Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1926-04-29

oGf tHiSa, were 10 ne lnCiu0tu III tue
nat@aal system, eligible Tor Fedora
aid. Nearly every mile of that 1866.
061 was a candidate for desgnat:4s
as Federal highway But in the emo
the system was laid out as a truly ma.
tional one.
When the map was published 1t
showed nearly the 100000 miles of
designated routes. Since then 46,4s5
miles OF these roads have been i'm.
proved, nearly 10000 more are under
construction, and over 1000 have been
approved for early beginning Of work
In addition to that many states have
built, without Federal aid, extensive
sections which are included within
this national system. In fact, these
state contributions aggregate $4,000
miles, so that approximately two
thirds OF the 100000 mile national
highway system has already been i'm.
proved
Uncle Sam as Road Supervisor
"Along with all Of this, there Is the
Federal supervision over construction
and maintenance When Uncle Sam
helps build a road he reserves au.
thority to require its proper main
tenance Then there is the business
of uniform marking along highways,
which makes it possible for motorists
to drive thousands OF miles on des
ignated route whose markings be
come SO familiar that after few
miles he need not ask directions.
Finally Federal participation has
made possible a great number OF
bridges at strategic points Some OF
these have been needed for years, yet
state and local authorities have been
unable to provide them, partly be-
cause of the cost, partly because Of
competition between routes. When a
stream separates two counties, or two
states. it is often impossible to get
them to agree where to build or how
to divide the cost of a bridge. In
such cases the Federal authority has
repeatedly mediated differences and
secured construction. Let me men
ton some instances.
Missouri has been state for over
a century Divided east and west by
the Missouri river. communication be-
tween the two sections has been linn
tied, to the states disadvantage -Four
bridges across the river were required
in the national highway program. and
Federal cooperation with the state OF
Missouri has made them possible
Two are completed the others are IN
der construction The four will cost
a little more than s2,OOO,00O, the Fed
eral contribution being nearly $1,000.
GOO
Getting Bridges Constructed
Another bridge that has a peculiar
Importance, both locally and nation
ally, has been needed for generations
across Raritan bay. New Jersey 1t is
one of the links in the chain of con-
munication between New York cit3
and the country al large In 1872
New Jersey had some S700, 600 Of Fed
eral aid allotted t. her roads and IL
1925 over S1000000 SO the state
agreed that this Raritan bridge should
be built, costing about S4,000Q0O
Federal funds made up about one
third of the amount The bridge. over
aile and half long. is now nearly
completed
Such Illustrations might be multi
piled indefinitely National participa
ton has repeatedly made possible the
accomplishment Of vitality important
highway development"
According to the American Petro
leum Institute, the gasoline tax was
first imposed in 1919 in Oregon III
has now been adopted by all the
states except New York, Illinois, New
Jersey and Massachusetts, The ten
dency has been continually TO in
crease the rate Of tax per gallon As
late as 1921 gasoline taxes for the en-
tire country were only about $4,000
600: in 1922, s12,00O000; in 1923, al
most s37.000.0o0; in 1924, s79,000.000
and in 1925, S142,9S7,749
With good prospects that the "gas"
tax will be adopted soon by states
which do not have it nox anc with
the gallonage rates being Increased in
other states, 1t is calculated tai this
TAX alone will soon raise $200.000.O0o
year. quite possibly during 1926