Show si 44 y 4 km courtesy Court tsy zion studio zion canyon narrows one of a 1000 beauty spots roads in scenic southwest utah by 11 II V RICHARDS statistician state road commission the scenic beauty and interest of the national parks of southern utah are arc so remarkable that they continue to command a large amount of space in the metropolitan newspapers throughout the united states and in the magazines devoted to touris travel and the scenic resources of the nation since good roads are primarily responsible for the success attained thus far so will the future development of this region depend upon an adequate road building program that everyone connected with road building activities recognizes the im importance of this statement is is evi evidenced by the road projects recently completed or under way for the accommodation of the heavy tourist traffic that will inevitably result as the fame of utah attractions attraction 9 continues an to grow the state in operation cooperation co with the federal bureau of public roads and forest service has improved to a big high h standard miles of road in the region which includes zion national park cedar breaks and bryce canyon at a total cost to date of and chiefly from allotments of federal funds this is exclusive of the notable work performed by the national parks service in the construction st of highways and trails within the environs of zion national park the mileage and costs of which ar are not reported to this office extensive surveys have ben been completed on the proposed 25 mile zion park mt carmel connection when completed this road will effect a sav ing ng of miles over existing routes in n travelling tra velling from cedar breaks to zion park and thence to bryce canyon As a scenic loop for tourist travel during the summer months from cedar city over the cedar long valley road to bryce canyon and returning via zion park to cedar city there will be a reduction of approximately miles as compared with present routes it will also provide an economic commercial connection for kanab with the railroad at cedar city and an all year route the summit elevation on the proposed road being feet which is some feet lower than that over the cedar long valley road the importance of this connection link has long been recognized but its great cost on account of the rugged country traversed has delayed its construction pending the improvement ot of the existing roads in this region and their interstate connections the most expensive portion of this roadway will bs be the eight miles lying within the park boundaries it will surmount the east rim of zion canyon with a maximum grade of 6 5 per cent the road will be recessed over a portion of its length within the sheer precipices of the canyon wall displaying from its winding galleries views of unexampled magnificence this eight miles of spectacular highway will cost it is estimated in excess of it will be financed by the national parks service and constructed by the bureau of public roads the remaining 17 miles all in kane county will be built by the state with the federal government participating in its financing nan cing the estimated cost is the state is ready to proceed with its portion of the construction and it is believed that the road will be completed throughout its entire length and opened to traffic within two years within washington and iron counties is comprised most of the mileage designated for improvement under the federal aid law in the scenic region the projects completed to date b by y the state within these two counties with federal aid with mileage and costs i are as follows iron county cedarlund cedar lund 33 miles gravel buckhorn flat 95 miles gravel cedar 12 miles gravel parowan carowan winn hollow 96 miles gravel cedar city concrete 11 miles plus cites portion 10 to washington county li line ne 45 miles gravel estimated to cost is under construction washington county andersons Ander sens ranch ash creek 73 miles gravel with four concrete bridges ash creek to iron county line with ft clear span concrete arch bridge across ash creek andersons ranch toquerville 28 miles gravel with ft concrete bridge rockville zion park 64 miles gravel st george ceorge harris burg bench 89 miles gravel with ft tunnel rockville dal ton wash 76 miles gravel estimated cost is under construction in carfi garfield id and kane counties forest projects completed bv the bureau of public roads financed by the forest service with local or state cooperation in part are circleville Cir cleville canyon 45 miles graded bryce canyon 5 miles gravel red canyon 76 miles gravel garfield county line glendale miles part surfaced bryce tropic 29 miles graded the cedar long valley road via cedar breaks and navajo lake 42 miles also a forest project surfaced in part cost the spur to cedar breaks 41 miles long will be built on a relocation at an estimated cost of the new road to be a marked improvement in grade and alignment miscellaneous state projects in the last two years without federal aid in ili the four counties have cost both federal aid a and nd forest protects alc Ls when completed are taken over for for maintenance by th the e state with f funds u ads derived from the gasoline tax it is axiomatic that the heavy expenditure pend iture of public funds as above outlined should be efficiently conserved evidence of the improvement in n this direction is apparent from the fact act that whereas the average expenditure for gravel road maintenance prior to the enactment of the gaso line ine tax law was 88 per mile each year the average rate is now 21 0 this includes the additions of new material to the travelled way in ili replacing the surface losses resulting from the wear and tear of traffic it t also I 1 includes much closer attention attento on to the riding qualities of the road than was formerly possible with wibb the very limited funds available the patrol s system of maintenance bag IBS been adopted on all main routes supplemented by floating gangs that ire are equipped to make such repairs is as require several men and special equipment the work of the patrolmen is to keep the road surface up to 0 o standard ditches and cu lverts open shoulders graded weeds cut etc work performed by the gangs consists in the removal of breakages break ages and slides hauling and placing renewals to gravel surfaces the upkeep of structures requires that repairs be made to guard railing and timber bridges that steel bridges be repaint ed bolts tightened channels cleared etc upon the completion of federal aid project no 11 lund to cedar city iron county provided for its contin r bous repair and upkeep by a system of patrols this being before the days of the gasoline tax and furnished the state with its first example of a road maintained by the patrol system it proved so effective that its adoption throughout the state was wag general in 1924 the state road commission undertook a share of the costs of maintenance of state roads with funds made available by then the gasoline tax in 1925 fiffey per cent of such maintenance costs were borne by the state and in 1926 the state relieved the counties of all obligation under this head bead on the state road system it now costs approximately annually to maintain the state roads of utah and these costs are rising with the steady increase in traffic the use of the roads for travel during the winter months is be comming iner increasingly ea singly popular and snow removal on many of our roads is an important and expensive item in the annual budget in our thinly populated state 70 per cent of its area being still a part of the public domain merely to keep our extensive mileage of splendid roads to standard and to pay the interest and sinking fund charges on road bonds outstanding will continue to be a heavy tax on 0 our I 1 ir resources future improvements improvement pro prove ments s must depend to a large extent upon financial assistance from the general government federal aid in utah exclusive of forest road construction st will continue to the amount of each year to the close of the fiscal year 1929 there is no assurance that it will continue beyma that period it is of paramount importance to the development of this state and its scenic resources that federal aid operation cooperation co in highway construction remain a fact anthe statute books until our total of 1684 miles of road in the federal aid system has been improved to the required standard there is no other section of the country where more is to be gained by highway improvement than in the public land states and as a consequence no other section in which the per capita capila expenditure for fo highways is equalled equal led within a very few years if our present rite of progress can be continued every mile of our principal highways will be satisfactorily improved and accommodating as never before the local and interstate ter state traffic and the tourist travel from adjoining and distant states elk J V jt I 1 I 1 ak 1 Courto jr zion etzo angels pathway on highway to cedar breaks |