The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1907-10-24
FIGURES
ON ROAD MAKING
IOWA STANDS THIRD IN LENGTH
OF PUBLIC HIGHWAYS.
a,rsr,s7o MILES IN COUNTRY.
Only a Little Over Seven Percent Are
Improved - Every Thirty-five
People Have One Mile
of Road.

"dSulISlOu, OCl. zz.-N ME IL ID
known in general way that some
parts of the country have made greater
progress than others in the improve
ments of the public roads, and that
enormous sums are expended annually
on road construction and repairs, there
has been no information compiled up
to the present time showing just what
has been accomplished and how much
is expended annually for this purpose
in the United States. A few of the
states have published reports giving
some information upon these subjects,
but only in rare cases have they shown
the mileage of improved roads or the
road expenditures by local authorities.
The office of public roads in the Ag.
ricultural Department has just com
pleted the collection, compilation and
publication of information from every
county of the United States in regard
to the mileage of improved and unim.
proved country roads in the year 1904,
and the expenditures on roads and
bridges from property and poll taxes,
bOlu lbbuCo bleilC uhuCt IllC
state aid laws, and the amount of value
of the labor expended under the stat
ute labor laws.
In 1904 there were 2,151, $50 miles of
public road in the United States. o.
this mileage 10S,232.9 miles were sur
faced and gravel; 3S,621.7 miles were
stone and 6,S09.7 miles were special
materials, such as shells, sand-clay, oil
and brick, making in all 1873, 664.3 miles
of improved road. From this it fol
lows that TIA per cent of all the roads
in this country have been improved.
Pointed Comparisons.
BY comparing the total road mile
age with the area of all the states and
territories it appears that there was
0.73 of a mile of road per square mile
of territory. A comparison of road
mileage with population shows that
there was one mile of road to every
thirty-five Inhabitants and one mile OF
improved road to every 492 inhabit.
ants.
The 2,151,57 miles of public roads
in the United States do not include
roads in Indian Territory, Alaska and
the island possessions. Indian Terri
tory and Alaska were not organized
by counties in 1904 and it was impos
sible to secure complete information
from Porto Rico, Hawaii, the Philip
pines and Guam. The mileage Of
roads given in the tables does not in
clude streets or bouleyards in incor
porated cities and villages.
The majority of all the roads in this
country were originally laid out along
the boundary lines of farms, with little
regard for drainage, topography and
alignment. In the eastern states the
boundary lines of farms are very If
regular, and consequently many of the
roads are crooked and badly located
with reference to grades. In the mid
die West, where the land was laid out
by the government, the roads follow
the section lines, and in thickly set
tied communities the quarter section
lines In compiling these figures the
aim has been to include only the mile
age of roads actually open and in use
Four States Notable.
Only four states have more than
100 900 miles of roads. Texas stands
first, with 121 400 miles; Missouri sec
ond, with 10S,123; Iowa third. with
1O2, 44S, and Kansas fourth, with 101,
1856 The District of Columbia has
only 1871 miles of road Rhode Island
has 1851 miles, which is the small
est mileage of any state. Delaware
has only 5000 and Arizona only 1851
miles.
By comparing the road mileage 18th
the areas in square miles the District
of Columbia is found 70 stand first
with 31S miles of road per square mile
or area, while Connecticut is highest
among the states, with $50 miles
Rhode Island has 2.24 miles and Penn
Esylvania 221 miles per square mile OF
area. Arizona has only 0.O5 of a mile
the smallest mileage per square mile;
Utah has 0.OS and Wyoming O.10 of a
mile per square mile.
Assuming the average width OF the
rights of way of country roads in the
United States to be forty feet, the area
of such rights of way in 1904, amount
ed to 1O,431,727 acres. Estimating the
value of this land on basis of the
valuation of farm lands in each state,
the approximate value of the rights OF
way of all the public roads would be
S341 1893, SO6. A much higher valuation
would be amply justified by the fact
that in sections where the mileage OF
roads is greatest the land is consid
erably above the average in yaiIe.
Rev. A. l.. DeMond, editor of the