Jasper County Democrat, Volume 22, Number 12, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 May 1919 — MANY POINTS IN OUR FAVOR [ARTICLE]

MANY POINTS IN OUR FAVOR

Toward Securing Indianapolis-Chi-cago State Highway. A meeting was held Tuesday afternoon in Judge Hanley’s office at the court house by the committee appointed at Monday night’s road meeting, and F. E. Babcock was made chairman of the committee and E. D. Nesbitt secretary. The matter of location and boosting for a state road north and south through Jasper county was discussed and the committee will go to Crown Point this morning to talk the matter over with the people of Lake county in an endeavor to present a united front for the location of such a road through Jaeper and Lake counties. The Jasper county committee favors the Jackson highway route from Remington to Rensselaer and thence straight north 17 miles to a point 14 mile south of Kersey; thence west 2% miles; thence north through Demotte to the Kankakee river, and on north to Hebron, leaving the matter of route through Lake county, of course, to the peoiple there. This would give us a road almost equally divided through the center of Jasper county about 37 miles with but two turns (not counting the turn on entering and leaving Washington street in Rensselaer) for its entire length, a very desirable feature. There would be but four railroads to cross in this county, and if the old Jadkson highway route was selected from Lafayette to Remington, there would be but eeven railroads .0 cross in the entire 81 miles. is another strong point in favor of the selection of our route.

All but six miles of this route through Jasper county Is now Improved with either stone or gravel, the unimproved part lying immediately south of Kersey. The old Jackson highway turns west one mile at Alx, goes thence north through Virgie, but the route approved by the committee is conceded the better line for two principal reasons: That it eliminates two turns and brings the road nearer to the center of the county east and west, making it more accessible to the people of the entire county. Should the old Jackson highway be selected from Lafayette to Wolcott it would run over the "Corn Belt” line, which is very probable to be one of the east and west lines selected by the state highway commission, and therefore eliminates six miles of construction and paalntenance, saving iperhaps $120,000 in construction cost alone. As the Dixie route north and south passes through Watseka, 111., it does not seem probable that the highway commission would favor Iparalleling th Dixie line with a line nearer than Remington, which is 19 miles west of jthe state line, and some 35 miles east of Watseka. Besides all this we have the best and shortest route between Indianapolis and Chicago by far, and touch all the important towns' on lour route, giving us distinct advantages over any other route that rhas been mentioned.