oo OPEN COLORADO Bill jCQMMEfiCIAL HIGHWAY I i The reclamation of the Colorado river basin is a project of national inv portancc and in the coming presidential presiden-tial campaign will form no small item ! in the various .party platforms. In view of the fact that this project, means the development of moro than 5.000,000 acres of productive land, it can be readily understood why so much stress was laid upon the development of this area, both from a standpoint of powor production and cultivation, at the annual an-nual convention of the League of the Southwest, which has just concluded its session in Los Angeles this week. With the consummation of the plans for this reclamation one of the most vital featuros necessary to Its success is that of road construction and much I time was spent, in the convention discussing dis-cussing the present system of road 'connections and highway development jas has been outlined, after four years of study by C. H. Bigelow of the Utah state engineering department. Road Routes Studied. Whenever engineering and construction construc-tion problems are to be solved in tho desert waste, the first consideration of the present day engineer is his ability to travel over tho projects by motor vehicle. With this object in view i more than nine years ago the far-see-j ing promoters of the Colorado river project, in considering the greatness of the problem and need of coordination coordina-tion of effort delegated C. H. Bigelow to study the region and to suggest a road system to serve tho ends in view. Out of this investigation grew the -Arrowhead Trail system which I may now be said to generally connect the most important points in this project by transverse sections which, when completed, will make a road sys-( tern forming an outlet fdr the resulting, production of this gigantic undcrtak-J Ing. Two weeks ago Captain Bird of the! Motor Transit company and the White I 'Auto company of southern California was invited to make a reconnaissance! I over the Arrowhead Trail and its con-' nections to the Colorado basin by Gov-: ernor Bamberger of Utah and Mr. Bigelow of the engineering depart-, ment. Captain Bird, equipped with a Stephens scout car, spent ten days in making a final check of the roads in' this region covering the territory fromi both the scenic and Industrial stand-1 points. Open Up Scenic Wonderland. It might be noted in passing that in j connection with this great industrial development these roads put a scenic wonderland within reach of the motor tourist, such as, for instance, the Valley Val-ley of Fire, unique in the world's natural nat-ural display with its red sandstone formation, Zion canyon, a smaller but vivid reproduction of the Grand Can- yon, which is shortly to be dedicated i as a national park, the Cedar Breaks, I and Brycc canyon, an area covered j with gigantic stalagmites, great ero-I ero-I sions and wonderful color effects. I In roturnlng to tho industrial phase development of the Colorado basin, it may be mentioned that the ability of the Arrowhead Trails to carry this great Increase of traffic noted above will be of material assistance in carrying carry-ing out the ground plans of this reclamation recla-mation project. In the reconnaissance of the various Arrowhead branches and lines, to-gether to-gether with the proposed connecting laterals, CapL Bird was able to follow fol-low the most important road conditions condi-tions without any difficulty even : though traveling in advance of the I open season. In outlining the road developments de-velopments that will be of material benefit in the development of the basin, it is well to start at St. George, Utah, which marks the junction point of the Arizona section of the Arrowhead Arrow-head Trail to the main line of this trail between Los Angeles and Salt Lake City. At the last session of the Arizona legislature an appropriation was vot-' vot-' ed for a bridge of the steel cantilever , type approximately 350 feet above the bed of the stream crossing the Colo-i Colo-i rado in Mojave county just west of the 1 point where the river leaves the Grand Gorge and spreads over tho plains area of the Grand Wash. The last link in this road system ,now in the course of construction Jn-, Jn-, eludes the Imperial valley plan of highway construction for which bonds have been voted and which calls for a road from Palo Verde in the Blythe valley to Niland. I