Evening star., 1922-04-16
LINCOLN HIGHWAY
WORK PROGRESSING
14-MiIe Gap Alone Remains
to Be Completed in
Pennsylvania.
From Lincoln Highway Forum.


For several years past travel across
Pennsylvania on the Lincoln highway
has been seriously impeded by the de-
tours necessary between the Della
ware river and Philadelphia and in
the mountains between Gettysburg
and Chambersburg. where new con-
struction was under way. Both of
these sections. the thirty miles be-
tween Philadelphia and Trenton, N. J.,
and the twenty-five miles west of
Gettysburg, were completed In 1921,
when the Pennsylvania state high
way department broke all records for
mileage of durable highways con-
structed by completing $40 miles, $40
of which were concrete.
The voters of Pennsylvania in 1918
approved a bond issue of $50,0O0,0O0,
and the expenditure of this money un-
der the efficient administration of the
organization built up by the late
Lewis S. Sadler has put the state
ahead of all other states in the Union
completion of it's primary highway
system. comprising 3.si2 miles. Dur
ing 1919, 1920 and 1921 the state COM
pleted 1,34O miles of highway of such
types as. with proper maintenance,
will still be in existence at the ma
turity of the bonds issued to pay for
them.
15.S Miles Cost S831.341.
The 1873 miles completed on the
Lincoln highway between Chambers
burg and Gettysburg in 1921 cost
$931,341. The stretch was opened
with elaborate ceremonies and a pa
geant, representing the evolution of
transportation and showing in sue
cessive order the types of vehicles
which have traversed this historic
road.
Maintenance in 1921 between Pitts
burgh and Philadelphia cost the state
$74S.753, an average of about $2,333
jurisdiction of the highway depart
ment. This maintenance expense Is
excessive, which accounts for the
states continuous program of new
construction, replacing the old mac
adam.
The Lincoln highway in Pennsyl-
vania will be open and in excellent
condition entirely across the state
during 1922. But one gap of fourteen
miles remains to be improved. 1t lies
next to the Ohio state line. and is not
a portion of the Pennsylvania state
bad in wet weather, and an alternate
route. crossing the Monongahela river
at Pittsburgh, on the Point bridge,
and proceeding through the Pan
handle of West Virginia to East Liv-
erpool, Ohio, is much used, and is
kept in good condition in the summer.
May Be Completed I'm 1922.
This south road is about eleven
miles shorter than the Lincoln high
way and the association is endeavor-
ing to bring about it's construction as
a portion of the route. Action by the
legislature in establishing this link
as portion of the state highway sys-
tenn is first necessary, and it is hoped
that this will be done during 1922.
A stock car broke the record be-
tween Pittsburgh and Trenton, a dis
tance of 369 miles, on January 27,
1922. by traversing that section of the
Lincoln highway in nine hours and
fifteen minutes elapsed time-an av-
erage running speed Of forty miles an
hour. This run not only demonstrated
the condition in which the Lincoln
highway was found in midwinter,
but the efficiency of the states snow
removal system, which Is constantly
in force. This record is remarkable
when it Is considered that the Lincoln
highway ascendS to an altitude of
1000 feet in the Alleghenies, and to
average forty miles an hour for the
elapsed time necessitates driving at
fifty miles an hour continuously.
Tourists are not advised to attempt
to drive the Lincoln highway at such
g. rate during the spring and summer,
state constabulary on motor cycles