Evening star., 1925-03-08
FINDS BRITAIN HAS
EXCELLENT ROADS
But U. S. Can Learn Little on
Construction or Financing,
Fletcher Believes.

In the matter of road construction
highway financing and other prob
lens relating to the development of
the automobile, America has little
to learn from Great Britain, accord
ing to a. B. Fletcher of the United
States Bureau of Public Roads, who
spent considerable time recently
travelling over the rural roads of
England, Scotland and Wales. On the
whole, the average rural English road
is much better than our country
roads, but the like of our best roads
is not to be found in that country.
Touring through Great Britain, Mr..
Fletcher explained, an American car
was used, remodeled, however with
a. rtght-hand drive to conform to
English practice. For one accustomed
TO a thoroughly American car it
proved a source of Inconvenience, ac-
cording to this observer, to be shift
ing gears with the left hand and
passing other cars on the wrong side
of the road.
Roads Wind Badly.
There are many similarities and
some differences between the English
country roads and the rural roads
of the United States" Mr.. Fletcher
said, in reviewing his impressions of
English highway practice. They are
perhaps more crooked even than the
roads of our older States, and the
reason for the poor alignment is ap-
Darcatly the same in both countries.
In neither country was there any
thought OF motor traffic or any other
sort OF fast traffic when the roads
were surfaced.
Our road problem is so much big
ger than Great Britain's that the
reason for the better average i'm
provement of the English road is ap-
parent. In all England, Scotland and
Wales, there are but 177,000 miles of
road, cities and boroughs included, as
against our estimated mileage of
2.941,000 outside Of the cities and
towns.
The English roadside almost in
variably is a thing of beauty, and
an American has to go to Scotland
before he feels at home. The Scotch
roadsides are nearly or quite as bar
rem and unkempt as most of ours.
The English roads generally have a
wide grass border, and there are
trees and shrubs everywhere. Some
times the line of sight is restricted
by the roadside growths.
Control of Traffc.
The traffic control at bad road in
tersecuons in the country as handled
by the agents of the automobile clubs,
in cooperation with the police au-
thorities, is wonderfully we'll done
and worthy of much more attention
than can be given to il here. In
the matter OF road signs, however,
we mark our roads, at least SO far as
direction signs are concerned, better
than it is done in England.
The revenue which the British
Ministry of Transport has for road
purposes, derived wholly from the
registration fees paid on account of
the motor vehicles, amounted in 1924
10 about $4,000, 900. This is about
the same sum Congress has been ap-
propriating recently for our Federal
aid work
Great Britain spends annually
about three times that sum for road
purposes. whereas the highway bill
of the United States in 1922 was esti-
mated at more than $1,000, 100000.
Prior to January I, 1921. at which
time the present. road fund was estab-
nshed, there had been in effect a tax
on gasoline by means of which most
of the grants made by the ministry
were financed. After 1915 this tax
was at the rate of about 12 cents a
gallon. Beginning with 1921, the tax
was abolished, and in place of the
gasoline tax as a revenue producer a
tax of $3.50 per horsepower Of the
motor vehicles was substituted.
This tax is still in effect, and the
owner of a Ford car, for example,
pays into the public treasury annu-
ally nearly 800 for the privilege of
driving on the British roads.
The high registration fee has fos-
tered the manufacture and use of
low-powered cars and special atten-
tion has been given to small
cylindered motors and kHsh piston
speeds"