Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1910-12-16
A STATE HIGHWAY POLICY.

A STATE HIGHWAY POLICY.
The Good Roads convention has made
and they being discussd.
certain facts and conditions underlying the
problem Of better roads.
The new ideas proposed are highways prison
labor and bonds.
statebut highway means that certain be
recognized being used by the public in generally the peo
pie Of more than county,
For instance road from Portland to Ashland from Salem to
Tflamook from Albany to Newport from Portland to The
Dales Portland Astoria would be considered state
highway
To get permanent construction good engineering continuous
service decent patrol and repairs 1t is proposed to put such roads
in charge of the state.
The state at large has an innterest such highways
The purely roads, the local roads, would remain they
are now, under local control.
The state highway will be peoples roadway where cti
would operate his traction engine or teams
This system requires state highway engineer backed by
appropriation and authority employ convict labor
The county would share the cost of building Such
highways in proportion to the local and through traffic
For instance the cost of state highway from Portland to
Corvallis the West Side through Hsboro McMnnvle and
Dallas would divided between five counties and the state of
Oregon. atatA
What part should the counte the state bear?
The Road Convention bill says counties and
onehrd We do not believe this can be fixed arbitrarily
instance main state highway from The Daes to Prime
Vile from Medford Klamath Falls would each have diff
ferent class of traffic.
From Dales Prinevi there would be heavy local
freightng--probably half county traffic
From Medord to Klamath the traffic Crater Lake would
he mostly state interstate tourist traffic.
While it might be fair to make the counties more than
half from The Daes Prineve would be unjust make
the counties pay half the cost from Medord klamath Falls
because the staae would thm than the counties
Highways that local traffic to through
traffic by cars ought not the proportion
For instance in construction of state road from Portland to
Seasde-wha part should Columbia county pay?
Certainly proportion the traffic Columbia county put
the road
Columbia should pay for the 5000 that Mutno
inah county would put the road
traffic the whole traffic that
road that proportion each county pay
county should not be bonded taxed to build state
for the whole Of the state to
Would twothrds of the traffic be county
fic as this bill seems to indicate?
Manesty and hence state highway must be built
ogniton to certain weknown transportation principles
should pay only portion of the construction wear
that each county would be justly entitled to
the principle of joint
average interior county would such high
than from 80 to 80 cent compared all the
el that would go 1t.
That would the local traffic in the plus the through
traffic originating in the county
The of the traffic would be state and interstate traffic for
which the staate at large should pay.
There might be such highways the that the
county would be required to aid in constructing
county would still have keep all its county local
roads
county would have its share the money put
into the state highways
abung property would advance 100 800 per along
highway and be taxed for the increased
uation.
What apparent thsdscusson that be no
arbitrary laid down TO what proportion of the cost
state highway a county shall pay
These bills will be further discussed in this newspaper