The Punta Gorda herald., 1922-04-28

The State Road Department has
leld its meeting in Tampa large ::
,umher of interested citizens from
,ome twenty counties of Southern i:
Florida met with the officials and a !
thorough understanding was reached
,y both the state body and the repre- .
sentatives.
What are the net results? First
that Southern Florida has seen and .
now knows the State Road Depart .
ment is a body of high class business
men. having at heart the interests or
the entire state. Second, that while
the officials may have spent too large
a proportion of the state and federal
funds on the road from Jacksonville
to Pensacola, when other equally I'M
portant roads were urgently needed,
vet it was because it assumed that TO
finish one main highway first was
necessary. Third, that from now on
the people of Southern Florida are
going to work in harmony with the
department. because the department
Is going to see that the main roads
leading into the state, and down INTO
sub-tropical Florida where the mayor
| ity of people who come to the state
want to come, are built as quickly
as possible.
Road Number 5 is without doubt as
important as Road No. l or any other
projected road in the state 1t is the
main highway down to Southern
Florida, to the West Coast where is
tending the development of one of the
richest areas in the entire country.
With this road linked up, it. Will be
easy for every county along the route
of it to bond and build such connec-
tions and feeders as will put all parts
of Pennisular Florida in touch with
progress.
It is assuring and pleasing to learn,
also, from the meeting, that there IS
on hand about million dollars oil
state funds, with approximately half
a million more to come this year from
taxation, and some two million dol
lars of federal road money available
for the tate. With this amount
ahead it will be possible for Florida
to continue its most important main
line road building even though the
gasoline tax law was knocked out.
Road No. 2 begins at Jennings on
the Georgia line in Jasper county, and
runs through Lake City, H h
Springs, Gainesville, Ocala, Leesburg,
Orlando, Kissimmee, Haines City,
Barlow. Wauchula, and Arcadia to
Fort Myers. Road No. starts at
High Springs, where ii intersects
Road No. 2, and runs through New
berry, Archer, Williston, Dunnellon,
Brooksville, h e n through citrus
county to Tampa. From Tampa IT
passes south to Manatee, Bradentown,
Palmetto and Punta Gorda to Fort
: Myers where it again intersects Road
No. 2. From this point as one road
the two continue to Marco and thence
across via Tamiami trail to Miami.
1t is readily seen, therefore, this
section is deeply interested in both
roads No. 2 and No. 5, Particularly
is it interested in No. because that
opens up direct route through com
: paratively new territory, and beside
d saving about a hundred miles in the
{ trip between High Springs and For
= Myers places in line for fun and early
t development one of the finest citrus
q and trucking sections of the western
part of Pennisular Florida,
Il The Tribune believes the meeting
L has been of inestimable value to botl
u the people of Southern Florida ant
L to the State Road Department. Fo
its part it is satisfied that from nov
on there will be done all that is pos
7 sible for putting the southern end @
the state in as good position 10
! roads as has been done ON the west
j" ern and northern end.
The department should notice wei
st however, that this part of the stat
,r- while it has more miles of roads tha
or any other, or all other parts togethe
he has built those roads out of its Ow
.rs pocket, the counties willingly an
he literally bonding for what they kne
of to be absolutely needed for their d
en- velopment. This great vista of fiji
he roads which unrolls before the d
ort partment as it travels over the Sc
VS. ton, should not cause that body
I'VE consider for moment that state a
BUT for the main roads and especially f,
the the links that make the Southel
wv Florida roads valuable, should not
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