Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1902-10-25
GOOD ROAD PROJECT
THE PROPOSED HIGHWAY FROM NEW
YORK TO CHICAGO.

Plans of Association Organized to
Build It-COst and Advantages of
Such Rond-Strong Arguments In
Favor of II.
A boulevard between New York and
Chicago, free and clear through all
seasons of the year. has long been con
templatcd. Such an avenue. shaded
with trees. has been the dream of good
roads promoters. The first real step
toward til" elimination of these hopes
was taken recently when the New
York and Chicago Road association
was organized. Men with money are
Interested in the gcnturc.
This road would reduce the distance
between New York and Chicago from
9SI to so miles, says the Philadelphia
Press. Fully 100 miles are good roads.
There are many stretches which are in
bad condition. The links of roads
which must he improved AN! CON
Structcd will be turned over - local
authorities.
John l.. Uhlc of New York, president
of the Highway alliance. is vice prcsi-
dent of the new association. In an i'll
tcrvicw recently Mr.. Uhlr said: 1T
will take Il great deal of time. but bit
by bit the necessary energy will bring
the results. We expect to meet with
some sctbacks. If the local authorities
refuse to be benefited by the proposed
highway, we will ask the legislature to
compel them to build the roads 1t will
cost about 5000 Il mile to build Il
macHdam road For road wide
enough for two wagons the cost will be
double. a single road will be the main
object.
Almost one-half of the road along
the 300 miles of the proposed route"
said Mr. Uhlc, ''iS in good condition.
Much of it has been macadamzcd, but
these macadamizcd strips are not con
tinuous. Later, as traffic increases,
as it is certain to increase, and addi-
tional outlay will appear juStiliable,
as it surely will, with the expenditure
of $4,000 more on each mile the road
can be widcncd and placed in ideal
condition.
aside from the roads commercial
value, it will be big object lesson to
other parts of the country | feel Ger
tain that if the road were built it
would be Il surprise to the people the
many benefits that would result for
many Glasses. The local authorities
in other parts could not but recognize
the success of the project and the prof
its paid on the investment and would
follow our example.
"ThouSan!s upon thousands of dol
lars are expended on roads every year.
but the result is not appreciated be
cause each community looks after the
roadwayS in its particular locality and
thinks of no other: consequently for Il
distance of Il few miles perhaps out
of Il prosperous town the traveller
finds good roads. and then he comes to
the boundary of that commissioners
jurisdiction and finds the roads almost
impaSSahlc. The people would like to
see some road that commences some
where and goes somewhere.
Better schooling for the children of
farmers would be another result of
better roads. At present many country
folk are unable to send boys and girls
to school, especially in rainy weather,
because of the condition of the roads.
If travel were easier, the little coun-
try SchoolhouScs would not have to he
scattered along every mile of the road,
but they could be consolidated, better
facilities could be had, better teachers
employed, and the results would be bet
ter. The farmer would find another
benefit in the greater frequency of the
rural free delivery of mails
In speaking of the project recently
another member of the association
said:
I'VE have in America 300 miles of
canals, The estimated cost of these is
S112,OOOOOO. OF this So, ,OOoOOO is the
cost of the Erie canal alone, and the
Sl20.OOOOGO was spent for the remain
ing twenty nine Waterways. a bill is
now pending for the appropriation Of
SIS. .GOo. coo more for the Erie canal In
1891 the total canal tonnage was 3.SS2,-
800. but it has been decreasing yearly
since then. This tonnage compared
with the annual railroad tonnage is
insignificant.
Every pound of this railroad ton
nage has been hauled over Il road.
What greater argument do you want
for good roads? Governor Campbell
of Oh:O said, The farms in Ohio have
decreased in market value $500, ,OOO. 900
in ten years owing to bad roads. Gov.
crnor Stanley of Kansas said The
farmers of Kansas lost SjJ.OOO,O0O in
one year owing to bad roads Topula-
tion decreased in thrifty agricultural
counties over 20 per cent in Illinois,
Indiana. Michigan. New York and 9th
er states on account of bad roads"
The route of the road will probably
be from New York up the Hudson riv-
or To II point yet to be decided upon.
either Nyack. Newburg or Kingston.
From there to BinghamtOn. where
there IS hourishing branch of the
association; to Elmira, to Owego, TO
Corning. to Hornellsville, TO James
town. to Conneaut. to Cleveland, thence
through Perrysburg to Chicago, proba
bly, by way of the old relay road.
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