Evening star., 1922-02-12
Plan. BIG DRIVE
FOR RBETTERR ROADS
Important Convention to Be
Held in Phoenix, Ariz., Dur.
ing Month Of April.

| j. A. Rountree, director general of
| the United States Good Roads Asso-
citation and the Bankhead National
Highway Association. left Birming-
ham. Ala, this week en- route to
Phoenix. Ariz.. where he goes FOR the
purpose Of opening headquarters and
installing an office force to promote
| and advertise the tenth annual con-
vention of the United States Good
Roads Association, the United States
good road show and the sixth an
nual convention of the Bankhead Ma
| tional Highway Association, which
! will meet in Phoenix, April "a to 20.
Director General Rountree states
that the prospects are most hatterlng
for one of the largest and most sue
| cessful good roads gatherings that
Las ever assembled in America. Al
| ready five governors. two or more
cabinet officers, three United States
senators, more than dozen state
highway commissioners and engl-
neers and some of the most dis
| tinguished good roads advocates have
accepted places on the official pro-
gram. A large number of good roads
machinery and material manufac-
turers and automobile and truck
dealers have reserved space for eX-
hibits at the United States good roads
show.
| Special Trains to He Run.
| Several of the trunk line railroads
have made special preparations to run
special trains from the east. and re-
duced rates will be given by all of the
railroads throughout the country.
The people of Phoenix and the state
| of Arizona are quite enthusiastic
about the meetings and will cooper
ate in every way possible.
| The Birmingham headquarters OF
these organizations in Birmingham
! will be maintained and the temporary
headquarters Will be an extra force in
pushing the work and promoting these
conventions.
! Six years ago the Bankhead high
| way was a dream. Today it Is real
| ity. Through the untiring efforts OF
! the founders and its officers there
have been more miles of actual con-
struction work done on the Bankhead
highway than any other highway in
the United States of like mileage. To-
day tourists are travelling the entire
distance from Washington to san
Diego without difficulty. Within the
next two years the Bankhead high
way will be the very best and only
transcontinental highway that can be
travelled the year round.
Bnnkhead Highway Route.
The official map of the Bankhead
highway shows that the distance from
Washington to San Diego is $3.50
miles. 1t traverses through the states
of Virginia. North Carolina, South
Carolina. Georgia. Alabama. Missis-
sippi, Arkansas. Texas. Oklahoma,
New Mexico. Arizona. California.
Work building this national high
way Is being done by county. state
and federal aid money. Thomas H.
Mcdonald. chief of bureau Of public
roads, Washington. writes officially
that 1913 miles Of the Rankhead high
way is being built with federal aid
money.
An Interstate Highway.
Official reports are being received
by J, A. Rountree. director general.
from every state through which the
Bankhead highway traverses, that
under the recent federal aid law, the
Bankhead highway has been OF will
be within the next thirty days desig-
mated as an interstate highway, in
accordance with this recent act, not
withstanding that prior to the pas
sage of this new federal aid bill it
had already been designated.
Reports also state that many coun-
ties through which the highway
passes are going ahead and building
their portion of the highway without
waiting for federal and state aid to
assist in the same. The most en-
thusiastic and optimistic reports of
the actual building of this highway
are beng received daily at headquar-
tiers.