Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1916-11-14
Highway Expenditures.
INCREASE OF MORE THAN $50 PER CENT
IN TOTAL OUTLAY FOR ROADS AND
BRIDGES IN PAST TWELVE YEARS.

Rapid Increase in total expenditures
for roads and bridges, growth of build
ing and maintenance activities under
state supervision, and sharp decrease
in the proportion of contributions in tht
form of statute labor mark the develop
ment Of highway work in the United
States during the past - years. These
facts are brought out by statistics fol
the calendar wear 1915, recently compil
ed by the Office of Public Roads and
Rural Engineering of the department.
The total length of public roads In the
United States outside the limits of in
corporated towns and cities was about
2,452, 900 miles on January /, 1915. OF
this, about 277,0O0 miles, or 11.3 pei
cent, were improved with some form oi
surfacing. The mileage of surfaced
roads has been increased at the rate OF
about $4,000 miles year, and in 1915
approximately one-half of this increase
was made under the supervision of State
highway departments. In addition,
these departments supervised the main.
tenance OF nearly $4,000 miles of main
and trunk line roads.
The increase in expenditures for road
and bridge work In the United States has
been from approximately $50, 600, 900 per
year in 1904 to about $2S2, 900, 900 In
1915, an increase of more than 250 per
cent. The expenditure of state fluids
about 81, $50, 900 to more than S53, ,000, 900.
In addition, more than $27 100000 of
local funds was spent under state super
vision in 1915, bringing the total road
and bridge expenditures managed by the
states to sS0,514,699. This amount is
greater than the total expenditures for
roads and bridges from all sources In
1904.
The growth in Importance of the state
highway departments has been rapid.
The first of these agencies was created
in 1891 10 New Jersey, and now some
form of highway department exists In
every state except Indiana, South Caro-
lima, and Texas. Since their inception
these departments had expended to jan
uary l, 1915, an aggregate of $265, $50, 1925
in state funds for road and bridge con.
struction, maintenance. and administra-
ton. They had constructed $4,000 miles
of roads in cooperation with the states.
More than 10000 miles of these roads
were surfaced.
The falling off in the value of road
work performed by statute and convict
labor was from 500, 900, 900 in 1904, when
the total road expenditures we're $780,
600, 900, to about S15,000,000 In 1915,
when the total expenditures bad grown
to $685., 100000. This was reduction
from % percent OF the total In the for
mer year to less than percent Of the
total in 1915.
An increase in the use of better and
more expensive types of roads also is
shown by the recently compiled statis-
tics. This development has been due,
in large part, to the great increase In au-
tomobile traffic. 1t is estimated that
there are now approximately two and
one-balf million automobiles In use on
the roads of the country, or one car for
every mile of road. This present motor
traffic is In excess of traffic of all sorts
IL wears ago.
The cash road and bridge expendi-
lures of the United States averaged only
S2S per mile of rural roads In 1904. In
1915 this average had grown to 500 per
mile. New Jersey led all the other
states, both in 1904 and 1915, with 1921
and s475 per mile, respectively. Nevada
made the least expenditure In both
years-S3 70 per mile in 1904 and SIT per
mile In 1915.