Salt Lake Tribune | 1919-03-09 | Page 31 | History of Highway Building in the U. S.

HISTORY OF HIGHWAY i BUILD1I1G IfJ THE U. 5. i I- i i Facts Regarding Road- y Making Leading Up to a i' National System. ' Good roads were first built by the i. more active and prosperous towns or K townships. The larger centers of popu- latlon grew within their limits. This at- k, tracted the road traffic of adjacent com- r munities. Such traffic did not help build k or maintain the roads It partly destroyed, v This destruction resulted In a demand for county appropriations for road build-ing. build-ing. The moneys were first distributed g among the towns or townships on some p agreed plan, and were spent by them or j? under the Joint authority of county offi- ft" cials. Under these conditions most of f such moneys went into politics, and not -into roads, and there was no uniformity , in construction or care. P As a result of this work, there was : , a reaction in favor of county roads built jjl. and maintained by the county official. Then, and only then, did the bullc of f such appropriations get into roads, and fi there was a beginning of efficiency and , uniformity. But history repeated itself aa between the counLies. The more active and pros- perous built and maintained good roads, fv These were again destroyed by the traf- fic from adjacent counties. This traffic did not help build or care for the roads I it destroyed. There followed a state- Jt wide demand for state appropriations toward road building. Again historv re- peated itself In the form of state aid to v the counties and towns, to be spent by , b them, or under joint authority of the L state officials. And again most of such 4 moneys went into politics, and not Into fe roads, and lack of efficiency and uni- ! E formlty persisted. As a result of this waste, history once . more repeated itself, and there was a de- mand for state highways built and main- If tained by the Rtale under its highway commission. Efficiency and uniformity t were the result, and the moneys went i ft into roads. In those states which -now have their best road systems we find, as the result j of the above experience, a three-fold system, each under the exclusive jurisdic- tion of Its properly constituted authori- s ties. This has produced the largest mile- K age of good roads for' the least expendi- K ture. It has brought efficiency and uni- h formlty out of chaos, and the money has gone into roads. I f The advocates of national highways B therefore claim that such a system, built k and maintained by the national govern-ment, govern-ment, is the only sane and logical course ? to pursue. They claim that this would result in a four-fold system, each under r. the exclusive jurisdiction of its properly F constituted authorities. j f