The Lakeland evening telegram., 1917-02-28
William =. Cooke. State Road Com
missioner for Florida, Delivered
Interesting Address Before Con-
vention of County Commits
sioners Yesterday

sioners Yesterday
Jacksonville. Fla. Feb 2S.-At the
opening meeting yesterday of the
county Commissioners perhaps the
most interesting address was that de-
livered by William +. Cooke. state
road commissioner for Florida. on the
subject Roadbuilding With Purpose.
Mr.. Cookies address was as follows:
About the most severe criticism that
can be directed toward an individual
is to say that he or she is purpose
less. Every effort or enterprise must
have a clearly defined purpose if re-
suits of a constructive nature are to
be obtained It has been said that
exceptions prove the rule" but road
building is most as surely not an ex-
ception to the one just stated.
The purposes of a road are mani
fold but those which present tkem-
selves most readily to the average
person may be enumerated about as
follows:
Four Principal Purposes.
First-To provide an outlet from
the farmhouse to the country road.
This may be termed the local or
neighborhood road
sSeeond-To connect the small coun-
~. gattl,p,avs or ,,illr,,a ,,.;tl tl,a
shipping point or county seat. This
may be termed the county or mar
ket road. and each mile of same will
increase i'm importance and volume of
trafic as il nears the business center.
Third-To connect town with town
and county seat with county seat.
forming a continuous line of communi-
cation across the entire state. This
class of road should be called and
shanld be a state road; and each and
every mile of same should be built
and maintained to some reasonable
standard Of durability and excellence.
Fourth To connect city with city
and state capital with state capital:
10 provide ample means for interstate
motor traffic and the movement Of our
armies in time of war. This may be
called the interstate or national road
and its construction and maintenance
should be shared in by the fodcral
government.
For the property owner living on
the trunk line road each of these four
purposes are fulfilled by the single
road, but a comparatively small per
cent are so situated. and his less for
tunate neighbor must be provided with
one of the other classes of road
An ArteriaI System
If we reverse the order in which
these four classes of roads have been
considered taking first the national
or trunk highway, then on down the
list to the local or neighborhood road
the system presented can be very
properly compared to the arteries in
AiiN iihiliiii bphN ~ Vail tillN iOlH
parison still further an interruption
in the flow of blood through the arter-
les will cause congestion and disease
TO occur in the body; likewise. a
break or badly proportioned plan
of construction in our highway sys-
TEN will cause congestion, waste. and
lack of development in our body po.
little.
As has been shown, the purpose of
the neighborhood road and the coun-
ty or market road is to meet the
needs of traffic developing almost en-
tircly in one community or county.
Such roads should logically be a
county charge and be built and main
tanned with county funds and under
county supervision. Conditions may
change with time. but under present
conditions the state is assuredly not
in a position to assume the burden of
supervising the county and local
roads. an an attempt TO do SO would
be, to say the least. unwise. This
being the ease there devolyes upon
the county the responsibility of lay
ing out and constructing the local
system so that each unit may fufll
the purpose for which ii was intend
ed.
The problems to he solved in con
nection with the local system are in
some respects more complex than
those of the state and national sys-
tenn.
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