Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1919-04-30
IOWA ROAD LAW
NOW IN Effect
Green County Expected to Be First
TO Pave Roads Under Law
Recently Passed
EXPECT ROAD BUILDING
BOOM NOW
pected to Begin Hard Surfacing
of Their Roads

Des Moines, lathe Iowa road
law which ushers in a new era in
road building in Iowa is now in full
force and effect, having taken effect
on publication. Road projects start
ed more than year ago in Greene
county and in Crawford county will
be completed under the new law.
According to present prospects
Greene county will be among the first
counties in the state to do any hard
surfacing under the present law. In
this hard surfacing Greene county
will set an example to the state in
more than one way-it will not only
initiate the movement to hard sur
face but it will also by example pro-
claim that graveled roads will not
do the business of this state.
Few Will Use Gravel.
One of the provisions of the road
law as finally passed was that coun-
ties might gravel instead Of hard sur
face if they wished to do so and it is
believed there will be tendency in
some counties to gravel instead Of
hard surface. But Greene county,
which has had graveled roads for
many years, has found that they do
mot pay.
Senator Walter Anderson of Gree
ne county, who was born and raised
in the county which he has represent
ed in the legislature for the past
several sessions, first in the house
and this past session in the senate,
! declared in discussing the gravel
roads before the legislature adjourn
ed that they were not satisfactory
and that in his Judgment his county
would be among the first to hard
surface a considerable area of it's
,intercounty or primary highways.
County Must Vote 1t.
There can be no hard surfacing
under this new law unless the coun-
ty so votes. This provision was writ
ten into the law in the form of a
senate amendment, it will be remem-
bered, before the senate could get
an affirmative vote on the road bill.
The ardent friends of hard surfacing
say that this amendment was un-
/ fortunate and will serve to delay
hard surfacing but further say that
! in the end hard surfacing will come
on the inter-county roads.
| Chief Engineer Thomas Mcdonald
of the state highway commission esti-
mates that only about 1900 miles OF
the 5000 miles of primary roads are
put to grade or drained. The primary
roads are the roads which run from
county seat to county seat across the
state. Hence there is long tedious
| job ahead in grading and draining
these roads properly before any hard
surfacing can take place. There Will
be no special assessments to pay for
the cost of grading and draining. This
cost will come out Of the federal aid
and motor license money or in other
words the primary fund. 1t is only
when hard surfacing is to be under
taken as voted for by the people that
assessment districts will be fixed.
Farmers Must Rails Sum.
AS has been previously explained
these assessment districts will ex-
tend for a mile and half on each
side of the paved highway. The cost
of hard surfacing is estimated at
100000 per mile and according to
the statement of Representative
James B. Weaver of Polk county
leach mile along the road for dis
tance back of the mile and half on
each side of the road would have TO
raise $4,000 or $500 on each side"
The amount OF money for the i'm
Iprovement and maintenance OF the
roads outside the primary roads or
county seat roads as they ara more
generally recognized, will he larger
under this new plan than heretofore
so that such, roads need not be neg
lected while the inter-county roads
are paved. The new road law pro-
vides that all of the present road
taxes will go to these secondary and
township roads and the two mill
roads building fund, which has here
Itofore been levied on farm property
only, has been spread over all OF the
property in the county. This will
therefore give the secondary roads
more money than they have ever had
before.
AS the matter of road Improvement
now appears it would seem that the
progressive counties of the state now
pa AS9A