Arizona republican., 1909-04-12
THE ROAD'S
 CONDITION As Ascertained by the Committee THE COST OF GRAVEL|NG That Alone Exceeds the Cost of the Tempe Bridge, and More Expense Is Nee essary.
THE COST OF GRAVEL|NG

!
 south end of the proposed Center
 street bridge to Mill avenue the com
 mittee of Tempe men spent Saturday
 morning going over every inch of the
 ground from Mill avenue in Tempe west. to the proposed site of the Cen ter street bridge.
 The committee consisted of the fol- { lowing named: Mayor J. A. Dimes, | Fred Marsh, w. F.. Geach, w. H. Will
 bur, J. B. Cook. William Strong, c. w. Harris, John Hyder. A. w. Cosner, w. i T. Cummings, B. H. Scudder and F.. w Griffen.
 It is presumed by the committee that if the Center street site should be
 selected by the taxpayers of the coun | ty and the bridge constructed there. the travelling public would have a
 right to expect that there would be constructed at the expense of the county, a road that would answer the purpose of the main travelled road of the valley They would naturally eX- pect that this road be placed in con dition. the equal of the present Phoe- nix Mesa road, via the main street of Tempe.
 Admitting that the road is a good
 road, as average county roads go, and at present is in good shape, the com mittee failed to see where it could pos sibly be placed in the same class with the Phoenix Mesa road, or even re- garded as one of the best in the coun- try.
 The committee feels that on the presumption that the taxpayers and the public will demand a road at least the equal of the one already provided as the main road between the three main valley towns. this road in ques-
 ton will have to be treated to a coat
 of gravel and otherwise improved, for it is a well known fact that in this ! country no road will stand the usage main travelled road is given and re- tain any sort of condition in the sum-
 mer time without it is first graveled
 as is the Phoenix Mesa road at the present time.
 Accepting that as a basis upon
 which to work. it will cost nearly | twice as much to put this road in good shape as the amount of the bonus sub
 scribed by the Center street faction. In the party that looked over the situation yesterday, there were one or two who have had some experience in graveling roads. Taking their word for the cost of hauling this gravel from the gravel beds north of the river, the following cost is figured out: To cover the road a width of | sixteen feet with gravel to a depth of six inches will cost the sum of $4693 per mile. This is based on an average cost of gravel delivered the full length
 of the road of sS per yard. This esti-
 mated cost is a conservative one.
 Cheaper material could no doubt be
 secured closer and at a less expense.
 but this estimate is being made upon
 the proposition that road as good as
 the Phoenix Mesa road be constructed.
 At the lowest calculation. there would
 be between seventeen and eighteen
 miles of road to be thus treated. en-
 tailing an expenditure of S797S1 for
 gravel alone. considerable more than
 1t is proposed to spend in building the
 Tempe bridge. This however, is not
 all The committee paid particular
 attention to the present condition of
 the road, good as it is claimed to be-
 and calculated that there is not to ex-
 ceed one or two miles in the entire
 stretch from the proposed site of the
 bridge to Mill avenue that could be
 graveled without first being graded
 It might be well to here call attention to the fact that the, committee speaks only of the condition of the road from
 Mill avenue to Center street. Of the condition of the road from Mill avenue a C a int
 the writer Is personally familiar and upon his own responsibility states that what is true of the section examined yesterday. is practically true of the balance of it. The road travelled over yesterday was in many cases perfectly Hat, in other places rocky, in5 others lower than the ditches on each side and in one place less than twenty-six feet wide for a distance of a quarter Of mile. It is estimated that the average cost of grading a road is $500 per mile; in this case there are places where it would cost less and other places where it would cost more. so another conservative estimate of $500 per mile may be made, which adds to the expense of graveling. s51OO, mak- ing the total expense of putting the road in good shape the enormous figure of s9S.Ss1.
 On the other hand, what will be the condition of the road that becomes the main road of the valley if the Tempe site is selected by a majority vote of the taxpayers. The road runs directly east from the center of Phoenix. past | the asylum, where within the past two |