Arizona republican., 1919-01-28

lected; third, how the responsibility for the improvement and maintenance of these roads shall be divided between the state and it's subdivisions; and, fourth the organization and the finan- cing of the state highway department to discharge the duties assigned to it. When this is done, the laws relating to the remaining roads of the state should be reviewed to make sure that the new Legislation does not untintentionally effect harmful changes.
 While each state must decide for itself what duties shall be assigned to it's highway department and the detail with which the law shall prescribe the procedure to be followed by the department in the discharge of it's du- ties. it is well to keep in mind that if such q department is to be held re- sponsible for results it should not be hampered by restrictions upon the methods it may adopt to obtain such l results.
 Although the highway department 1 should be authorized to make all neces- | Sary surveys, the department should be | authorized to call upon local boards for help in aScertaining the travel on roads. The Ohio law on this subject reads as follows: The state highway commissioner or chief engineer may call upon the county highway super ! intcndent to furnish maps of the coun- ! ty showing distinctly the location of public highways and deposits of road material, together with any other information that may be re
 quired by said commissioner or en-
 gineer. The county highway superintendent shall have the right to
 call upon the township trustees or 1 township highway superintendents to
 furnish any part of the information. ! Opinions as to the necessity for sim ] plicity of action very considerably in 1 different states. For instance in Penn ! sylVania the main roads are designated 1 by the legislature. As a result of this 1 method there are 10 200 miles of Penn i sylvana roads, designated as state
 highways. The result is that during
 1915 the department spent about s4, |. o00,000 in maintaining this mileage,
 and during 1916 it spend S4,000, 900 with
 nothing of any great moment in the
 way of permanent improvements to
 show for it. Had this money been | spent on a smaller mileage it would
 have furnished a satisfactory nucleus
 to the permanent highway system of
 the state.
 On the other hand in Illinois the
 highways receiving state aid are sc ]
 to revision by the state highway com
 mission. This is somewhat better
 than the method adopted in Pennsyl
 Vania but not as good as that in force
 in Massachusetts where state high
 ways are designated by the highway
 commission upon petition of local au-
 thorities.
 No haphazard, disjointed method of
 improving main roads without a defi-
 nite plan by which work of today will
 eventually become a part of a complete
 system of highways will prove satis-
 factory. Secretary of Agriculture
 Houston placed stress on one import
 ant aspect of this in the following
 statement Tn accepting the terms of the federal aid road act. the state as matter of course. pledges it's faith to the five-year program. This is inn
 portant because tt makes possible the arrangement of comprehensive
 scheme of road building" Where state . funds are contributed to work done by i local officials. the state department
 should be authorized to withhold state l aid until the local authorities have I provided rights of-way.
 . The advantage of concentrating au-
 thority in a single commissioner, is l that a good administrator can accom-
 pllSh more than c mediocre board, and
 it may not be as difficult to obtain a
 good administrator as it is to obtain q
 harmonious, energetic and capable . board. On the other hand, a board
 composed in part of state officials and in part of civilians, including pro- fessors of engineering of state colleges f is perhaps more likely to be free from
 individual predilection, in closer toucf with public opinion in different parts
 EE hng tot T
 view of problems because relieved or D direct responsibility for detail. How. I ever. excellent work is being done un- . der both systems of administration. In number of states the highwaJ c commission consists of three or nor, Y state officials. In other states. tn.
 board consists of few state official. c acting with professors of engineerin. n in state schools. and occasionally witt Il two or three private citizens appointe, il by the governor. In other states al f the commissioners are private citizens Q In many instances, the commissioner f draw no pay but are allowed their ac - tual expenses. Under any arrange
 ment, however, the duties to be per 6 formed should be stated comprehen Q sively and clear in the law. The Ohi Il statute is good example of this. l. Among the most important duties O r the state highway department are tn
 maintaining of facilities for testin a materials. collection of automobile fee r and the issuance of regulations gov
 erning the use of vehicles on publi ,2 roads the investigation of the suitabil ,4 lity of different types of road an ,S bridge construction, the holding 0 Ia public meetings to explain the desir - ability of road and bridge improve
 
 l., plans and specifications for roads an m bridges. the determination of the mai *, roads of the state and the mapping C W them, and the preparation of plans an l., specifications for roads and bridge n built by the state and the Supervisio " of their construction. In addition tn n highway department should co-operat ly with the local authorities in the fol ta lowing instances: Preparing or aidin f. in preparing plans for road and brids id improvements of a purely local nature , supervising and assisting in superyis if ing construction. and maintenance 10 roads under local officials; designatiu ot roads and bridge work on which stat
 funds shall be spent and the annu; n inspection of all bridges exceeding n- feet in length.
 D. As a general rule, departmer nt works best when it has authority d. organize it's own staff, and thel d. should be no question about the in is portance attributed by the legislatu n. to efficient engineering. The follow i'll ing clause, in substance. is desira b m in the law governing any state higi to way department: The state highws m commission shall appoint state higl nd way engineer, who shall be 8 con ty petent CIVIL engineer, experienced
 highway construction. It may appoir ed suo1ect to the approval of the commi h sion. SIlrh techniCal assist ntS ac m.