Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1913-05-03
Local Comment

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The visit of the State Center dele
cation of business men to Marshall-
town to have the south road from this
city to State Center designated as
county road instead of the north road
illustrates the point which was sought
to be made in this column last week,
that as to the Importance OF having
the roads in which our citizens are
most interested designated as county
roads for it is these roads that are
eventually to be reduced to permanent
grades and surfaced with some hard
road material.
The points at issue between the two
State Center routes are that the south
road is so very hilly that it is seldom
kept in good condition and Will cost
the county an immense sum to reduce
to a permanent grade. The new Ia"
requires that county roads be immedl-
ately surveyed, permanent grade llnes
established and adopted by the board
and placed on file on plat in the audi
tors office. Henceforth all grading on
county roads must be done to the sur
yey thus established and with a view
10 making a permanent road. Inc IN
tention of the legislature was 10 nave
n county road system proper! sTaueo
before laws are passed to accomplish
the hard surfacing of roads. Thus the
DESIGNATION of this south road to state
Center as a county road means thai
the county must eventually reouce az
those hills to whatever permanent
grade line is established by the en-
gineer which will be very expensive.
On the other hand the south ROAD Is
the most direct route, being the snort
est in mileage and unquestionably Wi'l
serve the traffic from the south part
of the county, Melbourne and Rhodes
better.
The north route lies naturally much
more favorably for a permanent ROAD
at the least cost. The c. & ~ W.
railway engineers chose il as the line
of least expense for grades when the!
built their railroad and a permanently
graded and surfaced road can be bulit
on this line much cheaper than on the
south road.
In all states where systems of per-
manently graded and surfaced county
or state roads have peen eStaphshed
the farms adjacent to those roads nave
been greatly enhanced in value ana
real estate ads offering farms for sane
always display the fact that the farm
offered is on the county boulevard OF
the so-and-so state road. Looking into
the future at the road work which Is
eventually to be done in this state lana
owners should see that the official
county road is located past their farms
at any cost as the investment VIII be
OF immense profit to them in the price
oe their lands as well as in the COM
forts of living Every farmer in Iowa
can we'll afford 10 guarantee to reduce
any hill adjacent to his lands free OF
cost 10 the county in return for the
official designation of his road as
county road for all time TO come In
the future. Two months work by four
men and teams on half mile OF road
If furnished by the two farmers liv-
ing on the two sides OF the road and
viewed as ten years investment
would amount to $3.50 per month ap-
proxim teIy for each land owner for
the ten years and il would be the best
investment ever made on the farm
Land owners who have billy roads
which they would like to have made
county boulevards should equalize the
cost to the county. At Newman. H..
few years ago. several enterpris!ng
farmers induced the county 10 build
county road past their farms with :,
paved center and when the road was
com pleted one other farmer offered
$1,000 in cash if the road could be ex-
tended past his place while another
offered to pay his county road tax ten
years in advance.
Much the same situation exists in
the vicinity of Liscomb. 1t has been
suggested TO the board of supervisors
TO designate the road east from Lis
comb to the Third avenue road as
county road but the cost to the county
Of permanently grading this road will
be four TO five times what it would
cost 10 permanently improve the south
road from Liscomb to Albion, in fact
the permanent grades would not cost
as much for the entire twelve miles
from Marshalltown TO Liscomb by way
OF Albion as for the five miles east
of Liscomb and in taking on the ex-
pense of $50 miles Of county roads the
count the ultimate cost of permanent
Improvement AS the railroads always
do the engineers must be instructed
10 find the routes on which roads can
be built at the lowest cost.
Mr. A. a. Moore Marshall county's
representative in the Transcontinental
Route Association, was instructed at
the last state meeting of the associa-
ton to relocate the route thru this
county so as 10 better the roads. Cross
state travellers com, plain that Marshall
county has had one of the worst
stretches of road on the entire route.
Mr.. Moore has changed the approach
to this city via Twelfth avenue and
East Main street because Of the ter
rible condition of the South Third ave-
nue. pavement and the NJ. & st. l.. rail-
way crossings and it has been his in
tention to change, the route to State
Center by using the north road from
Lamoille if he could get the board OF
supervisors to designate that road as
the permanent county road. Residents
oil &c