Imperial Valley press., 1921-07-22
CLUB REPORT
ON R0AOS
NOT. BASED
ON FACT
State Highway Commission
er Refutes Statements
Br0adcasted by Southern
California Organization
Unprecedented Traffic
Causes Defects.

The attack upon the state highway
commission in a report by the Auto
mobile Club of Southern California,
which was published broadcast through
the southern part of the state has
called forth the following reply FROM
Charles A. Whitmore, a member Of
the commission:
"ln an article given to the press this
week by the Automobile Club of
Southern California, the charge IS
made that '25 per cent of the state
highways now need to be reconstruct
ed and that few, if any, of the roads
/ can be expected to. last the life of the
bonds issued to pay for them.' The
article further states that the report
of the u. S. bureau of public roads cor
roborates the findings of the Automo-
= bile club engineers in essential points,
The article in some metropolitan news
papers is accompanied by illustrations
of pavement failures.
Whatever reconstruction is now nee
essary, except over adverse subgrade,
has been occasioned by unprecedented
increase in automobile traffic, and. by
gross overlooking of trucks, and not
by any essential fault in the structure
of the pavement to meet traffic needs
for which it was designed.
when the construction of the state
system commenced the registration of
motor vehicles was about $4,000, with
trucks a negligible quantity. The in.
crease was gradual for several years,
but the war brought phenomena. de-
velopment of truck use, there being
now as many trucks registered in the
state as there were automobiles and
trucks combined in 1910. The total
registration of motor vehicles Of all
kinds this year approaches 100000 as
against $4,000 ten years ago. It is
manifestly unfair to criticize the con-
struction of yesterday in the ligh5 Of
today's traffic. Furthermore the Cal
ifornia highway commission was OBJ
liged by the highway needs of the state
to provide an adequate mileage OF
serviceable highways. The people
were led to expect and to demand this
mileage by the character of the sys-
tenn nominated in the original and
succeeding highway acts. To have
placed another Interpretation upon the
mandate of the people, and to have
constructed comparative small mile
age of thick, wide concrete highways
between population centers, would
have been to jeopardize the completion
of the system and would have retard-
ed construction of county systems 70
connect with the state system. A large
mileage of serviceable highways Is the
measure of highway accomplishment
in California, and is appreciated by the
U. S. bureau of public roads, if not by
the automobile clubs of the state. In
submitting its report, Thomas II. Me-
Donald, chief of the bureau of public
roads, says in part:
within the past five years an un-
precedented demand has been made
upon the highway administrators and
highway engineer to produce a large
mileage of economical and serviceable
highways. The extent to which he has
produced this combined result is thH
true standard of measurement Of his
achievement.
"'Let the present traffic service
rendered by the state highways of CAL
ifornia, conservatively estimated, we
believe, at 400,O00,000 vehicle miles
per year, be multiplied by any reason
able unit rate to indicate the present
annual returns to the people on the
total investment to date of about $42,-
100000.
"'Now turn to one paragraph from
the report selected as the most vital
to be repeated here:
'Thefinancial administration
has been scrupnlously ho~-St and
| careful and the administrative and
engineering costs have not been
| excessive, nor have final costs
Ino~4:.l 49, a