Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1901-03-23
EMPIRE STATE ROADS
SMALL PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE IN
THEIR BETTERMENT.
Few Sections Have Taken Adrnn-
tREe of Good Roads Aid-WOrk In
Other States-COst of Construction.
Signs of Awakening.


tnEe of Good Roads Aid-WorL In
Other States-COst of Construction.
Signs of Awakening.
The New York Tribune in recent
editorial, discussing the progress of
road Improvement in the Empire state,
expresses the hope that recent develop
ments may signalizc an awakening of
the people to the needs Of bctt.E high
ways. 1t calls attention to the mcagcr
results of the past three years and
urges Il policy of action. The Tribune
says:
The most noteworthy proposal for
action under the IIigbic- Armstrong
good roads law which has thus far
been made is that of the Oneida county
supervisors to wit. that the state shall
forthwith appropriate $JO0,OOO, to be
united with an equal sum to be contrib
utcd by the individual counties, for Il
general scheme of improvement of the
chief highways of the state. We are
Informed that this is the first resolution
of the kind adopted by any county
board in the state. If so. Oneida cOun-
ty is entitled to credit for thus leading
the way in bcncticcnt enterprise. TO
what extent the other counties will fol
low the example remains to be seen.
1t is almost too much to hope that all
will do so and will declare their rcadi-
ness to join pro rata in raising the
100000 required, though it is earnestly
to be wished that they might. and ii Is
confidently to be believed that their
doing so would be highly and directly
profitable. If not. Oneida and other
progressive counties may move on their
own account, each receiving state aid
proportiOnate to its self aid
The need of road Improvement in
this state is not to be denied. 1t is
obvious and urgent to such an extent
that comparison of conditions in New
York with those in neighborng states
is intolcrably odiOuS. Down to the
present time only 27 New York coun-
ties have moved for improved roads.
They have made petition for the i'm
provcmcnt of only COG miles, surveys
have been made for 4O1 miles, and less
than u miles have been or are being
improved. Such is the petty result of
three years work.
Meantime the small ncghboring
state of Connecticut has built 200 miles
of good roads, or had done so a year
ago, not to mention what it may have
done in the last year. Massachusetts
down to two years ago had built more
than 30 miles. And New Jersey,
which was the pioneer and is still the
banner state in the good roads move
mcnt, has built since 1893 no less than
5SS miles of good roads including 14S
miles this year. Such comparisons, or
rather contrasts, are not creditable to
New York
On one point we cannot altogether
agree with the Oneida county super
viSOrS. They estimate the cost of
building macadam roads at $4,000 the
mile, so that the S1,O00000 which they
ask for would be sufficient for only
some 12J miles of road Their csti-
mate of cost is, we believe, too high. 1t
Is true that the cost of road building
Is increasing. But it has not vet reach
ed $1,000 Il mile. Last year the aver
age cost in New Jersey was only about
$1,000 a mile, for which price roads
were built as we'll as anybody could
wish them to be. This year the cost
has risen to an average of $5,3S4 a mile
for first class stone roads. Now, there
is no good reason why the cost in New
York should be any higher.
This state has ample supplies of stone
well distributed about the state and
ample means of transportation, and the
average cost of grading need be no
more here than in New Jersey. The
proposed fund ought therefore to give
this state within year some 10 miles
of good roads. That of course is only
tiny fraction of the roads that need
improving. Oneida county alone has
go miles of "main travelled roads,"
But constant policy of building 175
miles a year would within the next
generation give the state pretty good
skeleton system of improved highways.
But what is to prevent building at a
far more rapid rate?