Show Highway Dollar Worth 50 SO Cents Some handwriting was painted on the wall for Utah motorists motor motor- at the meeting in Salt Lake City of the Western Association of State Highway Officials Many speakers emphasized that prese present t plans for new highway construction were being seriously h hampered by shortages of materials and inflated costs of construction P. P G. G Helena president of the association declared that the value of the dollar in highway construction had bad fallen to 50 cents Participants in a panel discussion agreed that appropriations appropriations for highway purposes would have to b be increased if the needed program of road building was to be carried out If this inflation of construction costs holds it simply means higher taxes on the motorist in the future unless he is willing to accept lower highway standards standards and and in view of the present insistent demands of motorists for highway improvements it ft does not seem likely vehicle owners will accept any lower standards Another Another- import important nt point in this connection was brought out at the convention That is the necessity of paying higher salaries to technical l of highway departments department At present it was said zaid top engineers in governmental service are leaving their jobs to seek better p paying better ying positions in private industry Utah is having its troubles in that respect Not long ago the state road commission argued vigorously for increased salaries for its technical staff claiming that otherwise it could not hold or hire competent men to design roads and supervise construe construe- tion Lack of competent help the commission pointed out would wreck the states state's whole whole highway program and might lose us a ac c considerable portion of federal aid money which would otherwise be available to us The emphasis on the necessity for paying better salaries to technical at the meeting of western highway officials should hould convince Utah officials and the public that the problem is isreal isreal isreal real and must be faced frankly It is not just a local matter in which preferential treatment is being sought for the of one department of state government It is a basic difficulty troubling all highway departments |