Evening star., 1921-08-28
TOWNSH|P|T|S BAR
TO NATIONS ROADS
Arthur H. Little Takes Up
Matter of Vital Concern to
All Autoists.

for Townshipitis." Arthur H. Little. In
Business. says. in part:
"Townshipitis is the disease that
has afiicted the highways Of America
ever since the men Of Amsrica-or
some Of them-beEan to realize that
a road is something more than a
scratch across the landscape. along
which fences have to be built. Town
shipitis Is responsible for the fact
that every mile Of reasonably per-
manent road in existence in America
today has cost us Americans just
about $4,000. Road just as good
can be built for $4,000 to $4,000
mile. That discrepancy OF aoout
100000 a mile represents the toll
that townshipitis has taken-the toll
Of nationwide waste that has come
partly from the disjointed. disasso'
ciated. disorganized effort that Is con-
ceivcd by narrowness of mind and
partly from the mistakes that have
been born of sheer, downright igno-
rance of the science of routing and
building roads. The trouble has been
not that there were too many town
counties. and even tho states them
selves. have had too many notions and
lunches and ideas and half-baked
plans concerning where roads should
DC Dullt, anu nov"
Definition of "Stub."
"Do you know what stub is?
Stub is road-engineering parlance
for a segment OF improved highway
probably expensively improved-that
starts nowhere and ends in the same
place. You know of stub within
five miles Of your store or ONCE. you
you drove over it. just after you
emerged from the undercut under
the interurban tracks. you encoun-
tered wooden horse sprawled cross
read. Road closed-detour.' They
were repairing the permanent road
again. The country over, there are
hundreds. possibly thousands. of just
such stubs as that. They are the rash
But for four years America has
been taking something. nationally. for
its townshipitis. We are convales-
cling; we have passed along the road
of Improvement beyond the stage at
which the attending physicians con-
fine themselves to the bulletin The
patient is doing as we'll as can be ex-
pected.'
"on July II. 1916, what is known as
the federal aid road act became q
law. Primarily that act of Congress
transformed the bureau OF public
roads of the Department Of Agricul-
ture. The federal aid road act trans
ferred the bureau Of public roads
from the academic to the active class.
gave it a couple of barrels of money
and equipped it with the necessary
human machinery in the way OF
nationwide organization to apply
that money to the planning and build
ing Of a national system Of highways
System Of Highways.
TO the bureau a national system
Of highways means such arrange.
ments of improved roads as Will mt
most accurately into the existing ar
rangements of the centers of produc-
ton and of the facilities Of distribu-
tion and will function most efficiently
in the process of transporting the ne
cessities of life from the farms. the
mines and the forests to the existing
centers of distribution and of carry
ing the products of manufacture to
sumers. Such a conception may
mean, in certain rather exceptional
cases, an interstate highway crossing
two, three or maybe even four states.
it means the Improvement of the
shorter roads, the main market routes
that radiate from such centers OF
population and OF distribution as New
York. Chicago. Toledo, Kansas City.
Federal aid. ~ written into the
provisions Of the federal aid road act
Of 1916. means just what 1t says
federal aid. And therein lies the crux
building effort, as It is applied under
the terms Of the act, permits Of no
federal interference. no federal die.
tation In the road-bui1dfng AFFAIRS OF
any state. The federal government
operate. A state may start q project
and ask federal aid. The bureau Of
public roads. II it approves the prof.
ect and considers it in harmony with
that broad conception Of national
system Of highways. will help in the
building Of that road to the extent of
paying one-half its cost All that the
federal government asks in return IL
that the state permit the buroau Of
public roads to supervise. In an ad.
AT the end Of last fiscal year 2,ss5
road-building projects. involving to-
tai Of 2S.31s.3 miles Of road. had been
The preliminary cost Of these projects
has been estimated at $S1l.Sl6.8lS.53.
Of which $1e3.S41. .503.s3 was to be the
share Of the government. On that
same date 2,1ls projects. involving
1880 miles Of road. had been COM
pleted or were under construction.
The estimated cost Of the projects
then actually under way was $780,
Hsw Money II Spent.
"And now where is this money be-
ing spent, and how? There are in
America some 1,5oo.o00 miles Of road.
Two or three or even four hundred
million dollars spread over those
1890, 600 miles Of road over the course
of . year would scarcely keep cut the
weeds along the edges. But tho saw
ing fact IL that. Of all the tranc that
moves ever all the roads in the coun-
try. SS per cent confines itself to 20
per cent Of the highways In other
words. Of all those l.5oe.o 900 miles of
road that tho maps show. only about
20 per cent or 100000 miles. needs
to be improved in order to benefit
SIS per cent Of all our road traffic.
And Of those 100000 miles Of road
that carry IS per cent Of the traffic.
the states already have under main
tenance 100000 miles Of improved
hiShways. Thus. from that point Of
view. 1t IL seen that the Job Of eradi.
eating townshipitis from the nationa
community is. 50 to speak. about two
and we're stfll making progress
Federal aid ROAD WeTk = going for,
ward and, together WITH work bsial
done by the stats@ 10 cutting inti
that rSnaaininE ons.thiFd Of the jol
at the. rate Of 1890 % II, E,eee miles