Evening star., 1915-08-06

Y
! Tuesday afternoon. While the work
! is still in progress the road was open
; to traffic and no detours are necessary
The grading is well under way where
the new macadam terminates. and
within a short time will be extended
/ as far as West Falls Church. where
the county line crosses the road
When this route to Fairfax Court
+; House is completed. via Falls Church.
| there will be 17.6 miles of macadamized
roadway from Washington, although
there are several worn-out stretches
| between Cherrydale and Falls Church.
! Heretofore the worst stretches were
; in the vicinity of Tysons crossroads
where considerable corduroy road eS-
listed, but these are being rapidly inn
| proved.
| Committee in Control.
/ At the time the question of issuing
$4,000 worth of bonds was discussed
| the question of good roads was turned
over by the county commissioners of
Fairfax county to a committee of citi-
zens of the county. This good roads
committee, as 1t is called, was request
! ed to arrange the details of the con-
struotion and maintenance of the new
roads and to offer such advice and in
| formation from time to time to the
|
able. The committee, as at present con-
stituted, is composed of Joseph Berry,
| county surveyor, who is chairman of
the committee: Thomas r. Keith.
tary; D. s. Mackall, a Washington law
yer. who resides at Langley. Va: d. B.
E1gin, S. W. Flagg and A. S. Muters-
| baugh, owners of large farming in
| terests. and Maj. Charles Hine. rail-
road expert, who resides in Vienna.
hopn
! interest of the good roads propaganda,
and is doing all possible to secure good
roads in the county and at the same
! time use every effort to provide for
the maintenance of the new roads con-
structed and thus tighten the burden
of the property owners as much as
possible.
The committee deemed the establish
propriate means with which to secure
funds to be devoted to the upkeep of the
| roads. 1t was for this sole purpose that
that the one gate was put into operation
and is said to be more in the nature
of an experiment than anything else. AS
| there is considerable protest against the
present rates there is a likelihood that
these will be reduced. as it is the desire
of the committee that the rates be just to
every one. In fact it was stated that a
tollsat" ought to have been esta blished
some time ago, when the present ma
cs,udlnized roadway between Vienna and
Fairfax Court House was built. Just now
the road is showing signs of wear from
ne constant tralnc ana slight repairs
should be made if the road is to be saved
In it's entirety.
Thomas r. Keith, secretary of the COM
mlttee, in speaking to a representative of
The Star, said that the establishing of
tollgates was almost absolutely necessary
# the county was to provide good roads
for travel. The state, he said, still has a
heavy debt standing since the days of the
civil war and as result Is not able to
construct highways like Maryland, New
Jersey, New York and other states of the
Union. While there has been much talk
about tollgates being out of date, he said.
they are coming back in the Old Domin-
lon About year ago three tollgates
were put into operation with the compile
ton of new roadways in the vicinity of
Warrenton, Va.
Tolls Authorized.
Under the act providing for the fifty
thousand-dollar bond issue authority
was granted the board of supervisors
of the county to collect tolls for the
maintenance of the roads Other coun-
ties. said Mr. Keith, are establishing
GUS parts of the state. Effopts are now
being made, continued Mr.. Keith, to or
ganize turnpike company to build a
highway from Fairfax to Warrenton,
Via Centervi!1e The Virginia legisla-
ture, at the last session, passed an act
authorizing the taking over of what is
known as the Observation-Disclosures
pike from Fairfax to Buckland. The
Warrenton and Fairfax Turnpike Com
pany. which has capital stock OF
s150.000. has already been organized and
is headed by Mitchell Harrison of Phila-
delphia as president. The distance of
the proposed construction is thirty-two
miles At present there is a good road
from Buckland to Warrenton, a dis
tance of about seven miles. and for the
purpose of constructing road from
Fairfax to Buckland meeting of
good road enthusiasts will be held
courthouse building at Fairfax. The
meeting will be addressed by Col r. L;
lee, jr.. r. Walton Moore, Mitchell
Harrison and others.
If the decision is reached upon the
completion of the roads from Fairfax to
Washington via Langley and Falls
Church, it is the intention of the All,
to anahes 1t gate Vest at '
Church and third one at Mclean.
Unless reduction is made aud the
same charge Is made for motorists as
at the Oakton gate. 1t would cost the
Fairfax Court House from Washington
no matter whether he went via Langley
or Falls Church. The rate would be
almost at the rate of cents per mile,
Is lhc pIcScHL CudTSc OH Lie
Shenandoah valley pike.
Efforts are being made by motorists
and drivers at present to avoid. if pos
sible the one gate in operation at Oak
ton, dirt roads which have heretofore
not received much of the traffic being
used in order to defeat the toll propo-
sition.
The committee in charge of the reg
ulation Of the tollgates has given as-
surances that the question of rates will
be discussed and just what revision
will be made has not yet been de-
termined. 1t is believed that when all
of the gates are in operation, il it is
decided to establish the other three
upon the completion of the roads this
fall that downward revision will be
made and a fiat rate established for
one-way traffic. The question of toll
rates is now being looked into and
authorities will be consulted before
permanent rates are adopted. Until
that time arrives the present toll gate
collections will continue at Oakton.
Opposes Tollgates.
r. T. Ballard, merchant Of Vienna,
Va, in a letter to the county commits
sioner. strongly opposes the establish
ment- Of tollgates. He is an advocate of
good roads and all modern methods of
building and maintaining them. He
says he does not believe in taxing resi-