The Monte Vista journal., 1916-11-25
Common Sense
In Road Building


,ri,ding makes a road an asset in
oead OF liability.
where county or township
.ri,ds a road that will not outlast
i,s cost, that county or township
t. buying trouble and paying cash
,or it. 1t borrows money to buy
uobilty-creates debt to buy
something that will be a continual
oynense until it finally becomes
,otal loss through being worn out.
And borrowing money to build
road that will not last under mod
srn traffic conditions is unsound fin
ance.
mar with the lack of financial fore
sight of the young lawyer who took
flock of ducks as his fee for legal
services rendered a farmer in a line
fence fight. The young lawyer over
looked an item which, in road build
Ing, is termed maintenance. He
could not profitably market his
ducks, and found the cost of feed
ing them more than he had ex-
pected, just as the taxpayers of
county or township find that it
costs more money than they usually
estimate to maintain an imperman-
ent road.
Ducks have an appetite for corn
like the instability of tax-eating
bad road When this simple lesson
on the need of carefully weighing
probable maintenance expense had
sunk into the young lawyers head,
he borrowed hammer from a
neighbor and gently tapped the
ducks into eternal sleep. That act
created loss, but it saved a greater
one in putting stop to the upkeep.
as road builder would say, Of those
ducks.
The sooner bad road is put out
Of existence, that much sooner will
a wholly unnecessary expense be cut
off. Not only that, but land values
will begin to improve
Permanent road building costs
money, and it is well to look at the
cold-cash side of the proposition
True. the beneficial effects npon the
social and educational standards of
the community are not always sus-
ceptible Of exact calculation but they
are certain to come; and since a per-
manent road costs money, we must
know there is to be a profit from
somewhere to Offset the cost. Some
thing for nothing has never We. beer
found. Profits from a permanent
road come to the farmer in the re-
duction Of hauling costs. 1t puts
him in a position where he can get
to market every day in the year, and
where he can haul two loads at one
trip instead of having to make two
trips to haul one load.
These are few plain reasons why
a good road should be built, rather
than continue trying to maintain
bad one.
How to get good road system is
not difficult problem, if county
or township is willing to be guided
by common sense. The first step is
10 employ a competent highway en-
gineer. He will make a study o.
Traffic conditions, ascertain where
'he main market roads run, and
pulld accordingly. constructing feed
er lines to the main market lines
win type of surfacing material
mat will be less expensive than that
required on the main market lines
and yet will at the same time meet
all traffic requirements on the feeder
hhes. The main lines, if built Of
concrete, will be permanent and cost
'east to maintain.
Roads upon which traffic is heavi-
est start from different sections Of
'he county or township and come to-
sether at the main market place. In
drainage terms, which every farmer
VIII understand, these main market
roads are the main channels running
through the county or township.
iney start, traverse, and end &C
eoruing to the natural laws of trade
sraVitation, and, as in drainage de-
''iopment, these traffic streams are
e"iarged and improved economically
WHY az thair linpS of deScent toward