Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1913-10-31
Status OF Road Building In Mary
land.

| Gov. GOldsborough and the State Roads
Commission recently toured the State in
specting the completed State roads. and
in connection Herewith the Governor is
sued lengthy statement concerning the
situation, a portion of which we publish.
Two fundamental facts must be con-
stantly borne in mind for a correct COM
prehension of the building of our State
road system. The act of 1908, creating
the commission, in terms provided for the
construction of a system of main arteries
or thoroughfares throughout the State, pri-
marily radiating from Baltimore as a CEN
ter, and incidentally connecting up the
county seats with each other or with the
system. as practicable, it not being con-
templated by the act that local or county
roads shall be built by the State. The act
further directs that the money appropriated
by the State for this purpose shall be al
lotted to the several counties in proportion
to the county road mileage of each, instead
of to the mileage of State roads later laid
in each.
"As sufficient money has not been pro-
vided to date for the whole system, this
limitation has seriously interfered with
the work of completing it, for when the
money set aside for any county has been
exhausted, construction in that county
must stop. this leaving gaps or uncom-
pleted sections all over the State, for
which the commission is not responsible.
In 1914 a lump sum should be provided
for all the work as recommended by the
commission, or a sufficient amount be APP
propriated to fill in the gaps in each county.
State road bonds ageregating $780, 900
have been authorized by the last three
legislatures, as follows: 1909. SIS, 100000
1910, $1,OOO,OOO; 1912. $3,i7O.000. Total,
$9.170,000.
"Of the $9,l70.000 of bonds so provided,
| $8,646,000 have been sold, at a discount
of $296,023.87. netting $S,S49,976.13.
There remained to be disposed of 1924
900. A bid of 81 has just been received
on $274,000 of these. and the remaining
| $250,000 cannot be sold until January,
1914.
in my opinion, the State cannot only
afford to complete our road system, but
it cannot now afford not to do So On the
other hand, this will add to the already
large burden of the Taxpayers, and the
amount appropriated for the next two
years should not be larger than can be
properly and economically expended by
the commission during that period. A
recommendation as to the sum needed for
this purpose will be made promptly to the
next legislature, which will be urged to
appropriate the money without delay. If our
contracts for 1914 can be advertised and
let in January and February. low winter
prices will be secured from contractors
This will save the State several hundred
thousand dollars. besides greatly expedit-
ing the work. If this highly important
matter is delayed until the last days OF
the session, in April, desirable contractors
will have then secured work elsewhere, as
we shall have received few bids in the
spring, and these at high figures.
perhaps no other State has wider
Investigation of road building than Mary
land, this including crossing the Allegany
Mountains in Garrett and Alegany cOun-
ties: the smaller ranges of the Blue Ridge
east of there the broken and billy region
of Central Maryland, with its variety OF
soil; the sandy Eastern Shore counties
with no road building material. and in cases
the surface the broken and irregular sand
and clay country of Southern Maryland
with no stone. many rivers and swamps
and scant transportation facilities ex-
pending several million dollars in paving
CITY streets in and around Baltimore, will
a population of nearly three quarters of {
million; the designing and construction o
a number of large bridges, etc.
in carrying out this great undertaking
close study has been given to adapting
the types of roads. as far as is consisten
with system of modern highways, t,
the resources of our State and to the physi
cal characteristics, the traffic requirement.
and the wishes of the people in the severa
parts of the State
in Baltimore city and its suburbs bi
luminous concrete. bituminOus macadam
vitrifed brick, granite blocks and shee
asphalt are among the modern pavement
being laid. In Western Maryland opera
tons are necessarily largely confined Il
the resurfacing Of the old National, Fred
erck and other turnpikes with macadam
practicable for this purpose. Last yea
contractors would not do this class Of work
except on percentage; but plan ha
been devised whereby they are now doinI
so on a unit basis. and large mileage i
being built in that section.
"In order TO meet the ever increasin
strain of heavy and fast automobiles. mo
tor truck and wheel traffic the commits
sion laid in the summer and fall of 1912
several peices of experimental cOncret
road, namely. three on the Washington
boulevard, at Badensburg, at Paint Branc
and in Laurel; short section in lowe
Charles county. and one on the PREACHER
Gus clay soil on the old post road east @
North East in Cecil county. These road
have now been in use for nearly yea
and are as good as when opened TO traffic
with practically no maintenance on then
Encouraged by this result. the commissio
will increase its construction of cOncret
as rapidly as il deems advisable. and thi
year about so miles of il are being lait
) in Is different counties.
= ut does not follow, however, that it
- practicable to make an entire and immt
date change from macadam to concrete
The failures in concrete roads are nearl
all due to imperfect construction rath'