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Show THOSE DREADED DETOURS. Editor the Standard: I was much pleased to see your reference refer-ence recently to road conditions, especially as to the highway between Ogden and Salt Lake City and the neglect of perfectly good made-up streets in our own vicinity. Your expressions are exactly in harmony with the sentiments of many with whom I have talked. I have been waiting, thinking some good citizen with ability would back you up in this commendable effort to arouse some one in authority to a realization of the situation, but it seems the public is long suffering and slow to register a "kick." As any one knows who has had occasion to traverse the highway high-way through Davis county, the sign "Detour" has been ever present pres-ent during the past several years, and the way has been almost impassable at times, little attention being given to the safety and convenience of the public. Sometimes the sign "Detour" has been taken down and the traveler left to wander around through by-ways, field and mud holes as best he could. In our own city such streets as Twenty-fourth and North Washington, although macadamized at much expense to the taxpayers, tax-payers, have been in an almost impassable condition for years, due to failure to do a little inexpensive repairing from time to time in the way of filling up the holes. These roads once built wrould seem to have been entirely abandoned and during most of the time have been in a very bad condition, as the public knows. It seems we lack knowledge of the way to do systematic and economical road building. Undoubtedly laigc sums of money are entirely wasted and in many instances the most expensive way is followed Recently, North Washington avenue was plowed up, leveled and rolled, making it quite passable for a short time. Since then, so far as the macadam is concerned, nothing has been done. Holes have been allowed to deepen, widen and multiply until it is about as bad as ever. Were it not for the new pavement on the west side of the avenue it would be in the usual condition and dangerous to drive over at more than a few miles per hour. For years this has been the case, while the city has devoted its attention to paving comparatively little-used streets and avenues in the residence districts in the south part of the city At times we may not have funds for extensive road building, but surely there is no excuse for failure to make comparatively inexpensive repairs to save what we have. Even in the paved sections, holes are allowed to remain for months before anything is done, notw ithstanding but little tune and materials are required to make the repairs. Let's reform and pay a little more attention to looking after the up-keep of the thoroughfares after they are built and thus get the most good out of the money expended. Twenty-fourth street from Washington east would be a perfectly good one, if the holes had been filled in the right way with the right kind of material, lours for good roads at least expense. CITIZEN. Talking with an experienced road man, the editor referred to the "detours," and the expert said: "While I doubt that, in road building, half the highway could be kept open during the construction period because people will not respect re-spect the rights of the road builders, still I agree with you that detours de-tours should be something more than chuck holes, dust and grief. Before Be-fore a road is closed, the detour should be placed in condition for travel and kept passable." The waiter of the communication refers to neglect of roads. Representatives Rep-resentatives of the cement companies repeatedly have called the at-tntion at-tntion of The Standard to the neglect of the hard surface roads which the state has built at great expense. What is true of state highways, applies to city streets, and the neglect extends to nearly all parts of Utah. A party of Ogdenites drove to Salt Lake Sunday. By the time the travelers arrived home, they had wrecked their automobiles. The i steering gear was disabled and other parts of the machine were out of service. This is only one of a hundred mishaps along the Highway of Sorrow |