Salt Lake Tribune | 1917-12-30 | Page 71 | Millions Spent on Idaho Good Roads

MILLIONS SPENT 01 ill GOOO ROADS State Highway Commission Supervises Expenditure for Many Improvements. PLANNING FOR FUTURE! North and South Connection Most Important of All Tasks to Be Finished. Fully $2,000,000 was spent on good roads in Idaho during the past twelve months, half of which went into the construction of state highways in the system inaugurated by the state highway high-way commission, while counties and highway districts voted to issue Jl.aPO.OOO in bonds to assist in the work. The highway commission did not spend as much in construction of new highways as had been planned owing to the heavy cost of maintenance of the dirt roads that had been built. To reduce this the commission adopted a policy that all fu-I fu-I ture road contracts let will call for the gravel surfacing of highways within the state system. It is realized that northern and southern south-ern Idaho, in order, to maintain closer relationship and have more common issues, is-sues, must be brought, together by a connecting linlt of more direct communication, communi-cation, and for that reason the commission commis-sion has declared that the most important impor-tant project before It is to build the north and south highway from Weiser north to Lewiston. The present road is unserviceable. To build and maintain a road ' that will bear heavy travel v, ill cost fully $2,000,000. Expenditures Planned. A north and south highway contract has been let from Weiser, north through Midvale and Council as far as Tamarack, a distance of twenty miles of which has been completed, while all bridges have been installed. A total of 5130,000 will be spent in construction work in Washington Wash-ington countv alone. In Adams county a contract has been let for $120,000, work to start next spring. From Now Meadows Mead-ows north to Grangeville federal funds will construct the highway and contracts for this work will be let this winter. The estimated cost of this stretch of road for a distance of seventy miles, taking the highway as far as Whitebircl, is $750,000. Ten miles of the highway has been built out of L,ewiston to the top of the plateau elevation and surfaced, at a cost of $100,000. In the extreme southeastern part of the state a contract has been let for- the building of part of the state highway system from Virginia to Oxford. Half of this $50,000 contract has been completed. Work was finished In Madison county on the Yellowstone park highway, a distance of twentv miles, which was gravel surfaced. sur-faced. The state highway from the Utah line north to Ashton is now in excellent shape. From Ashton on to Yellowstone station, a distance of fifty-six miles, no work 1ms as yet been done. The road has been located, federal surveyors having worked on It during the year. Work will from Mackay to the Montana line via Challis has been located together with the Lost River and Sawtooth park highways. These are federal aid roads. ContrdVts for the work jjill be let before winter is over. Grading Cost $200,000. 1 On the Idaho-Pacific highway, running east and west across the southern part of the state, grading was finished through Cassia county, a. distance of fifty-eight miles, at a cost of $'OH,noo. The Buhl highwav district voted 5 f 00.000 for work on the highway and the Mountain Home district voted ?loo,000 bonds for the completion com-pletion of twenty-three miles of highway. Tn Washington county, between Payette and Weiser. seven miles of highway was gravel surfaced at a cost of $10,000. On the Sawtooth park highway a contract was let for gravel surfacing sixteen miles of the road from Shoshone to Richfield at a cost of $30.1100. The following good road bond issues were authorized' dunnc the year: By the state of Idaho, through tho lfcislature. $l,ooo.oo0: Bonner county, ?2u0.000: Coeur d'Alene hichwav district. $t;.",onO; Lapwai I vallev hiehway disirivt. ?ir.0.ni0; Wiiiic-; Wiiiic-; bird 'highway district. S.'.o.oun; Adams I county. S oo.oon; Washington county, I 50ti,ooo; Mountain Home highway district. dis-trict. $10m.00(; -Ruhl hirlmav district, 5 00. ono; Ruiicy highway distri.-t. Slon.oOO; Custer county, SI oo.ooo'; Lemhi county, ? ISO. ooo. Of the ?1 .ooo.ood bond isue a uthorized bv" the legislaiure there is SO.nOn left, $r:,i0.0O0 bavin:; been spirit this year. A bid was accepted for S.iOO.Ooo worth of the bonds and an additional s 400,000 block was advertised. Owing 10 thp fact, the bonded indebtedness of thf state is limited to $2,000,000 jt. was necessary to divide the bond issue into block? and dispose dis-pose of it . The stale chanced its hichway engineer toward the close of the year. K. M. Eootli resicninc to enlist with the army engineers, engi-neers, and H. C. Allen of Wallace suc-ooodinsj suc-ooodinsj him.