spencer distinguished guests ladies and gentlemen i compliment you on this large gathering here today it shows clearly that you the people of connersville recognize the true significance of this ceremony to each and every one of you if you have had your discussions even disagreements about the highway in the public hearing room on the streets and in your homes and i think you all agree that such discussions are healthy far from them comes the majority will we are gathered here today to dedicate a new highway that represents the majority well of the citizens of your community one segment of the great national system let's hope the future proves that eighteen months ago the right decision was made eighteen months  the law requires a public hearing to discuss the economic effect of the proposed highway location the law also says that ample notice of the hearing must be given so that all interested parties may appear and be judging from the size of this crowd here today i would say that the states give them plenty of notice now as your mayor i've been asked by the state highway department to conduct this here so let's get things started by turning the meeting over to m of the state highway division engineer who will explain the state's proposal mr jacobson thank you very spencer on the record i'm paul jacobs speaking of division engineer for the state highway department now as you know the state is proposing to improve federal aid route one ten in the vicinity of connersville this highway will be part of the interstate highway system created by the federal aid highway act of one hundred fifty six i hope you understand our proposal like to give my presentation by showing you a short film i will give you some of the background of the current highway pro in this century america has become a nation on we we ride on wheels to work to shop to play to go about any place we want to go we depend on wheels to bring us the food we eat the clothes we wear the things we use but when we depend on wheels we depend also on highways and roads and streets for the wheels to roll on and therein lies the challenge building highways and roads and streets fast enough to keep up with the knee after world war two the nation began developing a case of acute congestion that cost us millions of dollars a year in time equi six there were more than sixty five million cars on our road with ninety million forecasts by nine hundred seventy five clearly it was a time for national action congress responded with the federal lane highway act fifty six providing the staggering sum of fifty one billion dollars to be spent by the states on highway construction by nine hundred seventy one the most talked about phase of the act is the interstate highway system forty one thousand mile network of our most important road most of these roads will be for sixty seven eight lane expressway constructed for through traffic they will take the over the road driver from city to city coast to coast at highway speeds even for large populations that the federal aid highway act offers relief to the local driver too by giving him easy access to his home work stores without interference from through traffic billions of dollars will be spent for city streets and expressways and for other highways of the primary system the farmer to benefits directly from the billions allotted for the improvement of state and co highways as well as the farm to market roads of our rural system these new highways will have a far reaching economic impact on the entire nation they provide a heavy duty link between all parts of productive america they are a shot in the arm for cities that have begun to feel the impact of growing downtown traffic congestion they open up vast new areas for suburban living and they encourage industry to disperse out of the city congested they stimulate business and create new jobs particularly among the nation's road builders who are fulfilling their tremendous responsibility with specialized equipment and modern techniques to build roads about highest quality at the lowest cost they stimulate business to in the industry supplying the road building manufacturers of heavy equipment explosive aggregate steel concrete petroleum products chemicals and many other they create other jobs and business opportunit related fields to car truck and bus manufacturing as well as services catering to the motor traffic perhaps most important of all they will save lives bringing about at least a fifty percent reduction in the death rate on major highways state highway officials charged with the responsibility of designing and building the new highway system are actually planning into every mile all the factors that mean safety controlled access for example the most important factor that promotes safety by eliminating crop roads private entrances traffic signals and grade crossing properly planned median strips to separate traffic wider traffic lanes the take into account highway driving easy to read highways not modern electronic equipment such as the type that turns on reduced speed signs in bad weather or even removal die from key spots automatically important drainage maintenance and weed eradication but the road to better road is not the there are many problems notably antiquated state laws left over from horse and buggy day laws that must be brought up to date rising land prices greatly increasing the cost of future highways unless the land can be purchased and set aside now and the shortage of trained highway engineers however the solution to all the problems lies most of or only when each citizen becomes better informed about his state highway program only when he helps develop the popular support so essential to highway progress can the nation meet the highway challenge so the better safer roads of tomorrow will become the roads of today that gives you an idea of some of the factors we considered in the arriving at the recommendation under discussion today three this is the highway system friendly encounter county this is us route one ten the state proposes to improve us route one ten with a controlled access highway that will be part of the interstate highway system there will be easy convenient access to and from the new highway with adequate signs we also proposed to improve that portion of present route one ten that runs through connersville to widen the pavement from eighteen to twenty two feet and to correct the alignment in several places we believe route one ten offers the best most economical pass for the new interstate highway through connor county but locating it elsewhere would mean excessive land costs in normal right of way problems and greater construction costs now our decision to make route one ten the controlled access highway that is based on these traffic count figures about eight thousand vehicles use the present road one tends to connersville every day by one hundred seventy five we estimate sixteen thousand vehicles daily so perhaps that explains why congestion is increasing every day on main street and why the accident rate on route one ten has become one of the highest in the state now our traffic count points out another fact of the eight thousand vehicles that traveled route one ten each day only fifteen hundred are destined for cars though the other sixty five hundred  merely passing through therefore we are recommending that the new highway bypass the town in the belief that it offers the most advantages both to connersville and to the state from your point of view it will keep main street free of the excessive congestion caused by through traffic it will relieve local people especially children of the hazards of through traffic and it will pay through traffic office great in front of the new elementary school from the state's point of view it will give through traffic a shorter distance to travel without getting tied up in business district traffic it eliminates hazardous curves and it cost less than buying the additional right of way necessary if you did go through town