Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1922-11-22
GETTING THROUGH ROADS

Dy II. "A. cannon, Executive Sec
rotary, Good Roads Association of
Wisconsin.
Did you ever start to drive across
the state-say from Milwaukee or
Madison to LaCrosse-and hit it up
for time on splendid piece of road
and then run into ruts or mud or sand
and again strike the good piece of
road to be quickly disillusioned by hit
And your reaction was:
why in thunder don't they finish
the job and when they start road get
it through to destination. The bad
spots on this road rob the good ones
on their value The whole procedure
seems to be absurd"
This is a condition met with weekly
and sometimes daily during the tour
ing months. / have been asked at
least a thousand times to explain it.
On its face it does seem odd-this
plecemeal system of road building.
Yet to any one acquainted with the
road movement and public progress
II VIII be easily understood and APP
pear Entirely normal.
Practically the whole road move
ment has been process in which the
local units gradually yielded up au-
thority. 1t began with the town
boards yielding. Next the county be-
came a unit and finally, with the
State Trunk Highway act, the state
became, in way, a unit.
The cause of this piecemeal road
building is that under the State Trunk
Highway act the state and federal
funds are allotted to the counties, each
county receiving its share and being
required to contribute a one-third
share. Thus, if county got $4,000
of federal funds and $4,000 of state
funds, it is required to add $4,000 to
it. Under this arrangement each
county builds sections of road on the
State Trunk Highway system. Fur
thermore, there are rich and poor
counties, some capable of pushing
construction with their own funds,
and others taxed to the limit for
roads. Thus construction on the main
arteries of the state was scattered in
stead of being concentrated whit a
view to building our main arteries.
The ideal system to secure continu-
Gus highways would be to make the
funds available and build them with
out regard to county lines.
Under the plan proposed by the
Legislative Committee of the Wiscon-
sin County Boards Association, this
condition will be remedied. The COM
mittee recommends that hereafter the
counties do not be required to contri-
butte to the building of state trunk
highways as counties and that this
system be built wholly with state and
! federal funds. 1t further recommends
that the distribution of the joint fed
eral and state funds should not be
made on a county basis but should be
| left either to the discretion of the
State Highway Commission or allotted
| by districts large enough to permit
the rapid completion of the surfacing
on our main highways to logical des-
tinations in a logical order. The So
luton of the difficulty lies here
There is very strong sentiment
in the cities and villages on state
trunk highways 1921, SO and IL
the three main arteries between Mad
ison and LaCrosse-that these roads
should be surfaced to destination.
Under the plan proposed by the COM
mittee they can be surfaced and
should be. Under the operations of
the present law it would be many
years before the work it done. These
! IOdQS run bHIOuRH SOUl6 IlCn COuIJleS
and some counties with low assessed
valuation. The whole question must
| be treated from the state point of view
and not the county point of view.
This matter will come up at the
next session of the legislature as one
of the features of proposed highway
bill. 1t will be decided at that time.
Highway improvement begins with
highway legislation. Every bit of au-
thority over road work possessed by
the Wisconsin, Highway Commission
or the county boards originated in
legislation the dome of the
capitol. Mere local effort can do
nothing.
The Good Roads Association of Wis
consin is the only organization in the
state carrying on an educational cam
paign for roads and the only organ
ization interesting itself in and fol-
lowing highway legislation. In the
last three sessions of the legislature
during which the State Trunk High
way act was evolved with its road
marking, maintenance, ETC., this was
the only organization pushing the
fight for it, 1t appeals to the peo-
pie of the state for their active sup
port in securing further highway leg
islation at the next session Of the
legislature.