OCR Text |
Show Road Improvement Paid for in Shorter Time (Prepared by the United States Department of Agriculture.) ' The improvement of the important roads of the country pays for itself' In a remarkably short time, according to the bureau of public roads of the United States Department of Agriculture. Agricul-ture. Data collected in a survey of highway transportation in Maine indicate indi-cate that on the basis of present traffic traf-fic the 300 miles of most heavily traveled trav-eled road in the state could be improved im-proved from an earth-road condition to a high-type pavement at a cost, with interest at 4 per cent, which could be repaid by the savings in operating op-erating costs of passenger cars only in slightly more than four years. The actual saving would be even greater than this. Records show that traffic on the Maine highways doubled in the period from 1916 to 1919, that it doubled again from 1919 to 1923, and; a careful analysis indicates that it will double again in the period 1924 to 1930. As the traffic increases naturally nat-urally the savings in motor-vehicle operation will Increase. Rapid increase in highway traffic and large possible savings in motor-vehicle motor-vehicle operation due to the improvement improve-ment of important roads is a condition condi-tion common to every state. Thomas H. MacLlonald, chief of the bureau of public roads, says: "We pay for improved im-proved roads whether we have them or not, "and we pay less if we have them than if we do without." |