Tazewell Republican. [volume] (Tazewell, Va.) 1892-1919, 1911-11-09
HIGHWAY IMPROVEMENT.
Many Notable Figures will Participate in
The Great GOOd Roads Meet to be Held
In Richmond November 20 to 23.

'iS"o Ou tne SUBJECT OF
road Improvement and the relation of
good roads to national progress and
prosperity, will mark President Taft's
address at the first congress of the
American Association for Highway I'm
provement to be held at Richmond, Va.
November 20-23.
The foremost engineers, road officials.
traffic experts. legislators, railroad Off
cials, manufacturers, contractors and
agriculturists who have been deyoting
their attention to the problems of road
construction, maintenance and admins
tration, will be brought together at
Richmond.
In the field of road construction. in
tricate problems have arisen to puzzle
farmers as well as automobilists, espec-
tally with regard to the adaptation of
construction to meet the destructive eff
fects of modern traffic.
Director Logan Waller Page, of the
United States Office of Public Roads,
has made various experiments which
have shown the best types of road for
the various kinds of traffic. but the re-
suits of these experiments are not gen
orally known throughout the various
States. Mr.. Page, who aside from his
official position at the head of the gov
ernment Office of public roads, is the
President of the American Association
for Highway Improvement, will tell
something of these experiments at the
road congress.
Announcements. of equal Importance
will be made by road officials of the
various States who expect to find profit
in an exchange of views.
Every State in the Union is vitally
interested in the road building and
maintenance problem and practically
every State will be represented either
by its Governor or some other high Off
cial- Road officials of most all the
States likewise will be present.
Road maintenance has been almost
entirely neglected in the United States.
with the result that deterioration of the
best constructed roads represents a pre-
ventable loss aggregating millions of
dollars annually.
Just now there is a tendency towards
remedial action looking to the adoption
of continuous and systematic mainte-
nance and the great road congress at
Richmond is expected to coordinate
this part of the road movement. and
help to bring about better maintenance
of roads throughout the country.
1t is also expected that efforts will be
made to develop more uniformity in leg
islation passed by the various state leg
islatures and to show the advantages of
bond issues for road building and main
tenance.
The official program, just announced,
includes National Day" at which
President Taft will be the principal
speaker. Among the other speakers on
this day will be Governor Mann, of Vir-
ginia, DR.. Walter Page, editor of
Worlds Work; w. w. Finley, president
of the Southern Railway Company;
General Coleman Du Pont, who is pre-
senting to the State of Delaware a
81, 600, 900 boulevard extending across
the State, and Congressman j. Hamp-
ton Moore, president of the Atlantic
Deeper Waterways Association.
In addition to National Day." there
will be an Engineers and Contractors
Day." a "Manufacturers' Section, 4"
Road Users Day." and Association
Day." The Governors of Virginia and
West Virginia have issued proclama-
tion for Good Roads Week" to pre-
cede the congress and the governors of
other states will probably do likewise.
By concerted action, the farmers of the
various states will show what can be
accomplished in actual road building in
weeks time.