The Dillon herald. [volume] (Dillon, S.C.) 1894-????, 1911-07-20
THE VALUE OF GOOD ROADS
Between Half and Il Billion Dollars
Would be Saved Annually if
HiphMaNS Mere IInnrnNnI


Washington, ID. c., July 10 Be
tween half billion and billion
dollars would be saved annually in
the United States if every State
would improve its main highways 10
the highest point of efficiency.
Calculations just made by the
united States office OF Public Roads
show that to effect this enormous
saving throughout the country it
Will be necessary to improve only
about 20 per cent. of the roads.
There are now about 2,15O, 600
miles of road in the United States
Two hundred thousand miles, or
about per cent. are improved in
Der of miles up to % per cent. it
VIII be necessary 10 improve 25O.-
600 more miles. While this task
may seem stupendous. it is esti-
mated that it can be accomplished
by a probable average expenditure
OF $1,000 mile. or 81, $50, 100000
for fairly complete system. Were
each State to put S4,0OO,OOO into
the improvement of it's roads, the
work could be accomplished in a
very short time.
"A complete system of roads,"
said Logan Waller Page, director of
the United States office of public
roads, in discussing the road move
ment that is sweeping over the
country, lis an economic necessity.
A few figures will illustrate the
stupendous saving that could be
made.
There are, for instance, nearly
half million automobiles in the
United States at the present time:
their value roughly estimated is
close to three quarters of a billion
dollars. There are, in addition, 21,-
100000 horses and 4,123,0OO mules,
the number growing steadily despite
the advent of motor vehicles: the
value of the horses is about ST.
276,363 the value of the mules,
$500, 100000.
Then take the pleasure vehicles.
Ihey number 100000, with a val
ue of s51,5OO,OOO. Then take the
wagons used for commercial purpos-
es. They number $4,000, the to-
tai value being S31 1,4SO,OOO. The
wear and tear Oh these vehicles as
result of bad roads is nearly rs
per cent. A complete system of i'm
proved highways would cut this loss
in half.
THE great saving in transporta-
ton of all kinds of products, includ-
ing those of the mills as we'll as
those Of the soil, would amount tC
many millions of dollars annually.
In the case of the corn crop of the
South alone, no less than s7,20O,-
600 would be saved in transporta-
ton, despite the fact that most of
the corn there is for home consump-
ton.
Whenever a new road is built
or an old one improved, the value of
the nearby land rises automatical-
ly. This increase in itself is suffi-
Client in most cases to pay for the
Improvement. The profit from the
country from this source would be
almost inestimable. In fact it is
a very conservative estimate that
the saving throughout the country,
from all sources as a result of the
improvement Of 20 per cent. of the
roads would be somewhere between
half billion and a billion dollars
every year. And this saving could
be accomplished by an expenditure
of 100000 in each state the first
year and a much smaller sum each
year thereafter for maintenance.
The whole thing depends, of course.
upon systematization, and all the
states working together, but it
would seem that the era of road
building that has begun is tending
towards these results"