Richmond daily register. (Richmond, Madison County, Ky.) 1917-1978, 1920-10-30
DECISION A BLOW:
TO new ROAD WORK
Refusal of County Loans, Accord
ing TO M9. Boggs, May Have
Disastrous Result

Ffank1Olt NY, oct. ga severe
blow was dealt road construction in
the state of Kentucky, when Judge
Gus Thomas, of the Court OF Appeals,
decided that Hopkins county had no
authority to lend the state $4,000
of its bond isue/for use in, construc-
ton of the Dixie Decline is that -cous-
! ty, accOrdisg to Joe S. BoGgs, state
/ highway examiner. As 4 result of
this decision Mr.. Boggs thinks that
/ fifty-siX of the siXty-five projects
designated by the last legislature as
/ the primary system of state high
ways viii not be constructed unless
steps be taken for an enlargement of
/ the revenues Of the road department
and the levying of some form of tax
that is constitutional.
! In statement issued today Mr.
Boggs gives his view of the effect
that the decision will have on road
construction in the future The state
ment follows:
Statement of Bcggs
! '"The recent decision of the Ken
lucky Court of Appeals in the case
of James r. Rash VS.. w. w. Crick.
county judge, ct al, from Hopkins
county in memorandum opinion
handed down by Judge Thomas en-
joining Hopkins county from loaning
s150.000 OF their bond issue to, De-
partment Of State Roads and High
2 p
the Dixie Decline in that county, in
my mind clearly invalidatcs the pro-
visions of section II, chapter 159 of
The Acts Of 1920.
+ "This section of the new road law
was so drafted that any county in the
commonwealth desiring to hasten the
construction of a state primary road
could, by paying the cost thereof,
have same constructed prior to the
time that the state had funds avail
able for that purpose and receive re-
endorsement out of the state road
fund when the project of which the
road was a part was completed in its
entirety. At this time Clay county
has offered 100000, Lee county $40
00G, Clark county $4,000, Hopkins
county $4,000, Lawrence county
$125 900, Pike county 100000, john
son county 100000, and Ohio eoun-
ty $4,000, totaling $1,O37 900 avail
able Immediately for the use of i'm
portant roads in these counties.
"These offers have been accepted
heretofore by the commission but in
my Judgment this decision OF. the
Court of Appeals clearly invalidates
them, unless there is interest Oh
them, and unless these counties are
willing for the above mentioned funds
to be contributed to the state it may
possibly be several years before such
roads are built.
Immediate Action Necessary.
"This decision, taken in connection
with the defeat of the whisky tax,
leaves the state road fund in pre-
construction, for after dcducting &
reasonable sum for mainto nance pur-
poses and the liquidation Of state aid
claims, there will be less than two
million dollars availabe-hardly suf |
ficient to match federal aid for. the |
next two ycars-and viii necessarily |
confne state expenditures to the nine
projects in Kentucky that have been
heretofore approved by the Depart
ment of Agriculture, these being the
Mayo Trail. Ashland to Pikeville;
Midland Trail, Ashland to Wickliffe;
Kentucky Virginia Highway, LeXing
ton by way of Whitesburg to the Vir-
ginia line; Williamson,
from PineviIle, KY. to williamson,
w. Va.,; Eastern Dixie Highway,
from Corbin to Jellico, Tenn; Cor
bin to Cumberland Gap; Jackson
Highway from Louisville to Tonnes |
see state line; Dixie Decline from
Henderson to Tennessee state line, |
and the Ohio river road from Louis |
vile to Padueah, leaving fifty-six 9TH |
er projects without funds available |
unless the citizens interested areI
willing to donate sufficient funds for !
immediate construction.
p at is, therefore, very necessary |
that if the people of Kentucky desire
the early construction of the primary
roads laid out by the last General !
Assembly that some steps be taken
in the near future for an enlarge
ment of the revenues OF the depart
ment' and the levying of some form