OCR Text |
Show for the road commission's general office administration. The tax rate per gallon, originally two and one-half one-half cents, was increased to three and one-half cents in 1925 and four cents in 1931. In 1923 the rates for motor vehicle registration fees were cut approximately in halt, and receipts therefrom and from the gasoline (motor fuel) tax were used jointly in paying fixed charges upon State road bonds until 1930. when due to increase in number of motor vehicles rather than in rates the receipts in the motor vehicle registration fund became sufficient for the purpose. In 1923 a biennial bien-nial appropriation from the motor vehicle registration fund in the amount of $50,000 was made for the administration expenses of the road commission and in the amount of 1181,000 for a revolving fund In financing Federal-aid projects, which is still in use. In 1925 a mileage tax was levied upon use of the roads by common and contract carriers, the net proceeds pro-ceeds whereof were payable to the State road fund. The revenue therefrom there-from was small, the cost of administration ad-ministration excessively high and after some amendments which materially ma-terially reduced the tax base the law was finally reDealed In. 1937. (To be continued) History of the State Road Commission of Utah 1909 . 1939 By H. V. RICHARDS, Statistical Engineer (Continuation) The 1921 legislature found the State heavily obligated for construction con-struction contracts and the proceeds pro-ceeds from the 1919 bond issue nearly exhausted. Also it was found that although more than $3,-000,000 $3,-000,000 had been apportioned to the State from Federal-aid funds subsequent sub-sequent to 1916, only some $200,000 thereof had been paid into the State treasury, and that there was some danger that the greater part of these apportionments would lapse. In consequence another bond issue was authorized, the last to date, in the amount of $1,000,000 of the same type as the preceding Issues and serviced, like the issues of 1917 and 1919, from the motor vehicle registration fund. The same general authorization was also made as to expenditure. The newly created appointive form of commission was authorized to pay Its administrative and contingent expenses from the State road fund. A memorial to Congress urged the enactment of pending Federal legislation leg-islation which would reduce the proportionate contributing amounts required of the public land StateB In Federal-aid construction, and also grant an extension of time for absorption of Federal apportionments. apportion-ments. These, and other beneficial changes In the Federal statute, of vital Importance to Utah and other Western States, were accomplished accom-plished by the amendment approved November 11, 1921, known as the , Federal Highway Act. Under its provisions the ratio of Federal participation in Utah projects costing cost-ing not to exceed $40,000 per mile was increased from 50 percent to 74 percent. The amendment provided pro-vided also for the designation of a correlated system of Interstate highways and for the improvement thereof as a definite objective in Federal-State cooperation. The limiting Federal-aid mileage in Utah, originally fixed as 1684 miles, or seven percent of the mileage of j public highways, has been in-I in-I creased through operation of Federal Fed-eral laws to 2316 miles as of June 30, 1940. The road commission's biennial report for 1921-22, while reciting the notable benefits accruing from the new Federal law was especially especial-ly concerned with the Inadequacies of State financing In that the bond issue was entirely absorbed in liquidating the indebtedness which the new commission had inherited, there were no other State funds available for highway purposes from legislative appropriations, and the system of financing construction construc-tion and maintenance through county appropriations for Stats road purposes rendered the prosecution pro-secution of a balanced and comprehensive com-prehensive program impossible. Nevertheless, credit is due the counties for their- generous response re-sponse to the pleas of the State in a time of emergency. During the blennlum of 1921-22 the counties contributed through taxation and bond issues the sum of $2,567,594, by far the largest appropriation from this source in the state's history. his-tory. As a means of relieving the counties, in part, from a burden unduly heavy and of furnishing the commission with ffmds for Statewide State-wide use, the legislature of 1923 enacted a gasoline tax law, marking mark-ing what is undoubtedly the most important milestone in the history of State laws relating to the financing financ-ing of the State highways. Less priority for costs of administration of the act by the secretary of state, and the use, with other available funds, for paying the fixed charges on the State road bond issues, the proceeds were paid into the State highway fund for unrestricted use by the commission, except as to limiting appropriations therefrom about the time when standards in design were materially raised in order to serve more adequately the augmented weight and speed of traffic; to instance highway widths only, multiple lanes are being more extensively used, but where only two lnnes are constructed, the old 18-foot standard has been increased to 22-foot width surface on main highways, with four to eight foot shoulders and 20-foot surface width on lesser roads except that 18 feet is the width of surface on roads bearing the lightest travel. Thus the maximum standard of a few years ago has become the minimum in the design established for modernization. Research Studies ' Prior to the planning survey studies begun in 1936, traffic surveys sur-veys were made by the commission In 1915, 1925, 1927, 1930, and 1934. The records of the survey of 1915 are lost except for a brief description descrip-tion in the commission's third biennial bien-nial report with samples of forms used and the data thereon. Summarized Sum-marized data for the subsequent surveys are published in the biennial bien-nial reports except the record for the 1934 survey, which was not published. Full detail of the 1930 survey, with analysis and forecasts fore-casts is published in a report oi the Bureau of Public Roads, entitled en-titled "Report of a Survey of Traffic Traf-fic on the Federal-aid Highway Systems of Eleven "Western States." A set of traffic flow accompanying the report ns a supplement is published pub-lished separately. The traffic sur veys have been useful in determining determin-ing priority in construction programs pro-grams and the type of construction. Highway accident records have ; been kept during the past six years and have aided materially the program pro-gram of highway safety. Research by the materials department de-partment has Included both original orig-inal investigations and the checking check-ing of the work of other agencies. The work has included investigations investiga-tions of native rock asphalts, asphaltic oils, and oil-gravel mixes, construction method i n laying Portland cement concrete pavement, pave-ment, and freezing and thawing tests In connection with these pavements pave-ments to determine if possible the cause and cure of scaling; tests ol road-marking paint; and now under way Is a program of soil investigation. investiga-tion. All of this work results in or is Intended to produce improvement improve-ment in materials and in construction con-struction or maintenance methods. For the road commission's general office administration. The tax rate |