The Parker post., 1916-06-24
BOARD ADOPTS
ROAD ROUTE
NEW COUNTY HIGHWAY WILL.
PARALLEL THE RAILROAD AND
WILL SERVE NO MATERIAL IN.
TEREsTs.

At a meeting of the board of su-
pervisors held last week the county
engineer was authorized to proceed
with the construction of a road par
alleling the Santa Fe railroad be
tween Bouse and the reservation
lime approximately nine miles south
east of Parker
This action by the board evident
ly settles the route for the proposed
county highway between Parker and
the Maricopa county line
The county will commence the high
way at the reservation line and run
some sort of road to the MaricOpa
county line, leaving a gap of nine
miles between Parker and the reser-
vation line to be built by the govern
ment.
All Of which means that Parker and
Bouse will receive no material bene-
fit by the construction of the prOpoS-
ed road, aus it will be many years, if
ever, before AN appropriation from
congress can be secured for the COM
pletion of the route.
By the selection of this route the
supervisors will be enabled to clip
off from $4,000 to 0,00O from the
$4,000 originally apportioned for the
Parker line highway and
use the surplus in completing the
construction of other roads named
in the bond election notice providing
for the issuance of 100000 in bonds
for good roads in this county.
And the through auto traffic will
continue to come and go via of Cum
nlngham Pass, the Big Wash and the
sand hills between the Big Wash and
Parker, for the reason that the shift-
dng sand dunes between Parker and
the reservation line will bar their
entrance to this place.
The only reason this route was
selected by the board cam be attri-
balted to the necessity of using
large portion of the fund set aside
for the Parker-Maricopa line road
for the completion Of the roads now
under construction in the Yuma wall
ley. - F-s
While the river route to Bouse
would serve all interests in this end
of the county, its construction would
cost more than the route adopted
by the board. Hence the reason for
turning down the river route, and
practically telling the majority of the
business interests of Parker to take
a Long running jump into that we'll
known lake of fire and birthstone.
Not for single instant would
this paper oppose the construction
Of the county highway along the rail-
road to Bouse IF TILE COUNTY IN
TENDED TO COMPLETE A GOOD
HIGHWAY INTO THE TOWN OF
PARKER, AND IN ADDITION MAKE
A DECENT APPROPRIATION FOR
A ROAD FROM PARKER ALONG
THE RIVER ROUTE TO OS-
BORNE'S WE'LL.
But, in the first place, the county
has not the money to build substam
tial road over the nine miles of sand
dunes between here and the reserva-
tion line, even if the board of super
visors were disposed to do so, which
they are not.
And, in the second instance, if the
board does make an appropriation
from the regular county road fund
for building road via of the river
route, such appropriation would be
infinitismal, for the very good reason
that the road fund couldn't stand the
pressure in it's present and future
depleted condition.
Therefore, the result of the road
agitation, so far as Parker is concern
ed, will be that we will have no more
roads than a rabbit after the half
million dollars of highway funds have
been expended, and northern Yuma
county will be Left holding the sack.
The supervisors may think they
have played a foxy game on the
north end by getting the approval of
a few Parker and Bouse people for
the railroad route, which gave them
the excuse they wanted for adopting
that route, but later when these same
people see how the board bilked
them they will set UP a howl that
will be heard from here to Yuma.
Bouse was baited with the auto
traffic, which at present goes via
Of Cunningham Pass because the
road from Bouse to Midway is al
most impossible Believing that a
road along the railroad to Parker
would result in securing this much
desired business, they wanted the
railroad route. If the people of Bouse
could realize that the construction
Of good road from Bouse to Mid
way would not only assure them of
the auto traffic, but such road
would also serve the mining interests
located in that direction, they would
oppose the railroad route
especially if they knew that the rail-
road route would never be completed,
except by a congressional appropria-
ton, and in our humble Judgment
congress never will make such an
Even if the railroad route we're
to be completed it would serve no
interests except to the joy rider and
the passing tourist, and by the time
such a route could be completed the
passing tourists will be going over
substantial highways between Phoe-
nix and Yuma and the Imperial val