The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-11-25
Attempt To Detour Federal Aid Project Charged Against Highway Commission By Greene And Sumter People
LONGER ROUTE IS CHOSEN AT HEAVY COST, IS SAID
Interested Citizens Are To Appear At Montgomery In Protest And Also Take Fight To Washington Delegation
By STAFF CORREsPoNDENT

BOLIGEE, Ala, Nov. 24.--Charg- ing that John A. Rogers, chairman of the Alabama state highway com mission, Is attempting to detour a federal aid highway nine miles out of the way so that 1t will go by his home town of Gainesville, at a cost of many thousands of dollars to the taxpayers, citizens of Greene and Sumter counties assembled here to- day in an mitigation meeting and publicly protested against the high way commissions procedure, calling on Alabama's senators and congress men at Washington to do their part in stopping any attempted useless expenditure of the public funds"
 The project which drew the fire Of citizens of Epes and Boligee, which towns are most interested in the sub ject, was that which calls for the construction of a roadway from Eu- taw, county seat of Greene county, to Livingston, county seat of Sumter county. The "most direct and feas- ible route" spokesmen at the mass meeting pointed out, is certainly the shortest distance between two points, which is a straight line. Boligee and Epes lie almost in straight line between Eutaw and Livingston. ane of the 271z miles of road between the two county seats on this route about 13 miles are in perfect con dition, leaving only some l4A miles to be constructed.
 Contends Favored Route Longest.
 The other route, which has been approved by the highway commits sion, leads like the remaining two sides of a triangle. to a detour ot something like nine miles, through fbs towns of Clinton, Mount Hebron, Gainesville (Mr. Rogers home towr), and thence to Livingston, 1t was pointed out at the meeting.
 Regardless of the fact that some tourists may want to go nine miles out of the way to see Chairman Rog CTS home town, said indignant cll- zens here today, there are great many taxpayers who would not like to pay a sum ranging from SSO,O0O, at the highway commissions own figures, to S1,000.o00, If a bridge IS built across the Tombigbee river at Gainesville, for that privilege.
 w. D. Johnston, Jr., merchant and n1anter of BoIigee, who presided at the meeting. outlined the history of inc Greene-Su Sumter road dispute, which dates back some two years. That long back, before the handsome pike was built which now spans the IS miles of distance between Gaines vile and Livingston, he said, the peo- ple of Epes had heard of this con- templated road, and also had heard that the idea eventually was to ex- tend it to Eutaw, from Gainesville. Citizens of Greene county then raised a sum of money with which to pay for an independent survey of the pro posed routes, and the engineer, J. T. McI,emore. Jr., after a thorough in vestigation, reported that it would cost s196,O00 more to connect the county seats via Gainesville than via Boligee and Epes. A committee laid the facts before the highway com mission as then constituted, and the maps and data were left, under pro test. with the commission. Ihe Gainesville and that this route would built, regardless.
 When The Age-Herald's Montgom- cry correspondent sought informa ton recently from the state highway commission on this point, he was told
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