Lower coast gazette., 1909-08-28
SATURDAY, AUGUST %, 1909.
Good Roads.

in the practical unanimity Of all those concerned
in agreeing to build two public roads from New
Orleans to Baton Rouge, one on each side OF the
river. Just how the details of the work are to
be carried out has not yet been formulated, but
the unanimity of the meeting called by the
governor at Baton Rouge to consider the mat
ter is such that there can be but little doubt
that these good roads will very soon materlalze.
The work is in good hands, the state engineers
are already surveying the routes and before
long our capital city, Baton Rouge and metro
politan New Orleans will be connected by two
fine roadways that will very quickly revolution
ize country life along these roads. AS brought
out in our editorial on Good Roads in our issue
of August 7, local conditions in the parish OF
Plaquemines, with it's coast line of vol hundred
miles, recurring good roads, make it seemingly
difficult to enter into the good roads movement
here as effectively as can be done elsewhere IN
the more thickly populated and more wealthy
sections of the state.
On the other hand, in this parish we have a
number of oyster factories and have easy &C.
cess to supplies of shells that are extremely
valuable for road building and can be got for
that purpose with a comparatively light ex-
pense. In the parish of St. Bernard the good
roads, movement has already reached to within
a few hundred yards of the Plaquemines parish
line and along the line Of the good roads move
muent in that parish lands have already doubled
in value because of the ease Of access that the
new shell road now gives to the various gar
dens, farms and plantations in st. Bernard
parish and the easy transfer of all produce from
the farms and gardens directly to the wholesale
markets in New Orleans.
five had good roads In our parish, and they
certainly can be secured along the line suggest
ed by Governor Sanders, that is by the capital
ization of an allotment of the revenue to be
made by the police jury for that purpose, there
would be a revolution in land values in this
parish equal to that experienced in St. Bernard.
-Four thousand dollars per front arpent has been
plantation in St. Bernard parish and if a good
shell road ran ten miles down from St. Ber-
nard, say through English Turn and beyond,
the lands there should command an equal price.
As brought out in our recent editorial, we
now again state that one of the difficulties that
we have. and we believe the chief difficulty,
would be in doing justice to all of the residents
of the parish in constructing these expensive
roads. It would take a number of years to &C.
complish any very considerable work along
these lines and therefore we should undertake
it at once, as every years delay in the begin
ming means a years delay in completion. Rec
ognizing the capital town of the parish, Pointe'
a-la-Hache, as our common center, our road
ways should radiate from that location and be
built as rapidly as could conveniently be ar
ranged for. This would require the building Of
roads on each side Of the river and upward ant
downward, 50 it would make four lines alone
which to build, upward and downward from
Pointe-a-la- Hache and upward and downward
from West-Pointe-a-la-Hach AS the parish o
St. Bernard has already built it's roadway almos
to the Plaquemines parish line, we should en-
deavor to begin a line road also, to connect wit
St. Bernard and thus have the advantage of tn
long line of shell road already constructed there
This would give us five points wherein she
road construction should go on and if w
SlOulu Dullu Ill AlIICo q yC0l ~ WOul
only take a few years to give our ger
eral road system a very valuable aid by thes
newly built she'll roads, which, in turn, migf
induce us into still more earnest efforts towar
the final completion of the system.
1t would be very desirable, indeed, if Of
Police Jury, at it's next meeting would take i
this matter and appoint a committee to form
late a plan to carry out the development of got
roads in Plaquemines parish. The times a
propituous; we have a governor who has h
heart in the cause and will aid US by eve
method within his power, and if we will NAL
the effort we can unquestionably build from tt
to twenty miles of road per annum and, if bu
along the lines that we have herein suggest
they would begin to be of great benefit to o
people right from the very first mile bui
Those i'm this parish interested in this matt
should take it up with their police jurors and e
deayor to secure their cooperation in the NOV
ment. There are no axes to grind, but simI
good roads to be built, and to be built as chea
II, 90 noac;hlo and nur narish has a better ODn(