Jasper County Democrat, Volume 22, Number 82, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 January 1920 — NEEDLESS ALARM PERHAPS [ARTICLE]

NEEDLESS ALARM PERHAPS

Scarcely Likely That State Road Will Go Via Mt. Ayr. Some apprehension was felt here Thursday by the appearance in the Indianapolis Star of a map of the proposed new state highways as tentatively decided upon by the state highway commission some time ago with the changes that had since been made. This map gave the route through Jasper county to cover the “corn belt” route east and west through Remington and Carpenter township with the “Chicago road” extending north to Rensselaer, thence west to Mt- Ayr amid north to Shelby, Crown Point, etc. This is not the route designated by the commission in its report several months ago, and it is probable ■ hat the Star’s map is not authenThere is no argument whatever in favor of the route by Mt. Ayr for a permanent state road, aud Rensselaer and Jasper county is solidly against that route. It is not the route designated by the commission last summer, which was to run directly north in a straight line from Rensselaer to a point % mile south of Kersey, thence west 2% miles, thence directly north through Demotte and over the new bridge at the Kankakee river, known as the Hebron grade. This is precisely the route both Jasper and Lake counties want and is the route Indicated in all the heretofore published maps of our proposed state highway system in various newspapers and periodicals in this amd other states. It makes fewer turns, accommodates thousands more people, has a much larger number of towns for feeders and gives a direct outlet to the great trucking district of Jasper county, which the Calumet district with its hundreds of thousands of people desire to reach and which we desire to feed. The writer called the office of Mr. Wright of the state highway commission by ’phone Thursday to learn if any such change as indicated had been made by the commission, but Mr. Wright was out of the city and would not be in until today. His secretary knew nothing about any change having been made, but said she would have him communicate us as soon as he came in. When the Jasper county committee was before the commission last spring with its map of the route we wished established, every member of the committee, publicly expressed himself in favor of the route shown, and said that it was the only logical location for sucti route. The writer, cannot believe that the members of the commission have changed their minds in this respect, and thinks that the map as shown in the Star was unofficial.