The daily banner. (Cambridge, Md.) 1897-2008, 1920-06-02
COMMISSION TO DRAW
LATERAL ROADS PLAN
New State Roads Commission To
Meet Today For Purpose Of Form
ulating Policies Under The New
State Road Law.

The new State Roads Commission
composed of John N. MackaIl, chair
man and State Senator Omar d
Crothers, of Elkton, and d. c. Wine
breiner, OF Frederick. Associate Mem
bers. will meet today in Baltimore
for the purpose of organizing an0
formulating its policies for the bullo
ing of the lateral roads as provided
by the new State Road law.
Under the new plan certain lateral
roads will be built in the counties
by cooperation with the county com
missioners, the State paying half the
cost of the roads and the counties
half For this purpose the State
has appropriated $75O,0O0 year
which the counties must match with
another $75O,000. The money
from the counties may be raised
either by direct taxation OF by as
sessments upon abutting property
owners. This will make a fund OF
S1,5OO,000 to be spent annually on
lateral roads, which will be maintain
ed by The Roads Commission and be-
come a part of the State highways
system.
The States money to be utilized
for this purpose will be apporuoned
to the counties in accordance with the
road mileage of each county and any
county not taking advantage OF the
proposition will have its apportIon-
ment allotted 20 other counties.
1t is the intention of-~the new
chairman, of the commission, John
N. Mackell, to arrange as soon as
possible after the first meeting OF
commissioners q meeting of all the
county commissioners to outline all
the lateral roads that are to be built
from this years appropriation.
1t will be made plain to the COM
missioners from the various counties
however, that no contracts Tor lat
eral roals will be awarded until the
individual county's share OF the cost
has been povided for or is in sight
and the county is prepared to make
good for its proportion when the pllls
of the contractors fall due. In other
words there will be no borrowing
by the counties from the States
funds to pay contractors, the State
to be reimbursed later at the con-
venience of the county.
In addition to the fund for lateral
roads, the State has set apart SOU
900 for additional and extensions to
the main or trunk line system OF
State highways. This is something
more than matched by Maryland'S
share of the Federal appropriation fo1
roads amounting to about S86O,OOU
a year. Altogether this gives the
State something more than S3,OOO,-
600 a year to spend on road con-
struction. the maintenance fund
coming out of the charges on auto
mobiles and motor trucks.
Chairman Mackau plans to out
line the whole plan of road building
for the year and announce 1t at the
outset, and then award contracts rs
rapidly as possible, provided prices
are not too high.
There has been some complaint
from the Eastern Shore about a
couple of roads in that section, nota-
bly the road from Claiborne to Eas-
ton. Talbot county, which connects
I'M with the ferry between Annapolis
and Claiborne and the ChestertoWn
Rock-Hali road IN Kent county.
Three miles of the stretch OF the
Easton-Claiborne road is now under
construction and will be completed
within 80 days. That will leave lO
miles for which contracts have not
been awarded and for which no
money is available. At the lowest est
mate those 10 miles of road would
cost 100000 and Chairman Mackall
said yesterday that the total allot-
ment for Talbot county from the
trunk line fund and from the lateral
road fund would not be sufficient 10
complete it this year.