Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1910-03-25
TALK ON GOOD ROADS
ADDRESS OF COMMISSIONER
LAWRENCE.


LAWRENCE.
A Masterly Presentation Of Facts and Fif-
ures for Thorough Demonstration
OF the Importance Of Co. operation and
Persistent Labor for Results that May
Reduce the Present Cost Of Haul to
Something Like What Time. Continuous
and Well Directed Labor Have Secured for
the Older Countries in Europe.
The good-roads organization of the
State is purely voluntary. Noappli-
cation for membership is necessary
and no admission fee is charged. The
State meetings are mass conventions,
in which all attending are delegates
join the movement. All that is need
ed is loyalty to the cause of good
roads.
There are three principal classes
of road-wOrk in the State of Wash
ington: County work, done en-
tirely by the County Commissioners;
State-aid work, in which the county
bears one-half the expense and the
State one-half, in the Improvement of
county roads, the work being done
by the State Highway Commission;
State roads, built entirely at State
expense, intended to extend between
counties. connecting different COM
munities and constituting trunk-lines
OF travel.
The total length of all the county
roads in the State is estimated at
about $4,000 miles, more than one
fifth of the total railroad mileage in
the United States. The total mile
age of State-aid roads is 94.4 miles
surveyed and 1862 miles constructed.
The county and State-aid roads are
now travelled and are being improved
by State-aid, sO-called. The State
roads are being constructed in part
on new locations, where no roads now
exist. Probably 50 per cent. of the
team-haul for the next quarter of q
century, will be over wagon roads
now in existence, county roads.
About ive-sixth of all the money
for road and bridge purposes, is now
being spent or county roads. This
includes maintenance and repairs on
roads and bridges and new bridges,
leaving one-sixth of the total expen-
diture under the Highway Commits
SiOner
| Four commodities constitute 80 per
cent. Of the rail-haul, or secondary
transportation in Washington, viz;
logs. lumber, coal and grain. In the
number of tons hauled one mile, the
products Of the field, garden. orchard
and dairy. constitute more than one
half. This haul is first made over
wagon roads. by team-haul, and con
stitutes primary transportation,
Logs, lumber and coal, constituting
the remaining 80 per cent of the ton.
mage hauled over the railroads in the
Estate, have a very limited haul over
Established highways.
The average cost of hauling tor
lover the railroads in the State o.
Waslingto is slightly less than five
mills. The average cost of hauling 6
|. ton one mile by team, over existing
wagon roads, is cOnservatively esti
mated at % cents. The Northern
Pacific and Great Northern railroad.
. united to build the Spokane, Portland
and Seattle railroad, on which ovel
fifty millions OF dollars have been ex
pended for the purpose OF cheapeninl
the railhaul one, or possibly two
mills per ton per mile, and this money
was undoubtedly wisely spent.
On the good roads of Europe. th'
cost of hauling q ton one mile, by
: team. is estimated at seven or eigh
cents. With good roads in Washing
ton, the cost ought to be reduced t
ten cents a ton per mile. If the rail
roads can profitably spend $50, 900,
600 on about 325 miles of line, to saw
q mill or two ton per mile, hov
much can the people of the State o
Washington afford to spend on al
the wagon roads in the State to saw
fifteen cents in hauling ton on
mile? This is one of the problem
the Good Roads Association of thi
State is trying to present to the peo
lie. To bring about this result is tn
primary purpose in the organization
of this Association.
Freight constitutes about 80 pc
cent. of the transportation busl
ness of the railroads, the remain
: der being passenger traffic. Their
, are no statistics showing the per
centage of freight and passenge
. travel over the public roads, but
! is probably OF relatively the same in
pOrtance as on the railroads.
There is no exclusively passenge
g railroad in the United States, nor tn
g world, for that matter. Railroad
7 are constructed for utility. Some
J the railroads with the most exper
sive and substantial roadbeds. an
r luxuriously equipped passenger train
carry the heaviest volume of freigh
s traffic.
This should be born in mind i
" h,,;ld;pO rrood uayOpS roads IJtilit