The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1922-01-12
MIR. RHETT'S PLAN
FOR GOOD ROADS
SCHEME FOR RAISING $4,000,
600 FOR THE CAROLINA
HIGHWAYS.

~ Mr.. Goodwin Rhett, chairman OF
the State Highway Department, has
outlined his plan whereby in period
of six years the sum of $34,O0O,0OO
would be raised for up-building Of
highways and bridges in South Caro-
lima, his plan being announced as fol-
follows:
Chesterfield county would receive
about s3sO,OO0 and has ninety-three
miles on the State highway system,
of which about twenty-three miles
have already been constructed or
provided for. To construct the re-
manning seventy miles with sandclay
or gravel surfacing would cost some
s35O,COO, which would leave margin
of $4,000 for contracting additional
mileage that might be added to the
STATE system. Chesterfield county
has no roads at present requiring a
hard surface.
y Greenville county would receive
about S1,140,0O0 and has a total Of
131 miles on the State system, all
except about ten miles of which has
already been improved. At least ST.
100000 is needed in this county i'm
mediately, however, for hard surfac-
ing those roads on which traffic is
too heavy for the existing top soil
surfs.cing.
Richland county would receive about
s1,10O,OOO and has seyenty-nine miles
on tire State highway system which
is practically all provided for under
the 100000 bond issue for pave
ments already available in that coun-
ty. The State fund could therefore
be applied to the construction OF
roads to be added to the system or
in retiring a part of the county bonds.
In like manner every county in the
State would receive sufficient fund
to take care of the immediate needs
so far as the State highway system
is concerned, and due to the federal
aid, each would receive more than
it contributed. 1t is true that the
needs would increase during the six
year period on account of the traffic
multiplying on some Of the roads.
On the other hand, increased traffic
would mean increased revenue from
both the automobile license and mo-
tor fuel taxes, which in turn would
enable greater mileage Of hard sur
facing to be constructed.
Some of the advantages of this
plan are:
1. It would enable all Of the coun-
ties to share equitably IN the benefits
to be received from federal aid. An
equitable distribution by counties Of
this fund is not possible under the
revised federal statutes.
2. 1t would enable the federal aid
projects to be limited in number and
thus greatly reduce the administrative
cost of handling these projects. The
COVE nment formalities are just the
same for a $1,000 project as for one
costing half million.
g. The bridges provided for in this
plan would overcome the great bar
riers which our rivers now constitute.
Such bridges would be of Statewide
significance and the cost of their con-
struction is not properly chargeable
to any county, and seldom to any
group of counties. This fact has been
responsible for South Cardinals slow
progress in constructing necessary
bridges.
4. This plan would in the future
obviate the necessity for most of the
county bond issues for roads. The
total of bond issues for road improve
ment already authorized by the coun-
ties of the State amounts to some
S23 100000, but most of these issues
were for improvements that would
simply be supplemented and made
complete by the present plan. In
some cases, no doubt, counties would
find it desirable to provide for addi-
tional road improvement which would
require bond issues, but they would
certainly lose no advantage on &C
count of the State work.
\ 5. This plan provides for contin-
BUSINESS after the six-year period.
ANY plan that is not continuous will
necessarily be disappointing because
the needs of the traffic will continue
to develop and no present plan could
be sufficient to provide before a given
date for needs that will develop after
that date. At the expiration of the
six-year period South Carolina would
still have about s3,000,000 per year
to spend for road construction, in ad-
l.x;.,, 10 q maintenance fund sniff