Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1919-08-14
s1,500,0O0 BOND ISSUE
What Is the Matter with the Roads i'm
Wood County,

(By F. A. Cannon, Executive Score
tary Good Roads Association of Wis
consin.)
This is query that is heard almost
every day. Last spring it was heard
every time person tried to use the
road. One might similarly say, "What
is the matter with the roads in Wau-
kesha County, Rock County, Green
County, or Dane County,"
| That there is something the matter
with them is shown by the experience
/ of this spring, when hundreds of We
hicles were mired in the roads. 1t is
shown in another way, however, by the
tremendous sentiment throughout the
state for bonding counties to build
hard surfaced roads, and build them
now. Rock County has voted $4,000
600 bond issue. Jefferson County will
vote on a 100000 bond issue in Sep
TENDER; Green County on a 100000
issue; Racine on a $2,350,0OO issue;
Washington on a 100000 issue.
Now what does this mean? There
lis reason for it. 1t simply means
that the people have not got the roads
they need. They need better roads
now. To get them now, they propose
Ito borrow the money, build them now,
and take time to pay for them-in
word, to bond the counties.
Now let US get down to hard facts
and find out what is the matter with
the roads. What is the cause of the
trouble? Why do not our roads stand
up? We did not hear this complaint
ten years ago. Getting down to bed
rock, here is the situation in brief. A
road is built to carry traffic-load. A
road has a load capacity just like mo-
tor truck. When you overload the
road, she breaks down just like a mo-
tor truck. You would not try to put
four-ton load on a two-ton truck.
You are trying to put four ton loads
on two ton roads-in other words, you
are loading the roads with loads be-
yond their capacity they were built to
carry.
How about this county? Look at
the figures. We will assume a mini
mum figure, one below the facts, when
we say that the average automobile
weighs two thousand pounds-a ton.
Back in 1914, 562 automobiles were
licensed in Wood County, just five
years ago. The average mileage trav-
eled by these automobiles each year
was $500 miles, which meant a total
ton mileage in round numbers of l 1857,
900 miles. In 1915 the number of cars
had increased to 846 and the number
of ton miles to 100000, an increase
of over so per cent. In 1916 it had
jumped to 1911 and the number of ton
miles had jumped to 4,238,500, an in
crease of 43 per cent over 1915. In
1917 it had gone up to 1871 with a ton
mileage of 6,233,500, nearly so per
cent more In 1918, the war year,
when every condition was adverse. it
had increased to 2150 with a ton mile
age of 7,525,000. In other words the
load on your roads in 1918 was five
times as great as in 1914, or had in
creased 500 per cent.
And remember that your automobile
traffic is increasing enormously, and
you must build for the future. At the
present rate in five years you will have
10000 automobiles in Wood County,
and don't forget that the motor truck
is beginning to appear on the farm
roads and that their number will in
crease tremendously, and that they are
mighty hard on the roads.
A man with half an eye can see
that this tremendous traffic increase
had added tremendous additional load
load on the roads was not in existence.
Your roads in 1914 may have carried
the loads on them then, but when you
multiply that load by five, your roads
will not carry them any more than a
two ton truck that you had in 1914
would carry four ton loads in 1918.
Let us illustrate it from another
point of view. Our sidewalks thirty
years ago were built with wood. To-
day they are built of concrete. Why?
Because your wood sidewalks would
not carry the traffic, and because you
found that concrete sidewalk would
carry it, and while it cost more to
build originally, it gave better service,
cost practically nothing in mainten-