Charlevoix county herald. (East Jordan, Mich.) 189?-1953, 1919-01-10
FULL VALUE FOR
GOOD ROADS AID
GOVERNMENT ADOPTS ELABo.
RATE PLANS TO SAFEGUARD
SPENDING OF THE $75,ooo, 900
DOLLARS WORTH FOR EVERY DOLLAR
Money to Be Spent in Co-ope ration
With States Only Where
Traffic Needs II.

bTditS NCSoo Tie
Washington Elaborate plans TO
prevent the diversion into improper
channels of any part OF the sI5,0OO.'
900. which the Federal Government is
tc spend in cooperation with States
on good roads within the next five
years. have been made by Logan Wal
Ter Page, director OF the Once OK
Public Roads and Rural Engineering,
which will supervise the work.
The Government is determined, OFF,
| Gals say, that there shall be no repeti-
| lion of lax methods and waste which
nave characterized building of roads
IL many sections, and that dollars
worth of road bed shall be construct
| ed fol every dollar spent. Further,
the public roads office is preparing to
| see 10 it that the roads for which the
| places where the traffic demand is the
heaviest and not where politicians or
| others desire them.
The plans designed to prevent
| abuses are covered largely in rules
and regulations promulgated by Sec
rotary Houston, of the Department OF
| Agriculture, under authority conferred
| by the Federal Aid Road Act. The
| rules, which outline the methods by
| which the Federal Government shall
| aid the States in the construction OF
| highways, provide that detailed in
formation in reference to the pro-
| POSED construction and maintenance
| shall be furnished to the Secretary
| of Agriculture before any agreements
| are made.
When the plans of State for road
building, accompanied by a request
for Federal aid are received, they
| will be fully investigated by Govern
| ment agents, and, If acceptable, the
| State will receive from the Govern
ment it's apportionment of the APP
| preparation made for the purpose.
Under the terms of the act, the Fed
| er;l Government pays the bill for
| Cne-half the cost and the State pays
the other half.
Project statements made to the de.
| partInent, according to the rules and
| regulations, are required to contain
'all information necessary to enable
| the Secretary to ascertain (a) whetu-
| CT the project conforms to the re-
Quirements of the act; (b) whether
| adequate funds, or their equivalent,
| are or will be available by or on be-
half of the State for construction;
| (c) what purpose the project will
serve and how it corrslates with 9th
| er highway work of the State; I'D
the administrative control of, and
responsibility for. the project; (e)
the practicability and economy of the
project from an engineering and con-
struction standpoint; (f) the ade-
equacy of the plans and provisions
for proper maintenance of roads; anG
(g) the approximate amount of Fed.
eral aid desired"
| With each statement there must be
submitted for the approval of the
Secretary copies of the forms of COT.
tract, together with all documents
referred to therein, and the contr..c.
tors bond.
II contract should be awarded to
any other than the lowest responsible
bidder the Government will not pay
more than it's pro rata of the lowest
bid, unless it can be satisfactorily
shown that it was advantageous to
the work to accept the higher bid.
Copies of all contracts must be GER
tilted by the respective State nigh.
way departments and furnished the
Office of the public roads, and specif-
cations and plans must be made
part of all contracts.
Unless otherwise specified in writ
ing by the Secretary of Agriculture,
materials for construction, prior to
use, must be tested for conformity
with specifications.
The Office of public roads will, as
far as is practicable, endeavor To have
the roads of one State connect with
those of another. The effort will be
to have the roads continuous in the
States, and patches here and patches
there will not be constructed out of
any of the Federal money unless they
should be in localities where the
traffic is heavy and the demand great.
For instance. in some cases plans for
roads branching out from market or
industrial centers to thickly popp-
lated sections would be acceptable to
the Government regardless of wheth-
er they connect with other market
or industrial centers.