The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1919-11-27
GOOD COUNTY ROADS
HOW TO GET THEM
Question is Now Up
to People for
Discussion
FACTS FROM DR.. KEYS
A Condition, Not a Theory,
That Now Confronts
the Country
FACTS FROM DR.. KEYS

-HE SPEECH by DR.. D. E. Keys,
Of Mullan, chairman of the
board of county commissioners.
= before the board of trade last
Monday, though necessarily brief, was
from beginning to end a presentation
of facts of vital Importance to the
people of this county. His subject
was county roads, subject upon
which he is perhaps better qualified
to speak than any other man in the
county. He Is now serving his third
term as county commissioner and in
that capacity he necessarily has been
brought face to face with the question
of good roads in all its phases, the
cost of construction, the cost OF main
tenance, and above all the never-ceas-
ing demand for new roads and i'm
proved highways to encourage the de-
velopment of the mining industry, to
meet the expanding requirements of
business. and to attract new people
to this rich and extensive mining dis
trict. The outstanding point made by
DR.. Keys was this: That if the peo-
pie of Shoshone county desire to
share in the benefit of state and fed
eral aid for road construction and
road maintenance, some plan must be
devised by which this county would
secure the necessary funds to carry
its end Of the load. He offered no
solution to the problem himself, but
left it up to the members of the board
of trade as citizens who are deeply
interested in promoting the welfare of
the county.
Road Fund Not Sufficient.
Experience has proved beyond any
question that the annual road fund OF
the county is not sufficient to meet
the road requirements 1t is not SUI
ficient to even take care of necessary
repairs and maintenance costs, to say
nothing of road extensions. This sit
uation was vividly brought out by DIT.
Keys by giving the actual amount
paid by the county for road work
during the past 10 years. He stated
that the actual expenditures during
that period, as shown by the county
records, amounted to $5S2,l10.45.
Nearly 100000 spent for the mainte-
nance of old roads, with no new con-
struction with the exception or the
few miles from Pottsville to the sum-
init and possibly the short section
between the Success and Interstate
Callahan mills. And with that vast
expenditure not a first class standard
highway in the county, and outlying
roads in pressing need of improve
ment. This system is nothing less
than a waste of public funds which
will continue from year to year un-
less some plan is adopted by whlch
the county can escape from this end
less road reconstruction and repair
Help From the State.
Practically every county has entered
into a cooperative agreement with the
state for the purpose of building per-
manent standard highways, under
which the state pays one-third OF the
cost of construction and the county
thirds, and upon completion on
the highway the state assumes all ex'
pense of maintenance. One OF the
chief advantages of this plan, and one
that appeals particularly to people
living off the main highways and II
remote sections, is that 1t enables the
county to devote the entire road fune
to the construction of new roads into
such sections and to the improvement
Of old ones. In this county during tn'
past 10 years 1t Is estimated by thos'
we'll informed on the subject that ful
ly so per cent Of the road fund col
lected in this county was spent on tn'
main highway across the county
Having this in mind, 1t Is easy to un
derstand the justice of the complain
from other parts of the county re
garding the neglected condition of tn
roads. With the main highway turn
ed over to the state and the count!
absolutely relieved of all maintenance
costs, the entire road fund would %
diverted to road Improvements else
where.
Shoshone County Must Act.
The present highway across tn
county, from the Kootenai county I'm
to the oMntana line, has been survey
ed and standard roadway located b.
state engineers, and the county ha
entered into an agreement with tn
state for its construction on the ba
sis above stated. But the count