Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-02-15
HIGHWAY DEPT
SHORT OF FUNDS
Plans For 1917 Will Be Carried
as Far as Appropriation
Will Go
BY w. X. ID. HALL

Statistician Pennsylvania State High
way Department
With the advent of new year the
State Highway Department is perfect
ing plans for the road work to be
done on the 10,2O0-mile State High
way System during 1917. 1t is diff
cult to foretell just how fully these
plans will be carried out, as the State
highway Department, in common
| with other branches of the State Gov
ernment, is dependent upon the State
Legislature for the appropriation OF
funds to perform its duties.
The State Highway Department,
however, has outlined a comprehen-
| sive scheme of proposed construction
for the next two years and 1t Is to be
hoped that the Legislature will find
revenues sufficient to provide appro-
| priauons commensurate with the
scope of these plans.
There is much misunderstanding in
Pennsylvania about the extent of the
state Highway Departments work.
To obtain full information as to this,
| it is necessary to bear in mind the
history of Pennsylvania's State High
way Department, here briefly recapit-
ulated.
In 1908, having found the county
| system of highway control expensive
and Intellectual, the State created a
State Highway Department under the
control of Commissioner, whose du-
ties were largely advisory, but who
| highways under a State-aid plan.
With supplements and amendments
| this Act remained in force until 1911
and under its provisions approximate
| ly nine hundred miles of State-aid
highways were built in different parts
of Pennsylvania. In 1911 it seemed
that the time was opportune for the
4 reorganization of the State Highway
Department and for the creation of
an elaborate system of State High
ways, which should be roads exclus-
lively built and cared for by the State.
1t was realized that the expenditure of
considerably more funds than would
| be available from the Legislature of
! the State would be required to finance
this project properly. Therefore, the
! 1911 Legislature, which passed the
| Act reorganizing and enlarging tho
State Highway Department, passed
also concurrent resolution providing
for the amending of the Satte Con-
sRtuuon to permit the issuance by the
state of bonds for road building pur-
poses. The reorganization Act desig-
mated certain roads to be taken over
| by the State and to become State
highways. The original plan was that
these roads should be those connect
ing the various county seats in the
State, which would have provided a
State Highway System of approx
mately $500 miles. Local influences
and the desire of legislators to have
roads in their districts adopted as
State Highways led in the swelling of
TINS total to $500 miles. The Act Gre
at1ng the Department stipulated that
each and every one of the routes thus
taken over as State Highways be sur
Neyed and plated and that maps
state, district and county-be issued
by the Department. AS q result of
| this, the early days of the State High
way Department, under the reorgani-
zation Act, were taken up with sur
vey work almost to the exclusion of
all other. Some little construction of
expensive type was undertaken but
by far the greatest amount of work
done during 1911 and 1912 was that
of surveying.
The 1913 Legislature, convinced, as
was its predecessor, of the necessity
for funds for highway Improvement,
passed the resolution calling for the
amending of the State Constitution
and, believing that the resolution
would carry when submitted to the
people, added 1,4O0 miles to the State
Highway routes, making a total of
10000 miles under the exclusive care
and jurisdiction of the State
The bond issue, when it came be-
fore the people in November, of 1913,
was repudiated. This left the State
with 10000 miles of highways irrevo-
cably committed to its care but with
nothing in the way of funds. other
than by appropriations by successive
legislatures to provide for the mainte-
nance, care and construction, or re-
construction, of these highways From
that date to the present time the
struggle has been continually one for
revenues. 1t has been impossible to
enter upon an era of constructive
work of any great magnitude.
The problem under the present ad-
ministration, therefore, has been to
maintain this vast mileage of State
roads in the best condition possible
with the limited revenues available.
| How to accomplish this in the most
economical manner so that the money
might spread out over the greatest
mileage of roads, has been the ques-
ton which the Maintenance Division
of the State Highway Department has
wrestled with and for which the De-
partment believes an answer has been
found. Realizing that the needs of
the travelling public in the various
communities of the State must be
met the State Highway Department
adopted policy outlined by His Ex-
cellency. Governor Martin G. Brum-
baugh, in his campaign, for the plac-
ing of the State Highways all over
the State in the best condition pos
sible with the money at hand. The
revenues available for maintenance
work were apportioned pro rata
among the counties on the basis of es-
Inmates furnished by the District En-
! gineers of the amount of work neces-
sary to place the State Highways un-
. der their charge in the best possible
condition. These estimates were care
!; fully revised and checked by the
Chief Engineer and authorizations
were issued to them to expend the
necessary sums in the care of their
roads.
The result of this systematic work
soon became apparent. Highways on
which it had been impossible to de-