The Penn's Grove record., 1919-06-13
PROGRAM
FOR HIGHWAYS
Made Possible by Lifting OF Fed
eraI Restrictions IN Road
Department.
TWO YEARS' WORK IN ONE.
Expect to Complete 100 Miles of New
Roadway This Standardization
Given to Up~buildina of Perma-
nent Maintenance Staff.

TrentOn.-All federal goyernm ant re-
.strictiols on the state highway depart
ment Of New Jersey have been remov-
ed. and the commission, through it's
chairman. John w. Herbert, announced
lis plan to complete two years of work
during the building season of the pres
cit yea. The commission says that
ii confidently expects that the close Of
lie present season will find at least 100
miles of new work finished upon the
most important of the state highway
systems. Until this time the con3aniS-
sion WAS restricted to work on roads
Of Military importance.
\. the present time work involving
5l4eT miles of roads and upwards OF
SIC 1000 in money is under construc-
tex. o. the mileage 70.1S9 is under
contract With private contractors at
prices a~@gregat.ng $3,551, iG1.S2, while
stat labor is building 9.2JS miles at a
cost II $523,4l5.
T.la large cost per mile for the latter
mileage IS due to the great amount of
excavation AMI grading which tie
wolE involves. To this work actually
Indzr way can be added l2.9S5 miles
more. 1t an estimated cost of S931,-
49,: g. OF this mileage 4.G3 miles will
be G instructed by state labor at Il cost
pStiL. a.ad at $j94,046.11, while bids
will be received from private contrac-
tors and contracts awarded for the re-
mainfng $500 miles Turing the next
few weeks. The stat highway ell
gineer estimates that this work SHOULD
cost approximately $53I, 1927. Here
again heavy excavation, grading,
drainage and other engineering pl'eb-
lens make for high average cost per
mile.
A summary of these facts shows that
there is row., or soon will be, under
way upon the routes of the state high
way system, Il new construction upon
%. 49, miles of highways involving OFT
lays of $5,006,093.GS
] Total o. % Projects.
These projects. which are 2S in num-
her, will affect all but three 0outes 7,
1 / GlllNl 49, VI llIN ~ OilN VI 1iC obNItS
highway system. Their completion
will have a profound and beneficial i'll
tlueuCe upon the ecOnQmic welfare OF
the state. Indeed, it is not t0o much
to say that every county and every
city, town, borough, village and town
ship Will feel TIE qufckening impulse
OF tire Improved transportation faoIi-
ties afforded by the putting through Of
the commissions 1919 program.
The work to be done on Routes /, .
and Is will provide traffic wka FIRST
class all the year round ~payeRieats
throughout the entire distance from
Newark to Camden. The projects TN,
der way or contemplated for Route 3
will do the same for through traffic
running from Camden to Atlantic City.
The work prescribed for Route 4 will
make safe and comfortable the delight
fM and much used highway raLaing
from Railway in Route l through Perth
Amboy, Keyport, Asbury Park, over to
Lakewood and then down throsgh
Toms River, barnegat and TuckertOn
to Absecon, there connecting with
routes running to Atlantic City and
Cape May.
1t is on Section IA of Route 10, how
ever, that the commission will under
take this years building season, the
greatest engineering task with which
it will be confronted upon the entire
highway system. This section EN-
braces IL miles of the route, which
runs from Fort Lee Ferry, On the Hud-
son northwest, to Paterson, a distance
of lis miles. Its immediate cOnstruc-
ton is an imperative necessity in or
der to relieve the congestion of traffic
which in ever swelling volume is seek
ing entrance into and egreSS from the
state at this point. Bids for this work
were advertised for on May 8, and the
contract has been awarded for $780,
S97.15.
To Pass to State Control.
Upon completion of the necessary
new construction on the highway
routes here discussed the commission
will at once take them over from cOun-
ty and other subordinate jurisdiction
into state contrO.. After this prOce-
dure such highways will eyer be main
tanned and administered solely by the
state highways at state expense. The
commission is now giving much atten-
ton to the upbuilding of a permanent
maintenance staff, whose duty it shall
be to preserve the state highways at
all times in top notch condition.
The projects enumerated for the 9th
err routes, which already have been, or
soon will be, undertaken under the
1919 work plans, do not contemplate
! the immediate or early assumption of
control by the State Highway Commits
sion. They are rather designed to
keep open and disable these important
t%horuughfares pending the time that
the commission has the resources
available to put them in first class
shape throughout their entire length
and breadth. This is particularly true
for such a route as No. s, where work
to be done will provide travellers
through Essex, PaSsaic and Morris