New Britain herald., 1927-07-02
|307H ANNIVERSARY
Of HIGHWAY DEPT.
Lu6est Branch Of State Govern.
mmt Has Birthday Today

Largest ManC0 Of SlaG G0Y@l
mnt Has Birthday Today
Hartford. July with the ire
mendous traffic Of holiday week
end sweeping ever 1t in every Sec
ton Of the state, the Connecticut
highway system. consisting Of near.
ly 1000 miles Of paved roadway. /.
inanimately celebrating its Soth
birthday.
Thirty years ago this month. or
July /. 1897. to be exact the Con.
necticut highway system came into
existence with the establishment OF
the state highway department. as the
states first single headed commits
sion. During its 80 years Of service
to the state. the highway depart
ment has completed an expansive
network OF smooth highways, second
to none in the country. Road build
ing dates back more than 1000
years to the construction of the his
toric Appian Way from Rome to
Capua in $l2 B. c.. and nations and
states have been striving ever since
that time to connect their cities with
paved highways. Few however, can
boast of a greater percentage OF
well paved roads than Connecticut.
The Macs Show The Way.
The history OF the Connecticut
highway department actually dates
back two years previous to July J.,
1897, for the first road commission
was founded by = special act Of the
generally assembly of 1895 which es-
tablished . board Of three men to
begin the work. OF highway recon-
struction in this state. The first
commission consisted OF the follow
ing. three men: James H. Mac
Donald Of New Haven, William R.
Mcdonald OF Cromwell. and A. S.
Sternberg OF West Hartford. These
men served the state from 1895 to
1897. In the latter years, the gen.
eral assembly abolished the three
man board and founded the present
single headed commission which has
been in existence since that time.
III, first Connecticut highway COM
missioner was James H. Macdonald
one of the original three commits
sioners. 1t was under the guidance
Of Mr.. Macdonald that the founda-
lions OF the present system were
laid. Mr.. Macdonald continued in Of
flee for is years. being succeeded on
February 26, 1913 by Charles ]. Ben
nett of Hartford. Mr.. Bennett held
office for ten years. He was succeed
ed on July 1, 1928 by the present
commissioner John A. Macdonald.
who was reappointed for q term Of
four years by Governor Trumbull
during the 1927 session OF the leg
islature.
Including the three men who
served on the original board, one OF
whom later became the individual
head OF the department, only five
men have acted as highway COM
in Connecticut. 1t is in
teresting to note that of these five
men, three have been of the. same
name although each has spelled It
in a slightly different manner from
the others. The name Macdonald"
seems definitely linked with the
history and destiny of the Connecti-
cut highway system.
$15O,00O First Appropriation
When 1t first established the high
way commission, the General AS
sembly Of 1895 authorized an appro-
priation of $4,000 for the two year
fiscal period, a truly insignificant
amount in comparison with the ap-
Of $10.00o,00O necessary
today. The statute under which the
was organised provided
that the cost Of road construction
should be borne equally by the state.
town, or county. so that the amount
available to begin the giant task of
Connecticut with a high
way system was $4,000.
During the two year. period. 1902
towns made application for finan-
cial assistance in the construction Of
roads, Plainville being the first town
In the state to build a road under
the new statute provisions. The con-
tract calling for the paving OF 1850
feet on the Naugatuck Road was
awarded to ]. H. Cooke on August
%, 1895 and the pavement was COM
pleted on September 9. 1895 at cost
Of $2.72o.s4, Of which the town.
county. and state each paid one
third.
In 1897 when the state legislature
the one man commission
with James H. Macdonald as the
h cad Of the department. it increased
It's appropriation for the two years
to 5000, 900. but also altered the sta
tute so that the counties were elm
mated from the cost Of construction
and so that the state and towns each
paid one-half cost. The apportion-
ment Of the cost Of state-aid con-
struction has been altered several
times since the statute was passed.
The law passed by the last General
which takes effect today
recognizes two classes of towns; l. e.
those having annual tax receipts OF
$4,000 or less, and those having tax
receipts In excess OF that amount
Towns in the first class will pay one
eighth OF the cost OF construction.
while those in the second will pay
the balance in both cas-
es being paid by the state.