Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1921-09-13
SMITHVILLE And
COUNTY SPLIT ON
ROADS SHIFTING
Situation Grows Hot, With Town
Getting Up Petitions And
Threatening Injunction
SEEKS TO BLOCK ROUTE;
$4,000 ALREADY SPENT
Town Wants Old Line Of Dixie
Highway Followed - Con-
ference Fail To Agree

- The town of SmithviIc OF the
one side, and the county of Lee, the
Division Highway engineers depart
ment and the State Highway depart
ment on the other, are badly split
over the changing If the ruote OF the
Dixie Highway from the Sumter
county line, just north Of Smithvllle
to Hays Crossing, a few miles south
of Smithville OBJ the Leesburg road
So serious has fhe split become that
feeling has reached a high tension
A petition las been sent by the city
council and citizens of Smithvil!e to
the State Highway commission, and
injunction proceedings to prevent oc.
cupation Of land condemned for road
right -Of-Way purpo se8 are threat;ncd
if the condemnation is successfully
carried through
According to those who we're re-
sponsible for re-roEting the road, tie
trouble may be traced originally to
not more than three mon, two OF
them citizens cf tho town Of Smith.
Vile who, it is alleged, see an op
portunity of getting some extra mon.
ey out of the county or state as a
result of the road being put through
land in their possession, and the thirC
man whose residence will be left 3
short distance off the main highway
by the change, whereas it is now 10.
Gated on the main road. 1t is charg
ed that these men agitated the mat
ter and stirred up the people ot
-Snlithville and ~ftifT,ty Until they
found it easy to secure general sig
nature to THEN petition to have the
highway route retained, They founC
ready signers, it is said, in severa
merchants who discovered that tho
new route would no. immediately
pass their store doors as at present
and others who gladly listened tC
Their arguments for retaining the ole
route.
School Location.
Among the arguments advanced hy
The opponents of the change. say its
advocates. is the fact that INC new
route will pass directly in front of
the new school house the foundation
for which has recently been laid.
II personally know" said an cngi.
nccr of the division highway cnei
neer's office here today. "lat this
school house was located out in =
field on the line os the new ROAD af
ter the road had been surveyed and
laid opt, and because the road was
to 90 there"
The old Dixie Highway route rar
past Wells Mill, on the Sumter
county line, on south to Smithville {
mile distant, crossing the main line
Of the Central of Georgia Just at the
north edge Of the town and recross
ing it again south of the town, The
new route eliminates these two grade
crossings, running straigt southwark
through field, leaving the present
road at the negro church on the Sum
ter county line, proceeding to The
west side OF the Smithvillc railroad
station and continuing southwark
crossing only the Montgomery branch
of the railroad and meeting the ole
route again at Hays Crossing. Ac
cording to Division Engineer Caye
he was informed wien the change wa,
being made that the federal govern
ment would never spprove fedora
aid for the old route because of th'
two railroad crossings.
Heavy Cost Entailed.
A few weeks ago the Lee count,
commissioners signed contract will
Dover. & O'Shields, contractors, o
Montezuma, to do the grading on thi
new road which was to be FINISHED
into a sand-clay highway, construct
ed with federal aid. Up to Septem
ber / total of 1882 yards o
earth had been moved by the con
tractors on the south end of the neN
road, at cost to Lee county Of 50
94616 and an equal cost to the fod
eral government. Since then this ha
been considerably increased, and
large part of the work required J
filling the roadway through
swampy section completed. No
property which IS in controversy ha
neen reached AL it has been foa1
necessary for the contractors to tran.
| fer their equipmen to an entirel
different section Of road 50 as not
| lose time. Should the protest; fna
" win. the county will have actua
" lost the expense already incurrc
in grading fer this new road, it
said, in addition to the government
| loss of an equal amount, totallin
more than $4,000. :.
That the law clearly provides ft
condemnation by the county of pro
erty outside of incorporated towns
admitted by lawyers generally, al
the county commissioners anticipat
no difficulty in winning their COZ
| troversy up to the boundaries Of Il
town of Snithville. However, THE
authority ends there. and it will !
up to the state, as long as the di
quite has arisen Ito condemn the laf
| for the right-cf-way inside the tow
IL. i. :. :. -. =.