The Monmouth inquirer., 1925-06-25
IMPROVED HIGHWAYS
ARE NOT LUXURIES

OF AgricuIture.)
Although the exact state Of road i'm
provement in the United States at the
present time is not known, 1t is esti-
mated by the Department of Agricul-
ture that the total mileage of surfaced
roads at the end of 1924 was between
10000 and 475,000 miles. Indications
are that approximately 10000 miles of
surfaced roads of various types have
been built during each year since 1921.
Exact figures as to how this mileage
has been divided by types or states are
not available. A considerable part of
the work. moreover. has consisted of
resurfacing 1t therefore cannot be
assumed that the net mileage of sur
faced roads has been increased during
the last three years by the total
amount of the new construction. The
last complete survey of the road Inn
provement situation was made in 1921
when the total surfaced mileage was
reckoned at 3S7, 760 miles. New CON
struction and resurfacing since 1921
have proceeded at a rate which Is be
lieved TO justify the estimate that the
net gain since then is well above co.
600 miles.
: In announcing these facts, the de
partment draws attention to certain
wrong ideas that are current about
road Improvement. Improved roads, it
says, are not luxuries. For the move
ment of every vehicle over road
there is a certain cost, which is less if
the road be improved than if 1t be
left in state of nature. Logically,
therefore, the only limit that should
be placed on expenditure for road inn
provement is the amount that can be
saved in vehicular operating costs.
This amount of course, depends upon
the number of vehicles using the road.
1t is pointed out that the country loses
more. in increased cost of operating
vehicles, by not improving roads than
it costs TO improve them. In other
words, it pays for improved roads
whether it has them or not, and it
pays less by having them than by not
having them
Another common error, says the de-
partment, is that all roads should be
hard surfaced. Hard surfacing with
concrete, brick, asphalt, stone or wood
blocks is an expensive process. When
its cost Is greater than the saving &C
crulng from the improvement, hard
surfacing is not advisable. It is pos
sible to make great improvements in
roads without hard surfacing them
and these Improvements are quite eff
fective in reducing the cost of travel.
When vehicles using a road are com
paratively few, an unsurfaced but
graded and drained road can be made
and maintained in satisfactory condi-
ton by dragging at very low cost. If
the traffic is so great that an unsur-
faced road cannot be maintained in
continuous good condition, surfacing
with stone. sand-clay or gravel, al
though more costly than simple grad
ing, will generally be compensated by
the greater saving in the cost of oper-
ating vehicles over it. Similarly,
when the traffic is greater than
SA0NCi AOttd VIII Nai " q
macadam surface can be economically
applied. 1t is not necessary to use one
of the hard surfaced types until the
traffic becomes very dense.
All roads should be improved, says
the department, to the maximum de-
gree that the traffic on them justifies.
but no road should be improved be-
yond it's earning capacity. When this
principle is observed the required an
nual expenditure for any type or road
is within the yearly savings in the cost
of operating the vehicles it has to
carry. In other words, the return to
the public in the form of economic
transportation is the sole measure of
the worth of road improvement. To
say that all roads should be hard sur
faced. the department points out, is
merely another way of urging expendi-
lures in excess of income.