Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1916-08-05
SECURE STATE AID
IN ROAD BUILDING
State Highway Engineer Hirst Dis
cusses This important Cues

III iA@fi VI NADNOlloill.J
Most Of the states have created
state road departments to give advice
when requested in matters affecting
1 road and bridge construction, or nave
adopted the principle of state aid or
/ state supervision, or both, in the con-
struc,ion Of highways. Some of these
Estates have adopted the policy of build
ing certain main roads at the solo ex.
pense of the state and have provided
for state maintenance thereafter. In
any discussion of state aid, not only
for roads but for any other purpose
we should not lose sight of the basic
fact that money provided by any state
tc aid or perform any activity is pro.
1 duced almost wholly by direct taxes
i paid by the people of that state State
aid is by no means a gift of the gods
acquired without the sweat of the
brow
In the middle west, at least, the old
system of local control is still enough
in effect to furnish one big reason
why state after state has independent
ly determined that some charge had
i to be made if roads fitting modern
4 conditions instead of those of the
4 dark ages were to be obtained Road
building IS not an exact science, yet
success in road construction depends
L Upon the recognition of certain fixed
principles by the builder, which prin-
i clples must be observed in the CON
struction and maintenance of all types
lof roads, whether they be surfaced or
Il OF natural earth These principles
are simple, and yet even today prob
ably one-half of those in charge Of
road construction either do not re-
alize them or fail to carry them into
effect In Wisconsin, if we could even
get the local road builders to concede
universally that a road should have
two bitches instead of one, we would
feel that we had accomplished a real
revolution.
/ In addition to this general lack of re-
!: allzation of the basic principles of
!: road construction, the trouble with
!: systems of local control and local con
struction and maintenance has every.
where been that every piece of road
was well built or we'll maintained
: there was no guarantee that the next
mile would not he utterly bad and the
usefulness of the good piece almost
wholly lost.
| Another important factor in spread
ing the state aid idea has been the
fact that it causes Incorporated cit
Z les and villages to pay a portion of
the cost of rural highways, conse-
quently reducing the cost to the ru-
raj communities to a point where
they feel encouraged to take up high
class construction on the most impor-
tant roads. The result is that these
roads are made capable of serving
adequately not only the rural popu-
lation but also the people of the cit
les and villages, who are indirectly
If not directly interested in the CON
ditions of these principal arteries
through which they must draw their
rural trade
The best evidence that state super
vision and state aid are effective in,
|
struments for obtaining better roads
lies in the fact that no state which
mas ever adopted system of either
advisory or compulsory state super.
vision Of road work, or of state aid.
or OF exclusive state construction.
has ever afterwards abandoned it. The
original laws have been changed in
almost every state; there have been
changes III organization and changes
IN general scheme. But every state
has adhered to the basic idea that if
effective statewide road construction
is to be secured, it must be through
state aid and supervision on the more
important roads. We know of nc
state which has developed its main
Lines of travel to meet modern re-
quircments without some system Of
state aid or state construction. The
state most closely approa hing this
condition is Indiana, but it is under
stood that even there the system Of
local bond issues and consequent 10
cal construction has not been wholly
satisfactory and that some other sys-
tenn will soon be substituted.
The first effect of state aid has in
yariably been to increase road con,
struction of an adequate character.
This is due to two reasons. First, I'M
der all state aid laws the cost has
been distributed better than under
local laws. Second, all state aid laws
are so arranged that unless a county
proceeds with construction. it sacri-