River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1925-08-27

zion for Wisconsin and the things
that has helped to make her great.
In presenting this serial story, the
editor of The Journal hoped to give
a clear picture of Wisconsin for the
benefit of local folks. The more we
learn of our state, the greater will
be the pride that dawns upon US.
Wisconsin's recent great accomp-
hshment is the laying out, marking,
and maintaining of $500 mile state
trunk highway system and making
provision for its construction. 1t
covers the state completely, touching
every county seat and every city Of
5000 people or over. The two out
standing features of Wiscensin's read
program and the ones which have at
tracted national attention are the
road marking and the maintenance.
There are many indications that Wis
consins system of numbered roads
will be adopted nationally. Already
Minnesota, Iowa, ILLINOIS, Indiana,
Ohio and Michigan have taken steps
to number their roads. Great Brit
ian has recently adopted the idea of
numbered roads. The plan is simple,
accurate and complete, and worth a
few words of description.
Markers Point the Way
The basic idea underlying the Wis
consin system is to number all the
state trunk highways, to place an
abundance of suitable markers on the
roads showing the numbers, and to
issue a map with the roads number
ed corresponding. A standard de-
sign has been adopted, a white field
containing a triangle painted in
black, showing the number of the
road and the words STATE
TRUNK HIGHWAY-WIS." Three
or more telephone poles in each mile
are marked in this manner.
At every mile is a white post with
the black triangle showing the num-
Der of the road and beneath the tri-
angle a figure indicating the number
Of the mile beginning at the originat-
ng point of the highway on the east
or south. Where turn is approach
~ 49, Iaffo~e y ~ appaar ;pdi
eating right or left. At crossroads
Is a sign showing the names of the
principal villages or cities nearby
and their distances from the point of
intersection with the main roads. AS
you approach a sharp turn in road,
if you are travelling at night your
headlights flash on sign at the turn
with an arrow indicating the direc-
ton to take. There are also numer-
Gus safety signs and devices. The
end wall of every culvert and the end
tfusses of all bridges are painted
white so they may be clearly seen at
night, and they also show the stand
ard triangle with the number Of the
road.
Accidents which often happen
through running over the ends of old
culverts where no end walls were
built to protect the traffic, are elm
mated by placing white posts at each
end of the culvert. Sharp curves,
steep hills and school grounds are in
dicated by caution signs. Every
railroad grade crossing is protected
by danger signs.
Easy 20 Find the Road
An official state road map has
been issued by the Wisconsin High
way Commission, showing the state
trunk highway system with the num-
Der of each of the roads. All that is
necessary is to examine the map
find the number of the road reaching
the desired destination, and follow
the markers placed on this highway.
II has been we'll said that sit is as
difficult to get lost now on the roads
Of Wisconsin as it was to find the
way five years ago"
The second striking Innovation in
Wisconsin's road program is the
patrol maintenance. The habit in The
past has been to start patrol main
tenance on a highway after it had
been improved and surfaced. 1t is
obvious that it wall take many years
to surface all the main arteries OF
any state. Meantime the automobile