Arizona republican., 1921-02-01
and almost hundred miles shorter than the proposed road?

and almost a hundred miles shorter than the proposed road?
 According to an article in The Re publican of Jan. 27th, over four hun dred thousand dollars has already been spent and as much more being asked for to build IS miles of road between Miami and Superior in order to shorten the route only 2S miles. Why spend half & million dollars or more to save a few miles on one side of Phoenix and then spend a million dollars or more on the other side of Phoenix to make a road a hundred miles longer than necessary, when there is already a main travelled highway over shorter. better route where a good road can be built much cheaper? Is this sensible, and do the people Of Arizona realize what Is being done or proposed to be done2 I don't think they do.
 The distances from Phoenix to Los Angeles and the coast as officially given by the Automobile Club of Southern California are as follows: Phoenix to Mecca via Salome- Blythe, 2ss.3 miles
 Phoenix to Mecca via Yuma -Nilands, 352.e miles.
 1 Phoenix to Mecca via Yuma-El Gen. i tro, 33s2 miles.
 Phoenix to Los Angeles via Blythe, 416.s miles.
 Phoenix to Los Angeles via Yuma
 Mecca 5o5.s miles.
 l Phoenix to Los Angeles via Yuma
 San Diego, 516.6 miles.
 The Buckeye Salome- Blythe route Is frol only the shortest and best natural route where the best road material for 1 a natural road is available. but 1t is
 the one route that has been travelled by the great majority of all the people for
 many years past in going from Phoe- l nix to the coast, by Arizona and east
 err people alike. It will be surprise Ito many people to know that this link 1 In the transeontinental highway cross l ing Arizona between the Hassayampa
 river and Salome. although the main travelled highway and travelled by over 15.0oo automobiles last year. has never
 had one single dollar spent to either 1 build, repair or improve it by the state i of Arizona, Maricopa county or Yuma county In the last 25 years.
 1 This is a fine compliment 10 Arizona
 and her highway system-spending
 millions of dollars on out the-way
 roads and not one dollar ever spent
 on this link of the main coast to coast
 Highway that is travelled by thousands. | It is the shortest route-io one can deny if. It is the best rolte-no one
 lean deny that. It is the main traveled
 route. Then why in the name of all 1 that is sensible and economical isn't ! something done to make it a better road? Why should all Arizona people and eastern tourists be forced to go a hundred miles out of their way through the sand hills and sand dunes on both sides of Yuma to get to Los Angeles 1 Why is the present legislature pro- l posing to appropriate hundreds oi i thousands of dollars of state money to build a state highway the long wrong f.tr ytl yy-O |.
 ready have the short and direct route
 the main travelled highway by way ci Salome and BIythe-and not one cent appropriated to build or repair this short direct route, which California has
 asked us to build to connect with their highway system at Blythe. There is
 something wrong somewhere and the taxpayers of Arizona and the eastern tourists have right to protest against this injustice and waste of state and national money in building this long road and doing nothing to improve the
 shortest and best route. the one rec Iognized by all engineers and the Auto mobile Club of Southern California.
 Northern Yuma county is and al-
 ways has been and probably always will be robbed by the town of Yuma and southern Yuma county. Northern Yuma county pays over 20 per cent oi the taxes of Yuma county and should be entitled to 20 per cent of all county road moneys. We get nothing. Not one cent has been spent in Yuma county in over 20 years on the main highway between Buckeye and Salome
 a road travelled by thousands of ma chimes and people every year. Yuma
 county will spend no money on this road because they wish to force peo- pie to come the long way around by Yuma. Maricopa county is just as bad. They have spent nothing to inn prove the road between the Hassa- yampa river and the Yuma county line on the Buckeye Blythe route. In spite of all this probably 90 per cent of the travel from Phoenix to the coast goes over the route where no road has ever
 been built and no repair work evel
 done. This ought to satisfy anyone as
 to which is the best route.
 Northern Yuma county pays 20 pel cent Of the Yuma county taxes. .seV. eral years ago We voted s500,000 bond. for county roads and the northern enc Iof the county was entitled to ovel ls100, 900 for road work Only S30,O0t
 was spent in the northern end of th'