Jasper County Democrat, Volume 19, Number 84, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 January 1917 — MILLIONS FOR BETTER ROADS [ARTICLE]

MILLIONS FOR BETTER ROADS

Sum of $85,000,000 of Federal Funds Made Available for Construction of Country Highways. By the passage of the federal %id road bid the government of the United States has put itself in the way to reap great benefits. According to the new law, the sum of $85,000,000 of federal funds is made available for the construction of country roads. Of this amount $75,000,000 is to be expended for the construction of rural post roads under co-operative arrangements with the highway departments of the various states and $10,000,000 is to be used in developing roads and trails within or partly within the national forests. Indiana will be able to share in this appropriation to the extent of $2,109,000 when she creates a highway department to superintend the building of a correct system of main market Such a bill is to be a feature of the legislative work at this session of the legislature and the big business and educational forces of the state are back of the bill. The commission is to be non-partisan and under the promise of Governor James P. Goodrich to~ be made up of the ?Fry biggest and most capable men in the state. , v Speaking of the wisdom of the state taking advantage of the federal aid in the building of her roads, George E. Martin, assistant professor of highway engineering in Purdue university, says, in a Purdue bulletin.

“Federal aid for road building is now a fact. The, federal government will not treat with Anything but a state. Some form of state organization is necessary to obtain that aid. “Indiana has long stood as a conspecuous example of extreme local control in road matters. Her laws have been drawn to give the people of the smallest subdivision of her territory the greatest latitude in the selection of the roads to be improved and the methods to be used for their* improvement. The results have been good in the past. Indiana can well be proud of her system of lo,cal roads reaching practically all of her pbople. Conditions are rapidly changing. I?oads which were entirely satisfactory ten years ago are now inadequate to carry the traffic which comes upon them. Road building is speedily advancing from rule of thumb methods to its proper place as one of the engineering sciences. It is no longer possible for every man to'be a good road builder. To build roads to meet present conditions requires extensive training and experience. It is *ot possible for the small subdivisions to* obtain men qualified to de- , sign and construct these modern highways." '