

 bounds. The dwellings, in this case, would be less exposed 

 to the dust, and the shade trees would have more room to 

 expand in all directions. How often do we see a row of noble 

 trees divested of nearly all their branches on the inner side, 

 because the house is too near them. Their symmetry is de- 

 stroyed, and many inconveniences are suffered by the close 

 proximity of the trees to the house. Shade trees ought to 

 be far enough from one's windows to be seen in their full 

 proportions by the occupants, that they may have the pleas- 

 ure of viewing them, as well as of enjoying their shade. 



