River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1893-02-02
For Good Roads.


much as its neighbor, the result would
be simply an addition to the tax of
the general government, which might
just as well be paid at home. The
The first thing to lie secured is an al
jusrment of the location of the roads.
Where roads are made too lengthy by
running around farms, where the
travel is sufficient to warrant shorter
course, the line of the road should be
changed.
Second, changes in location to get
the roads on better ground should be
made, where necessary, for economy
in construction and maintenance. A
very slight change in many instances
would greatly decrease the cost, both
of construction and keeping in repair.
Third, there should be a town or
county officer, skilled in road engin-
eering. who should have general
charge of the roads in his district,
make estimates, suggest changes.
methods of construction, make speci-
tications, and in short perform for the
highways of a town or county, as the
case may be, what a railroad engineer
does for his road.
Work should be laid out for at least
five years ahead, gravel beds should
be hunted up and the right to use
them obtained, quarries opened, and
other preliminary work done to enable
work to be done at the lowest rates
possible.
The construction of particular line
of road being determined upon, the
engineer should make careful specifi-
cations, and to enable him to do this,
he should be a good common sense en-.
gineer, not a purely theoretical one,
and the contract for construction be
let, care being taken to secure good,
honest and competent builder.
Payments for the work should be
made out of town funds and these be
provided either by cash levy each
year or town bonds. Let 1t be under
stood at the outset that macadam OF
gravel roads are not needed over the
whole country; they need be built
only where there is considerable travel
or much wet or sandy soil, and very
often clay can be put ON sandy roads
and make better practical road for
light travel than than the rock road
this being especially the case where
the traffic is too light to quickly pack
the rock.
To illustrate this subject let us take
the situation of the town of River
Falls. River Falls is six miles by
eight in size Qess the city of River
Falls). There are in River Falls not
far from 90 miles of roads actually
laid out and most of them travelled to
some extent. To macadam these
roads would cost the town $4,000 OF
about one.fifth of the actual value OF
the property of the town. This, OF
course, makes the making of all these
roads of stone out of the question, il
it would be desired to do this in a
very short time, nor would it be desir
able to make all the roads in the town
of this character. Eliminate out OF
this mileage the subordinate roads
and we have left 80 miles of man
lines. OF this 80 miles one-half al
least affords ground su 1iciently hard
and dry to make good country road,
leaving at a rough estimate Is miles
which need more than common treat
ment in a short time. Allowing the
estimate of $1,000 per mile for first.
class country roads and an average OF
5000 per mile for the remaining As, we
have as an estimate for the town OF
River Falls, cost of $4,000.
Were River Falls to decide to have
good roads and to bond the town to
build them, the bonds could be nego-
tiated for 5 per cent, which would
make an annual tax of $4,000 for the
privilege of having good roads all over
the township, that is as good as the
traffic really demands. OF course ii
must be understood that there will be
perpetual cost of maintenance, but
this would be not more than half what
it costs at present.
If River Falls should choose to 60
to work and build them, without bond
ing. tax of $4,000 per annum would
build the roads in twenty years.
River Falls is nearly forty years of
age and has scarcely a dozen miles of
really good road in her boundaries.
If then it be unwise to bond the
town, suppose the town would agree
to levy tax of say 81, 500 per annum
for highway purposes, employ a good
engineer to lay out the money and
make one mile of good road every
year, fifteen years would give good
roads on all the main travelled lines
and thirty years, or the present gen.
GRAFTON, give legacy of good high
ways to their posterity.
We are satisfied that all the talk
about Government aid and State aid
will amount to but little, nor would it
be wise to look for it. The State may
wisely have department of supervis.
ion and instruction, and should have,
but the work must be mostly done by
the localities where the roads are to
be built and the sooner people wake
up to this fact, the sooner sand roads
will be of the past, swamp roads be
dry, and all highways be well drained,
well located and a comfort to the
traveller. w.
After the above article was written
our attention was called to the follow.
ing item in the Minneapolis Journal,
showing that a similar idea had oc.
Cured to Gov. Flower of New York.
1t is due to the writer of the above
that the last item was not seen by him
until he had sent in his communica-
ton:
Gov. Flower of New York has pre-