The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1916-02-08
About $4,000 Spent in This
Country on 20 Miles of
Highways
STATEMENT MADE BY
COMMISSIONER PERRY
Cost About the Average-State Paid
$4,000 for Maintenance, Resurfacing
and Oihng-Brattlebor Permanent
Work $4,000.

In response to a request from The
Reformer for a statement as to the
amount of permanent road work done
in Windham county the past year and
a statement of the expense of the
work, County Road Comm ssioner
David T. Perry of West Brattleboro
furnishes the following:
Editor of The Reformer:-
Dear Sir:-With the closing of the
| fiscal year Feb. l, of 1915 read work, it
may be of interest to the people of
| Windham county to note what has been
accomplished in the line of road i'm
provement III the last y months in this
county. The tabulation shows that %
4 sections Of road have been improved,
making total length of about 20
miles. The outlay for these improve
ments was in round numbers 100000.
This is about the average cost for this
county for the type of Improvement we
are now making. This low cost is made
possible only by making use of the
best material near at hand, or that
which does not incur heavy expense for
hauling. This neeessitates IN some To-
calities the use of hardpan for surfac-
ing in place of gravel, and is not quite
as satisfactory rs good gravel at ali
seasons of the year, but our limited
means up to date has not admitted the
expense Of hauling gravel several miles
for road work. During the past sea
! son II miles OF old state road work
has been resurfaced at an average
, cost of $3.50 a mile. The state has co.
! operated with the towns of Windham
county in the expense of maintenance
/ resurfaeing and oihng of the selected
: roads to the amount of $4,000.
g In line with the road improvement
G it is pleasing TO note what the town:
t have done in progressive bridge work
Sixteen wooden structures called
y bridges We're replaced entirely witt
. cement masonry, and several othe
/. bridges were partially rebuilt with tht
lie same class of work. With the ever in
d, creasing demands made upon tn
bridges because of the new condition
of traffic, it is encouraging to not
that the towns of Vermont are takin
up the better class of bridge work b,
~ replacing wooden structures with pei
y manent masonry and permanent floor
ing, thus relieving the constant COS
of repairs, the danger element.
ad Before passing from the subject c
road maintenance 1 would ask you
indulgence in few closing remark X
With the increasing traffic each yes
= by jumps and bounds we need TO b
IS deeply concerned about the manner an
~ expense of keeping our roads in
:, satisfactory condition. Our exper en-,
r.. teaches US nothing if it does not maI
he is clear that we must do more work, {
,ro it better. and do it at the proper tim
,re all the work that goes to maintain
19 good road. 1t need not be added tn
,as this method will increase the maint
nance expense.
er- With a few exceptions the maint
he nance of our roads is in the hands of c
.de ficient men, but road work is not
op- love task, and in the end it rever
ON back to a hard labor proposition.
is matters not how efficient the man
men may be who have the work
let charge or how well qualified to use
cen the improved methods of doing ro
ar work, they viii still need reasonal
me financial backing to pay for the lab
to be performed or they cannot rea
OF good results The conditions of t
rise roads in a town are largely CONTROL
the by the annual town meeting for the
'en- suing year. If they are to be 90,
lam then select the right men to ha
ap- charge of the work and then app
he pirate reasonable amount to pay
two tbs lobor needed and as r,,1e 1Io
gnt ing results are bound to follow.
II Respectfully,
Feb. S, 1916. d. t. PERRY.
The amount of permanent We
done in BrattIeboro was 2,100 feet,
the west village 1t was one of
40 most expensive pieces of road in
oo'- county, costing about $4,000. A $
tion 400 feet long was made of cem
G.. and the remaining LOO feet was
- ~ asphalt