Show 1 Better Main Man Hig Highways w ys Needed tf IE state road commission comm ion is embarking embarking on ona onY Y j a needed much-needed program of highway im improvement improvement Improvement Im- Im im- im provement in Utah Immediate step in the program pro pro- L I gram is the scheduled expenditure of for widening and straightening portions of the states state's major arterial U. U S. S 91 There is real rea need in Utah for such a prof program program pro- pro f gram of improvement of existing highways rather than construction of new ones I 4 f In the last 10 years the state has spent a f total of almost including federal aid on its highways The net result has been a i great deal of valuable and ne necessary essary highway 1 r construction and paving But in the process there has been some neglect negle t of the trav min roads while secondary highways were built or or put in better condition It is well that now greater emphasis be placed on improving our major arterial highways highways highways high high- ways to put them on a par with connecting roads in other states The southern half of U. U S. S 91 in the state connecting as the main thoro thoroughfare through Nevada to southern California is one of the arterials where the disparity between the Utah highway and the highway in Nevada and California California Cali Call fornia is very noticeable On the Utah side of the line the highway is in many cases very poor It is often too narrow with edges so broken down that there is frequently not sufficient sufficient sufficient suf suf- room for cars to pass safely and with the center stripe often badly in need of re re- re painting Another serious deficiency in Utah's highway highway highway high high- way system is a lack of sufficient multiple-lane multiple highways This is particularly true on the heavily trav heavily led s section of U. U S. S 91 from Brigham Brigham Brig Brig- rig rig- ham to Spanish Fork There are other smaller stretches of neck bottle-neck highway which should for the sake of safety and relief of congestion congestion congestion tion be widened into three- three or lane four-lane roads The Telegram re recognizes that the road com commission commission com coni- mission has been faced with a a difficult task in constructing good highways through sparsely- sparsely settled Utah with limited funds We also recognize recognize recognize nize that political expediency the expediency the pressure of small communities for good highways even though they may not be traveled heavily arteries ar ar- ar- ar teries has teries-has has made it difficult to concentrate expenditure expenditure ex ex- of highway moneys on the major arterials However Utah now has a pretty good system of primary and secondary highways and it should be possible in the future to concentrate effort and expenditure on those heavily trav roads where each dollar spent will pay biggest biggest biggest big big- gest dividends in highway safety and tourist pleasure and approval |