The Kemper herald. (Scooba, Miss.) 1875-1908, 1907-03-21
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Highways.


followed with further proposals for
automobile highways from New York
to Lenox, from New York to Tuxedo
and elsewhere. These latter would
not be speedways for racing, but true
highways for travel and pleasure
driving. They would, however, be
exclusively for the use of automo-
biles, and ON them doubtless a much
higher rate of speed would be per-
missible than on the common roads.
The metalling would be done with a
direct and sole view to the use and
of motor car wheels, and we as
sumo there would be, so far as pos
sible, an avoidance of grade crossings.
In brief, the automobile roads would
be differentiated and separated from
ordinary roads somewhat as railroads
have long been.
In this proposal there is much
which is engaging and which appeals
to the practical as well as the i'm
aginative sense. That ingenious So
cialist, Mr.. G. H. Wells, in one of his
books a few years ago, forecast the
construction Of just such roads, nu-
merously radiating from every large
city and connecting all important
centres Of population, as a means of
solving at once the two problems OF
residence and transportation in and
about cities. 1t may be that we shall
one day come to that. There can be
little doubt that a broad highway on
which private motor cars and public
motor coaches or omnibuses could be
run at high speed, extending from
New York through the villages along
the Hudson, or up the Bronx Valley,
or along the Sound, or through the
Oranges, would be largely used. The
present scheme does not, however, go
as far as that, but contemplates mere
ly the construction of a few trunk
line motor roads through those re-
'gions where automobile travel is
heaviest. There is constantly much
travel of that sort from New York to
Tuxedo, to Lenox, to Bernardsville,
to Lakewood, to Morristown, to
Greenwich and to other places from
thirty to a hundred miles away. 1t
is a hardship to require such travel
ers to confne themselves to a rate of
only ten or twelve miles an hour, and
yet for much and, indeed, most of the
way the roads run through regions
where a high rate of speed on a COM
mon road is unsafe. And the steady
growth of population and of other
uses of the roads makes it increasing
ly dangerous to run fast.
1t may well be argued, then, that
with the extensive adoption of a new
kind of vehicular traffic a new kind OF
system of roads should be created for
it, just as was done at the introduce
ton of railroads. There is need of
this for the sake of the automobiles
themselves, in order that they may
travel rapidly and enjoy to the full
the advantages of the marvellous ma
chimes which they drive, and for the
sake of the general public, SO that
they may enjoy In safety their or
binary use of the common roads. We
may add that there is need of it for
the sake of the automobiles and of
the roads, for the former are not al
ways run to the best advantage on
roads which may be quite suitable for
horses, while roads which are adj
mirable for horses and horse vehicles
are often ruined by the ponderous
traffic of motor al rs. There are, of
courses the questions of o and ex-
pense. In many places there is am
pie room for new roads, and, indeed,
much need of them for the relief of
the present o~vercrowded highways.
Elsewhere motor roads might be pro-
vided by widening existing roads and
giving half of them to the motors
have mi road for pleasure vehicles,
one for horseback riding and a third
for business traffic.
AS for the cost, it would doubtless
be objected that roads for the exclu-
sive use of one class of vehicles
should not be made and maintained
at the expense of the whole public.
We are not sure that that would be
valid, however, since our parks and
speedways seem to furnish %precedents
for such construction of special roads,
and people who own and use no
horses are now taxed for the making
and maintenance of roads on which
horses are driven. These roads
would not be essentially exclusive,
but would be open and free to any,
body with an automobile. Perhaps
this point might be compromised
through a reasonable automobile tax,
to be applied to these roads. 1t is
generally recognized that the enor.
nous wear and tear of automobiles
on common roads make it fitting that
they should be specially taxed for
road maintenance, as is now done in
England. If special roads were built
for automobiles, and those vehicles
were thus to a large extent removed
from the common roads, it would be
fitting to apply that tax to those spe-
cial roads. There are other features
of the case which require considera-
ton. but on the face of it the pro-
posal is interesting and promising
New York Tribune.
G1OpS MORN nv EuuI;c1 NyorIroon