The Coconino sun., 1922-09-15

and other interested counties and the state highway department recommend the completion of construction of the Oak Creek highway.
 (11) Months ago the cost of con- structing this 23 mile section of the Oak Creek highway was estimated at $290,000. It is our opinion, however, in the light of more recent surveys and estimates, that the highway, as outlined above, will cost about S400,- 900, if it is to be suitable for the large amount of traffic.
 (12) We recommend that this 23 mile section of highway be built equally as good as the section from the Verde River to the Coconino County line in Yavapai county, and that it be constructed over a survey on which the grades and alignment will be permanent. While we would normally recommend an 18-foot roac.- way, we refrain from doing so because a slightly narrower highway could be built and later widened without vast ing any money previously spent be- cause of abandonment of the existing grades and alignment, such as is com monly seen in ordinary highway and road work.
 i13) The proposed location of the unconstruction portion of this high way is the most logical available. It reaches the rim from the valley with easy grades, probably not exceeding six per cent, affords good drainage, has good road material, avoids heavy winter, snows, and has the advantage over any other possible location from an engineering standpoint.
 (14l For industrial and agricul- tural development, we know of no highway that could be constructed that would do as much good for Yav- apai and Coconino counties, and cer- tainly none for a similar expenditure of money.
 The products of the two counties are almost entirely non-competitive, and direct interchange of truck hauling over the highway is highly desirable, thus avoiding freight and express shipments from California and other states and making ourselves more independent of railroad tie-ups,
 All parts of Coconino and Yavapai counties will become much more ac- cessible with the county seats con- nected by this highway. Visitors from other states will be afforded a better opportunity to see Arizona the lumber industry in Coconino coun- ty, mining in Yavapai, and the agri- cultural and livestock industry all the way from Flagstaff through Prescott to the Salt River valley. People will be favorably impressed, invest in the state and help build it up.
 Unquestionably there will be pas senger and mail auto stage lines be- tween Prescott and Flagstaff, which will permit of better mail service for all, especially to the Verde district. Railroad connections will be greatly improved and less time wasted and in endured.
 Under present highway conditions, Coconino county is practically isolated from Yavapai and the southern part of the state during the winter on ac- count of ice, snow and mud, and dur ing the summer months suffers on account of general road conditions, but with the Oak Creek highway, free from snow except for about 15 miles near Flagstaff, which can be kept op- en, these difficulties will be virtually 
 (15) From the standpoint of tour ist travel and recreation for the peo- pie of Arizona, the Oak Creek high way is ideal.
 It follows one of the very finest trout streams in Arizona, and makes the west fork of Oak Creek, another fine trout stream, easily ac- 
 There is no more wonderful setting for camp sites and summer cottages than along both sides of Oak Creek for several miles above Lolomai Lodge