The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1917-08-16
MONEY
AND STATE AID
TO BE GIVEN TO ALL COUNTIES
IN THE STATE THAT CON-
PLY WITH CONDITIONS.
SYSTEMATIC ROAD BUILDING PLANNED
Commissioner Peck Visits BrookinQs
County And Inspects Different
Highways.

State Highway Commissioner Peck
was in the city Monday and Tuesday
investigating the road question at the
border of the state. He also went up
the King of Trails as far as Clear
Lake and then as far south as Sioux
Falls, where a big meeting of all the
counties interested in this trail was
held. f.. l.. Squirting accompanied
him TO Sioux Falls in The interests
Of Bookings county's part OF the
work.
There seems to be no doubt but
what the trails that this county Is
interested in will become national
and state highways.
The Sioux Falls Argus Leader
gives the following general resume of
TIE highway situation.
If the different counties are ready
to meet their share of the expense.
South Dakota will spend a million dol.
lars on highways within the next year
and keep up the expenditure for sew
eral years, the none coming from
the national government. That is,
this o will be spent outside Of
local funds raised to push the good
roads movement.
The state highway commission, Is
now composed of Governor Norbeck,
State Engineer Derr and Frank l..
Peck, the engineer who has had SUI
pervision of the construction OF high
ways in Lawrence county, which has
built more hard surface road the past
few years than any other county Of
the state. This board met and Or
ganized a few days g and has been
busy since that time getting matters
lined up for the fall work.
They will work along lines Of high
way construction which the federal
government requires. and when they
meet these requirements they will
have a quarter of a million dollars OF
government funds available this
year, and a like sum at the end Of
June next year. The state apprOpri-
ated a quarter Of a million dollars
of which two hundred thousand dol
lars have been a~pportioned, and the
balance is being held for emergency
work in the projects which are to be
looked after for the year.
The government requirements are
several. One Of these is the expen-
ditures must be upon post roads,
highways over which mail Is carried
either by rural carriers or by local
routes. They require a roadway with
a 24-foot surface, OF which 16 feet
must be in shape for travel, properly
crowned and graded at the right
pitch. They also require that high
way work on which the federal funds
are to be expended must not be
spread over too large a territory or
too many different projects on &C
count of the cost of supervision. On
that basis the state highway commits
sion has decided to divide the state
into districts for work in different
years. The first work will be in a
district comprising the counties along
the eastern line of the state, en- which
the available appropriation will be
used, and the 1918 appropriation is
expected to be available for another
district along the Jim river section
Of the state, with the following years
working farther west.
While this is a requirement of the
federal funds the state funds will be
apportiOned to all the different cOun-
ties Of the state, but must be expend-
ed under regulations of the state
highway commission, and with a fur
her provision that the counties re-
ceiving the funds, both state and fed
eral must raise a like sun to be ex.
pended on highway improvement.
AS an example of what some of the
counties will be expected to meet in
the way of county funds to match the
state and federal appropriations, es-
pecially those in the first district on
which the federal fund is intended to
be expended the present year, federal
funds to some of the counties of that
section will be: Roberts. $21,69O;
Grant, $17,4O0; Hamlin, $12.5OO;
Brookings. $22.400; Moody, $15.S00;
Jones, and both are included as one,