The Oroville weekly gazette. [volume] (Oroville, Wash.) 1905-19??, 1915-03-19
TALKING STATE ROADS
Where the Disposition Of the Recent
State Road Appropriation Is
to be Placed

II. w. Boetzekes, of Olympia. assist
ant to the chief engineer of the state
highway commission, arrived In Oro-
vile late Tuesday afternoon and
spent the night in town. Mr.. Boet-
zkes was on a tour of the valley, fol.
lowing state road No. 10 from its june
ton with Chelan county to the British
Columbia line, making observations as
to the points where the recent state
road appropriations of S29,51S for road
No. 10 could be applied to the best
advantage. That is, as there Is not
sufficient money to grade and surface
the entire road, the expenditures will
be made where the conditions de-
mand immediate attention.
In the evening Mr.. B0etzekes met a
number of residents of the town and
valley at an impromptu meeting held
in vacant store room in the Hotel
de Grubb. The meeting was organic
chairman, and l.. f. Pourtales secre-
tary. Mr.. Boetzekes was asked to
make a statement as to the conc.u-
sions he had reached after having
travelled over the road and made his
inspection. He said that consider
able sum would be required to put
the six mile stretch of road between
the Chelan county line and Pateros in
passable condition, dwelling at
length upon the rough and almost I'M
passable condition of that piece Of
highway. A small sum would be re-
Quired for a short sandy piece of road
near the old Davis ranch. Also at the
point where Chilliwhist creek crosses
the road, at the shale rock point he
tween Okanogan and Omak, and the
residue on the road between Tonasket
and Oroville. The estimates he made
he did not consider arbitrary, but he
felt that report and recommenda-
ton such as he had outlined would be
made to the highway commission. Mr..
Boetzekes answered a number of Ques-
tions propounded by those present,
but he was not prepared to commit
himself upon any plan the commission
ed that the commission was paying for
no right-of-way, and that If any Ques-
ton of that kind should arise or II the
people could not settle upon the ex-
penditure of the money at some par
ticular point requiring repairs, the
commission would simply refuse to 60
on with the work and spend the money
elsewhere on the line. He impressed
it upon his hearers that local traffic
over state road was of secondary
consideration. The ramiication OF
state roads was laid out with the OBJ
ject of accommodating through travel.
and while, of course, beneficial to the
residents of the country in touch with
the road the prime aim of construct
ing No. 10, between Wenatchee and
Oroville, is connection with the Brit
ish Columbia road system.
The meeting could neither act as an
advisory body, nor would suggestions
from single local organization carry
much weight in determining the
amount of the appropriation to be ex-
pended in any given place, or the man
ner of expenditure, and hence those
present could do nothing more than
hear such report as Mr.. Boetzekes felt
al liberty to make Those present felt
gratified to know that the representa-
tive of the commission that has the
power to make the expenditures of
state road appropriations showed a
willingness to recommend the placing
of liberal portion of the cash at their
disposal on road No. 10 between To-
nasket and Oroville, where no public
money has ever been expended, and
which is the natural route through the
valley to the British Columbia line