New-York tribune., 1907-10-27
WASTE HIGH WAY FUNDS
Monroe County Good Roads Men
object to Skene's Methods.


the cost Of maintenance Of improved highways
is far beyond what it should be, that the state
Engineers Department does not know no" TO-
ar win not build suitable roads and that the
tapdlinp of the states SJ0OO00oO bond issue
for highway purposes should be placed in the
hands OF a commission of the Governor ap-
pofntine are the main features of an appeal
made b,, a special committee of the Board of
Supervisors of Monroe County TO the JOINT COM
mirtee of the state Legislature appointed TO
look into questions Of highway building and
maintenance. The county committee is COM
posed of Charles s owen, chairman of the
BOARD of Supervisors; a. Emerson Babcock.
chairman Of the committee William L. Ormrod,
Riga: Charles Z. Shafer Sweden. and George l..
Meade Rochester, secretary.
This committee gave a hearing good roads
questions in Rochester on October 10, which was
largely attended, and at which some plain lam
euage was used by who have suffered from
the Incompetence or neglect of the State En-
eineer's Department, and it was decided to make
an appeal 10 the Legislature for a change in the
method Of planning, building and maintaining
state highways and in administering the fund
for that purpose over which the State Engineers
Office at present has control The statements
and suggestions made at the hearing were en-
bodied in an address 10 the joint committee of
the State Legislature. which says, in part:
Gentlemen: You know the record to be that
Monroe County has been one of the leaders in
the effort to secure the benefit of good roads
We have continuously petitOned for more than
the state would give us. We have never hesl-
tated to make any appropriations asked for 10y
the State Engineer. We nave, upon OCCASION
offered the State Engineer to advance more
than our legal share of the cost of given
road for the purpose Of making it better There
is no county in which improved roads VIII be OF
more benefit
have right 10 demand from their representa-
tives the building Of system OF highways
which will compare favorably with the high
ways Of any other state county The time
has long since passed when it is necessary 10
talk of building cheap roads in order 20 enlist
the support of citizens. There are roads now on
the list which estimated 20 cost nearly
100000 a mile, and long roads in this county
estimated to cost $4,000 and more mile, ana
YET there Is no complaint heard in regard 10 the
cost The people are willing TO pay The prlce
for good roads, but in this county they are
unanimously of the opinion that while money Is
being poured out like water the roads bulit are
q miserable failure
permanent and satisfactory roads can be built
and they are built in other places The eHpeTl-
ence of eight years and expenditure OF SI-,W"3.-
900 should have taught US how 10 build roaos,
but the last being completed and the iaSt
one planned are Just as faulty as all those WhIch
are obvious failures.
It has been fully demonstrated on the Monroe
Corntv roads that the State Engineers Depart
rnent does not know how to. will not build
suitable roads We have tried again and asalh
10 have the plans properly modlned ana nave
met with rebuff. denial and misrepresentation,
so that We have learned that we must take
what the department offers or nothing at all
On 5anuary 3. 1907, the board asked the state
EnEl7aer 70 modify the plans for the East HdlA-
lin ard Lake Ontario road in accordance WltA d
report Of lie county engineer. on the GROUNDS
that = would be incom9arabiy better road
and you'd cost less money The State Engineer
on January 16, when he mad barely taken lmiIF m
Office. declis ed to adopt the proposed ChaHSe9
on the Arouuds that it would increase the estl-
mated cost 50 ,0S7 73. from $4,000 to SotoeI '5.
and that the objections OF the county engineer
10 rbe proposed plans were not well founded.
The hoard. therefore adopted the nha resoIp, NJ
iioU Tor the original plans TO avoid haNihs tlAe
ICaa hung up indefinitely
Details Of complaints against the roads al
ready built are given. and taking up the cues
tion repairs and maintenance the address says:
The. cost of repairs 10 the state roads is
startling. and furnishes a demonstration that the
plan Of construction is wrong Up TO the end OF
1905 these repairs We're made by the county en-
gineeT ana charged upon the towns, but on ac-
count Of the defective original construction il
was necessary TO rebuild new roads, and the
hoard instructed the county engineer 10 go slow
because il looked though individual towns
would be overwhelmed by the expense.
The division engineer representing the state
Engineer at convention held in Buffalo pub
licy asserted that the only difficulty with the
roads of this county came from neglect by the
county engineer in making repairs, thereby at
tempting 10 avoid dscredit by mlsrepresenta-
tion-
There are lightweight C88) miles of state
roads in this county, not including those com
pleted in 1907 They are all new, the average
age being just four years. while the oldest
seven years. The repairs of these roads have
already cost Sl210O0 which is an average of
S341 mile year, and from recent eXamtna-
ton il is estimated that IL would cost $4,000
more TO put them in first class condition, while
during their short existence many of them have
been impossible for months by reason Of mud
holes or being closed for repairs
The address then cites a number Of specific in-
stances Of faulty construction and excessive cost
for repairs. and continues
It Is believed that the money expended by the
state for repairs is largely sQuandered. II is
asserted that foreman and inspector and time
keeper viii be sent out with a gang of five men
and that q large portion of the work is done on
the basis Of a contract to pay Is per OF the
cost, thereby offering continual inducement 10
make the work expensive. None Of the work IS
tntrUsted 10 the highway commissioners Of the
cause they selected TO do the road work Of
the towns, and in many cases could do the re-
pairs state roads more economically than
any one else, and it would be advantageous 10
have them get the training under state direc-
tion and 10 have more direct and continuous
interest in the care Of these roads.
MASSACHUSETTS, AN EXAMPLE
subcommittee from this committee made
an examination Of the roads in Massachusetts
last month They rode about four hundred and
fifty miles in an automobile between Chatham,
on the east end Of Cape Cod, to Pittsheld, near
the New York line and examined the state
highways in fifty-five towns
From the reports OF the State Highway Com
mission II appears that in thirteen of these
towns, with roads from thirteen years TO two
years old, the average cost of repairs year has
been $50 or below.
In 29 towns between 500 and $50
In towns between 5000 and SlOO.
In 1 town between $500 and 5000
In towns between s400 and $500.
In town between $500 and $4OO
And in one town with less than two miles of