Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1907-10-17
MASSACHUSETTS HIGHWAY CON-
STRUcTION A MODEL.
ROADS REACH 655 MILES
Small Towns Get Special Aid in the
Work of Construction On Certain
Reasonable Conditions.-Great Ben
efts Derived On All Sides From
the New System.


The reports and other publications of
| its highway commission are used as
textbooks by other states for the bene-
fit Of communities that want to know
how to build modern roads properly.
The highway commission is enc of
many nonpartisan boards in the COM
monwealth intrusted with the work of
improving the state as a place of resi-
dence. The success of its Iabors in
giving the state good roads is known
to every one who has ridden over the
many miles Of macadam which it has
put down in place of the primitive
roads Of the forefathers.
Under the constructive regime Of
the highway commission " the state
road" has become a term used with
pride by all who have tested it's quail
ity, as the kings highway" was a
term of romance and poetry in old
England.
Mr.. Fletcher, secretary of the high
way commission, was asked if our
modern roads were as good as the
best roads of Europe.
I'VE think they are" said he. I'VE
have tried to make them so, and be-
lieye they are just as good.
THE life of a road is largely regu-
lated by climate and the traffic over it.
The Roman roads that have survived
to this day are in localities with a
moderate rainfall and are dry most OF
the time. That helps preserve them.
AS for the quality of our roads, l be-
lieve they are just as durable as the
Roman roads, and certainly as scien-
tifcally made. With proper care they
should last indefinitely.
Construction of the state highways
was begun in 1854. The state in 1892
appointed a board to investigate the
subject of road making, and that
board made an exhaustive report,
which stands today as a classic in
road making literature.
In twelve years of construction the
commission has laid out $40 miles of
macadam highways, Of which 655
miles have been built. 1t has i'm
proved 108 miles of roads in small
towns. 1t has built many bridges,
the majority of concrete and practic-
ally indestructible.
1T has cleaned up and beautified
the roadsides wherever new roads
have been built, and has planted
thousands of shade trees beside the
state highways. 1t has established
it's own nursery for raising trees for
the purpose.
1T has investigated sources of
road building materials. Il mas sur
veyed and mapped practically all the
main roads in the state and compiled
data about them, which will simplify
the work of construction and up-keep
in the future.
las an example of the amount of
work done by the commission, may
say that in 1906 the board held sew
'enty-nine meetings, heard several
hundred petitioners, let siXty-nine con-
tracts-alI its work, except masonry, is
done by contract-laid out locations
for several miles of street railway
tracks. and built nine bridges.
Improving roads in small towns is
distinct from regular road building.
The roads are off the main Travelled
ways and are not made with macadam
but are improved by reducing grades,
filling in and by new surfacing, gener-
ally with gravel.
Under the act of 1900 the commits
sion may, on the petition of the select
men, expend on the towns roads a
sum not exceeding 40 per cent of the
towns average annual appropriation
for the five years preceding. Five %
of the boards annual appropriation
may be spent thus. In towns of more
than S1,OOO0O0 valuation, the town
must raise an amount equal to that
granted it by the board, which may
ispend another 5 per cent of its appro
priation on towns of this class.
This was done because the small
towns off the main roads felt that they
were not getting proper benefit out
of the states road building.
The small towns get the benefit OF
our engineers services and advice, and
also the use of steam road rollers and
portable stone crushers.
There has been general education
of the people of the state in road build
ing in the last few years, and the
value of scientifically built roads is
known IN every community. Erro.
neous impressions of the cost of mod
ern roads have been removed, and
even in the smallest towns it is seen
that a good road is the cheapest in the
end
Massachusetts, has spent on its
highways since the commission began
its work almost 100000. In 1908
the appropriation for construction was
s2,250, 600, to cover five years expen-
diture. We will use the last of that
thi year.
While the entire original expense
of state highways is paid by the com
monwealth. the law provides that one
fourth of any money expended in a
county for a highway shan be paid
back to the commonwealth within six