The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1920-04-23
DOING MISSOURI AN INJUSTICE

Personally, have never been an adj
vocate of what might be termed trunk
lines, or touring roads. Market roads,
community roads and local roads of
all kinds are of the first Importance
and with the development of these, the
trunk lines will come naturally.
Missouri, however, has an unde-
served reputation for bad roads. We
have a very large mileage or public
roads--over one hundred thousand
miles-and our average of improved
roads compares well with that of any
middle western State. But our good
roads are scattered throughout the
State in isolated groups and are known
only to the local communities. The re-
suit is that tourists passing through
the State find only a small mileage of
good roads here and there and large
mileage of bad roads. They go away
disgruntled, with vivid recollections
Of bitter experiences in mud holes and
talk about Missouri as 'mud-road
State" If we had one or two we'll
made hard surfaced cross-State high
ways, Missouri would enjoy larger
tourist traffic in man ways. There.
fore, hope that the very near future
will see the completion of at least one
tirst-class State highway.
| believe that in order to accomplish
rapid and efficient construction we
will ultimately have to abandon the
system of Federal, State and county
cooperation. With various boards,
commissioners and bureaus working
under several sets of laws, delays and
friction are inevitable. Furthermore,
there is occasionally yielding to ex-
pediency that is by no means desira-
bic. | believe that the Federal Gov
eminent at its own cost should build
the roads of nationa! Importance; the
State Governments with State funds
should build the roads of Importance
to the State, and the counties and
other subdivisions should solely bear
the expense of constructing local
roads.
1t is most unfortunate that the
bodybuilding enthusiasm in Missou-
ri has reached such proportions at a
time when the cost of highway con-
struction has mounted to point
where, in some instances, it is almost
prohibitive. We find the people anX-
ious to go ahead and improve their
roads, but when the cost is ascertain
ed, they are alarmed and discouraged.
Although we have approved over
1000 miles of road projects, that does
not mean the roads will be constructed
in the immediate future. We are not
going to indulge in riotous expendi-
tdre. We are not going to build re-
gardless of cost. Conditions at this
time do not give much promise for
great deal of road-building in the next
year. The Engineering Department
is having difficulty in securing bid
ders for contracts that have already
been decided upon. Mounting costs
are a serious consideration. The de-
partment finds it difficult to keep up
with them. And although only few
weeks may elapse after making an es-
innate, by the time the contract is
ready to be advertised material and
labor has advanced so considerably
that none of the bids are within the
estimate. In some cases the bids have
exceeded the estimates by fifty per
cent. In order to make progress in
road building, it has been the practice
in some States to revise the estimates
upward and advertise again. The re-
suit is that the States are competing
with each other, and of course, the