Arizona republican. [volume] (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1890-1930, 1913-10-02
ROAD BUILDING
VARIOUS KINDS
Supervisor Orme EIabOrates
His Suggestion for an
Issue Of Bonds by County
for Highway Construc-

To the Editor of 1.-THE Republican:
In my first letter in regard to a
bond issue for county roads, l tried
to make several points clear. First
that it would not increase taxes, at
least for fifteen or twenty years
Second, that the roads constructed
should be as near permanent as pos
sible. Third, that a good portion of
the money expended under the pres
ent system in temporary repairs is
wasted. it being necessary to make
the same repairs after each wet or
dry system. as the case may be.
In embarling on the venture of
building system of permanent roads
by bond issue. if the taxpayers should
conclude to do so, it behOoVes us to
be careful. as many a county and
community has made the venture and
IN ten or fifteen years had nothing
to show but some bonds to be paid.
and a few worn out roads. Most of
their mistakes have been made, I am
satisfied, from trying to cover too
much territory with too small an
amount of money.
We can profit by their mistakes.
which leads up to the fact that we
cannot cover the entire county with
q system of permanent roads for one
million dollars.
So, Mr.. Taxpayer. take warning, if
you vote for this bond issue with the
idea that a paved road will be con-
structed on every section line, YOU
are going to be disappointed. And I
believe that we who advocate this
bond issue should be honest, and
come clean" and not try to deceive
anyone. Nor try to carry it with
'whoop and hurrah," but let every
one know, as near as we can, what
they are to expect.
To answer question that is asked
me every day-what can be accom-
plished in road construction with
million dollars, more or less? l will
answer that there are as many ways
of building roads as there are STYLES
in women's dress. However, l be
lieVe there should be three general
classes of roads: One for the roads
where the traffic is heaviest main
line roads we may call them In
Southern California they build what
they call a first class road for about
eight thousand dollars per mile
which is an excellent road in many
respects. The maintenance amounts
to from five per cent to eight per
cent of the original cost each year,
as it has to be re-surfaced quite
often.
The highest type of road that we
could build is of material similar to
the paving on Washington street and
would cost about fifteen thousand
dollars per mile and the maintenance
4
good many years. There are several
types of roads combining the good
qualities of both the above mentioned
roads, that could be built for about
ten thousand dollars per mile, the
maintenance would be about two per
cent of the original cost each year.
This would seem to be a good road
where our traffic is heaviest, as be-
tween Mesa. Tempe, Phoenix, Glen
dale and Buckeye. One of these is a
type of road that is peculiarly adapt
ed to our worn out caliche roads,
such as the Tempe road east of Phoe-
nix. and the Grand avenue road
northwest of Phoenix to Glendale. BY
using these caliche roads as a base
the cost of these roads could prob
ably be reduced several thousand dol
lars per mile. 50 for our first class
roads we can build them for some
where between $1,000 and $4,000 per
mile.
AS to our second class roads, on
lines of lesser traffic, a caliche base
with oil and sand surfacing could be
used. An example of this type Of
road can be seen on the Mcdowell
road in Special Road District No.
Two. or on South Central avenue,
constructed by the county during the
past year. This type of road can be
constructed for about $4,000 per mile
but l do not especially favor it, as
the maintenance would be something
like five per cent to eight per cent
of the original cost each year. but on
lines of moderate traffic might be
less.
third class of road could be con-
structed in those parts of the county
where the roads pass through a nat
ural road material such as granite or
limestone formation, and well graded
and drained would cost from $1,000 to
81 500 a mile. The road from Peoria
to Wickenburg would be of this type,
as would also the road from Airing
ton to Aqua Caliente. and the main
tenance would be small, probably not
more than three per cent.
A fourth class of road would be
our old friend we know so well, the
dirt road, well graded and raised
above the water level Of the ambi-
tious irrigator, that can be construct
ed for from $3.50 to $500 per mile.
These dirt roads for outside roads
where the traffic is light. if well
dragged, are very good. except when
we have an extremely long dry sea