We think that nowadays the traffic in Bloomington is heavy and that driving is annoying because of delays and interference. I noticed a small article about the upkeep of the IC railroad crossings which happened to gather numbers on Washington Street traffic just east of Clinton.
Traffic was counted on May 27, 28 & 30 and June 3:
Vehicles: 8649
Pedestrians: 6971
Delays: 364
Trains &
Switching movements: 959
The point of the letter written by this anonymous eastsider, who apparently had a great deal of time on his or her hands, was to say that all this traffic was extremely inconvenienced by the shoddy maintenance of the crossing, which was used by trams, cars, buggies, wagons and foot traffic.
What I find amazing is the amount of foot traffic! If only the same proportion of people walked nowadays. Would we have the same problems with obesity, heart disease and diabetes? Of course as they were walking they were breathing the coal dust and automobile fumes (pre catalytic converter fumes!) which would not do their health any good.