The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1922-11-30
GASOLINE SAVINGS
WOULD PAVE ROADS
HIGHWAY FIGURES SHOW GAINS
POSSIBLE FROM BUYING
GOOD ROADS
PAVING COST WOULD PAY
SAVING ON SINGLE ITEM HELD
AMPLE TO COVER ENTIRE
COSTS IN 10 YEARS

Possible savings on gasoline alone,
in the next ten years at present prices
would pay the whole cost of paving
the entire 7,000-mile Minnesota sys-
tenn of trunk highways, according to
practical tests made by the Iowa
State college. Expert engineers re-
port that equal savings can be made
on tires with paved, against mpaved,
roads, and this added, the possible
savings would equal the paving costs
in.fye years. Even greater savings
possible on the life of every car and
the comfort and convenience afforded
by hard-surfaced highways. would
represent net gains, they assert.
Charles M. Babcock, state highway
commissioner, made it clear that there
is no immediate plan to pave 1000
miles or even 700 miles on the trunk
system, and that the figures are ap-
piled to the Minnesota highway pro-
gram to emphasize that the proposed
bond issues to speed up betterments
are "just good business"
Figure Big Savings
Iowa test averages showed that a
gallon of gasoline is the motor fuel
necessary to transport one ton Ia
miles on an earth road, 81 miles on a
gravel road and 81 miles on con-
crete pavement. With gasoline at "a
cents gallon, ten mile fuel costs are
LII cents on earth, LIS cents on grav-
eli and III cents on paved roads. Fur
Their, the tests show possible savings
Of Sc cents ton mile on gravel over
earth roads, "a cents on pavement
over earth roads and SO cents ON
pavement over gravel roads. The
weight of the average vehicle is placed
at 1.36 tons. These basic figures
make it easy to figure with fair ac-
curacy the gasoline savings possible
from improvement of any road on
which is known the number of motor
vehicles using it daily.
Applied to the Minnesota trunk
highway system, the test figures in.
dictate fuel cost of motor vehicle OPP
Grafton, per ton mile with 24-cent gas
oline, Of 66-hundrtdths of a cent less
on a concrete road than on the av-
erage unpaved road in the state. With
traffic averages of ITO vehicles and
966 tons a day on the Minnesota trunk
highways, the gasoline saving alone
would be $2,525, plus $675 saving on
maintenance on paving, or total of
$1,000 mile saved annually.
Interest charges included, concrete
pavement in Minnesota costs $50, 900
a mile. So the possible savings on
gasoline with hard-surfaced roads,
with maintenance costs reduced, would
in ten years at present price of gas
cline, cover the gross cost of extend
ing paving over all of the 7,000-mile
state highway system.
Babcock Makes Statement
Commenting on the proposals to be
made to the legislature, Commission
er Babcock said:
"The highway department will rec
ommend first issues of state highway
bonds because it believes the proposal
just good business and what good
would urge upon stock-hold-
ers in private enterprise under like
conditions. The public as good roads |
stockholders acting through the SEN
ators and representatives correspond
ing to the board of directors in a pri-
vate business must decide whether
the proposition is timely. 1t will
stand solely on its merits.
"The successful business man bor-
rows funds when he finds he can use
them to build economically and adj
vantageously. Minnesota with a
credit Of $40 per capita and only
1914 of debt or net credit of nearly |
SIP per capita, is in better positi n
to borrow money for needed highway
than many other states
going on with much larger highway
funds and programs. Highway bond
and other recommendations to be
made by this department will not add
one cent to taxes. Better roads al
ready are returning to average car
and truck owners more than they pay
in motor vehicle taxes and since the
state assumed the expense of build
ing and maintaining the more expen-
sive main roads, county, township
and city-village levies for road and
bridge purposes are rapidly going
down. Direct taxes for roads in
Minnesota are being lowered for the
irst time in the history. of the state.
"Current trunk highway funds to
late have totalled $5,O0,O00 less than