Kankakee Valley Post, Volume 1, Number 3, DeMotte, Jasper County, 11 August 1932 — NEW HIGHWAY TO FOWLER AND ON [ARTICLE]

NEW HIGHWAY TO FOWLER AND ON

STATE HIGHWAY COMMISSION TO EXTEND ROUTE 55

A fulfilment of the promise made last year by the members of the State Highway Commission, is seen in recent orders of that body looking to the extension of State Road No. 55, south from Gary, to Fowler, Indiana. Work of carrying out the improvement has already started at Fowler. When completed, the new road will give Gary, Crown Point and other Lake County cities a much needed outlet to the heart of the Kankakee Valley regions, and will afford the citizens of Newton, Jasper and Benton Counties a more direct and much more available route to the Calumet Region and from there to Chicago. The Benton County Review, published at Fowler has the following to say of the new route in its last issue: Within the past few weeks State Road No. 55, connecting Fowler and State road No. 24, at a point west of Goodland, has been graded, treated with fine stone and given a couple of liberal drenchings with Tarvia, with the result that it is now almost as good as one of the concrete state roads. The State Highway Commission is now definitely planning to continue State Road No. 55 from the present junction with No. 24 north to a point where it will connect with State road No. 53 leading into Gary. On Wednesday, July 27th, Col. Melton inspected the south end of the extension and since that time has been over the road again with some of his engineers and there is every reason to believe that the plans for the new extension will be as follows: the road will take two sharp and then north on the connecting with State road No. 16 about half mile west from Foresman The road taken over will be widened, graded, covered with fresh stone and treated with Tarvia, exactly as the road south from No. 24 to Fowler. From No. 16, the road will follow the very good established stone road three miles north and then make a slight jog to the west and then go on a bee-line to Roselawn, Indiana. According to the engineers this road is already in pretty good condition, as regards drainage and surface. From Roselawn the road will bear off to the northwest and connect with No. 53 and into Gary. The State Highway Commission is making this extension and improvement, believing that they can connect a number of lateral highways and give a very good north and south roadway, at a very low cost. It will be an interesting addition to our net work of highways and will provide the tourists with a new way of getting from one place to another without traveling over the same old road.