Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1918-05-05
New Plan Is Proposed for
County Road Maintenance

rain hard Saturday night as Il is any
other night and IN that case thc
roads need attention SUNDAY morn.
ing They cannot wait until Mon
day II they do wait traffic IS M,
only in'erferred with, but the roa Is
are seriously damaged "A stitch Az
time savee nine and the man must
be there to take the stitch when
needed.
A plan of this character would pcr-
nit of the employment Of a super
intendent of the very bcst ability.
and with these twenty-eight men
and twenty eight teams at his beck
and call he should DE able tp ba,u
the entire road mileage OF the state
road system in the pink Of Coz di-
ton.
Tulsa county is one Of the busiest
counties in the state She needs her
roads and needs them badly. and
has been taxed for the necessary
irnds with which to provide them.
Motor Drivers Pay Fund.
Every cent Of this maintenance
| fund is paid into the county treasury
| by the motor vehicle owners Of the
Icounty-the people who use the
act that provides for the pIrment
of this tax authorizes the establish
sment OF the patrol system ami rpcci-
Tfically provides that this money SHAH
not be used for any other purposc
until all Of the state highways have
beer properly maintained
To adopt this system and use the
money as herein suggested does ro'
I in int
county road construction fund Lor
the county road and bridge f,,nd,
They are left intact and arc still
under the control Of the county com
lnissioners for construction PURPOSES
after, this separate maintenance de-
partment has been organized and
| financed.
Now that. we have the law and
have the funds. why not have tho
system? The system means roads
AMI the absence OF IL means waste
IT is not our purpose in these
articles to create the impression tha;
the Iowa system Is the only main
tenance system that is workable.
Many other states have devised
maintenance plans,
In Connecticut.
Connecticut decided upon main
tenance by the state direct instead OF
leaving 1t to the counties. The main
tenance work is separated entirely
from the construction department
and is known as the repair depart
ment OF the state highway commits.
sion. This department is In charge
of a superintendent who reports
directly to the state highway com
missioner.
The state is divided into eleven
districts, each in charge OF district
supervisor who reports to the super
!ntendent. Each district is divided
into sections and each section has
A section foreman who reports to
the supervisor Of his district. On
many Of these sections II was found
necessary TO purchase trucks 10 prop
erly carry on the work and the size
of these TRUCKS is regulated by the
character of the work to he done.
The department now owns fifty
trucks and they range in size from
light delivery trucks TO those OF
three tons capacity.
Reports from the highway depart
ment OF Connecticut show that this
plan is working fine in that state,
and that excellent results are being
obtained.
To put such plan in operation in
Oklahoma would require n complete |
change in our statutes regarding
Ny personal opinion |
is that our laws are equally as good |
IL not better, and that under them |
we can take care of our large mile |
age much better than we would be
able to under the Connecticut law. |