The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1920-09-10
Uproar Over Roads
to be Threshed Out
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CONTINUED From Page -
ford to be county commissioner. The
restrictions and criticisms Of the pub
lie are already so great that it is very
difficult to get a mar to serve as
county commissioner anyhow.
Some Other Objections
People in Groveland and Thomas
are terribly down on Mr.. Bills be-
cause Of the way he has expended the
road money. Part of the population
at Moreland are down on him for
the same reason. This office has
made diligent inquiry to see just
what is the basis of their objections
and we find it as follows: Grove
land got a share of the bond money
expended in grades up to and thru
their town but they have some roads
left. that are not graded. They say
the new grades are not completed,
that they should have had a coat of
crushed rock put on them. The
Thomas people say the same thing
and they say also that some of the
grades or most of the grades built
thru the line lying a mile south of
Riverside were built when it was dry
and it has been in bad condition all
summer. They say too, that there
is a great deal of gravel on the main
road running from Snake river
bridge west to Thomas and wherever
the gravel was crushed it made a
very good roadbed, but Some of it
was not crushed. All that part that
was top coated with uncrushed
gravel is not satisfactory. They say
it hurts the horses feet and that the
road breaks into chuck holes easier
where the round gravel is. They do
not approve of building a good grade
and then quitting without putting on
"a good topcoat. A new road was
cut from the Riverside road north
thru to Moreland, has been coated
with gravel from the Moreland
gravel pits, and the old grade thru
Moreland was also covered with the
Moreland gravel. The Moreland
people are c%opdemning Bills for this
and many of the Groveland and
Thomas people are condemning him
for it.
Here Are the Facts
For many years before the bond
rao1 ~ nooIa The rnnI fr1rn CDo1r1
river bridge west to Thomas was a
succession of sandy stretches, deep,
dusty; chucky places and g~ravelly
stretches. This was the condition In
summer and where the roadbed was
broken up into dusty spots and
chucks the holes were very deep.
During the muddy weather in winter
the drainage was bad and the mud
holes were deep where the dust had
been deep in summer, so that during
the winter and summer the roads
were usually bad. For a while in the
spring they were more bearable.
There used to be more team travel on
the roads.
Settlers living along the line
scarcely vel complained of the
gravel hurting their horses feet. On
one occasion there was a good roads
day and a lot Of men and women
went out from Blackfoot with garden
rakes and raked the gravel off of
sections of that road where it was
the worst. That part of the new
grade that was covered with the I'M
crushed gravel still shows the gravel
coming to the surface and the set
tiers say 1t hurts their horses feet,
which is true. Under the old con-
.itions a hundred horses travelled the
gravelly patches where one horse
it now. Under the old con-
there were bad bridges and
bad c%ulverts, to interrupt the travel
all the way down the line. There
are none of them now. With the ex-
of n at Riverside they are
all on grade and the traveller scarcely
knows when he crosses them. With
exception Of the gravel on the
in places the road from
Snake river bridge to Thomas rides
ike a boulevard. Part Of the road
between Blackfoot and Snake river
bridge has lots Of gravel on but that
Is to be covered with the bitulithic
and construction work is now
lnder way.
Moreland People Decided 1t
When the bond roads were under
it was left to the More
and. people to decide whether to i'm
prove the old road running north
rom Riverside or cut a new road
hru the field half a mile west Of
1t would cost more
money to open the new road for a
distance Of n mile and the More
and people after studying the SUBJ
ect for q long time agreed that they