Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-12-24

with heavy team trucks or motor
trucks. Your agricultural haulage does
not compare with ours Remember tina
the cows of Wisconsin produce 10000
100000 pounds Of milk a year. Thus
it was not a question Of building a few
miles Of main arteries, but Of serving
traffic facilities to a large area.
In addition to that, we had the traf-
fic in the thickly populated sections
between the cities. We have $500
lakes in Wisconsin inviting the tourists
from Indiana, Illinois and Iowa. We
figure our tourists left with us this
year 500, 00O,0 600.
"The state began to function In the
road movement in 1o12-just 10 years
ago. At that time our condition was
not as good as yours Is now. You
have a county road unit. Prior to
1872 we had a town road unit, 1900
town boards, 5000 men in charge of
road work, and each town doing the
work IN Its own way. 1t was chaos.
We did not have 800 miles of good
roads in the state We began In 1912
with the state aid law, under which
the state extended aid to the local
units, the towns and counties raising
an equal amount. We operated under
that law up to and including 1917 and
built 5000 miles of road in 5000
pieces. This, result was foreseen. 1t
a process Of education. Every lit
tie piece of road was a road school.
winch created a demand for more roads
and a better system. Public move
ments are q process and not a leap.
Men OF leadership see the situation in
tenseiy, but the mass must be educated
to their point of view. Theodore
once said that it took 20
years from the beginning of a move
until 1t reached the stage of ac-
complishment.
How Wisconsin Solver Problem
I'm 1917 the first federal aid be-
came available for Wisconsin, and she
proceeded % devise legislation under
Whlch she might operate to meet the
IedelSI ald and passed the state trunk
niehWay act. 1t is under the terms of
TINS act that Wisconsin developed the
Wisconsin idea IN road improvement
and road marking which has given her
Woe tame. l believe her experience
under this act will be Of value to Mon
tana.
AT the outset let 1t be stated that
the Wisconsin idea is that the func-
ton of a state highway department is
build, maintain and keep open a
transportation system and not to build
a few miles of boulevards. We had
before us a knowledge Of the present
and expected traffic the material avail
able-a knowledge of the whole financ-
lal traffic and highway situation in
Wisconsin. We had a certain mileage
highways in a certain condition. We
had a fair certainty of the amount of
which would be available in a
period to improve it, and with
these facts could determine what
should he done with these funds so
the state highway department
give their clients, the public. the
traffic service during a d~esignat-
perIod-the service which would do
the greatest good to the greatest num-
Der.
One element that is often overlook
ed in determining a highway program
IS the tremendous loss that the traffic
8 suffering through bad roads. Wis
consin had at the period spoken of
motor vehicles travelling l.
eOO.0GO,WO miles a year. They were
suffering a minimum loss of one cent
A mile or S12,000,0OO a year. This
#oss must be cut off as quickly as
possible.
Even if the funds were available it
would be mechanically impossible to
our main state highways in
period of less than Is years. In the
interim, traffic would suffer a ire
nendous loss. Suppose you had a mil
ion dollars available in a given year
n a unit government for highway i'm
1rovement. With this sum Won could
quilt 40 miles of high type pavement
n a year and at the end Of five wears
ouild 40 miles of high type pavement
several thousand miles good. bad
md impossible. For the same amount
money, YOU could build 125 miles of
,ravel road a year, and at the end of
i've year have $50 miles Of gravel road
several thousand miles fair to i'm
,assable.
Loss That Traffic Suffers
"On the other hand that
Tou determined upon a policy of pa
rol maintenance under which the
present roads were improved 30 per
,ent in a few years period: the bad
'pots put unde gang maintenance and
up and given light surface I
reatment from year to year by adding
,rayel or other suitable materials so |
hat at the end of a three or four year
period you had all but a thousand !
niles in fairly adequate shape forI
ravel. would you not by the latter
method be serving the traffic Of your
tate to better advantage. You certain
Y would. |
I'VE don't appreciate the loss the
rattle is suffering every year by de-
ay. To illustrate: We were building
five-mile stretch of road a few years
go which should have been done in
ne year and which took two years to
o through default of the contractor.
| detour was necessary which meant
raveling eight miles or a distance
hree miles further to be Travelled be-
ause of. the construction job and de-
our.
"a check showed 1000 automobiles
day travelling over that road for an
light months period-trayeling three
further because of the detour.
his meant 5000 miles a day for 240
avs or 10000 miles in all which at
0 cents a mile meant a loss of S72.-
OW. This will illustrate the loss in
olved by delay in securing adequate
transportation.