The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1927-05-27
HIGHWAY SYSTEM
FINEST IN WEST
Trunk System Extends To All
Parts of State Develop
ment Rapid.

The Minnesota Highway System has
been the object of praise and admira-
ton from visitors who have come to
the state from near and far in the
last few years. For the amount of
money spent, Minnesota has probably
achieved greater results than any
state in the Union.
There are two reasons for this. One
is that Minnesota has an abundance
of gravel which makes an ideal road
for moderate traffic under normal
weather conditions. The other is that
Minnesota has road system" in
stead of merely number Of good
roads. The Babcock plan, so-called
after G. M. Babcock, who has been
State Highway Commissioner the last
ten years, not only provided system
of primary roads connecting all the
county seats and almost all other cit
les and villages of 1000 or more peo-
pie, but 1t also made provision for the
improvement Of the secondary and To-
cal roads in proportion to the traffic
they bear.
Under State Control
The trunk highways In Minnesota
are entirely under state control. The
plan was adopted by the voters in
1920 and put into effect by the 1egis-
lature of 1921. Within few weeks
temporary routes had been selected
and maintenance organization COW
ering the entire system had been put
to work. In addition to local patrol
work, the maintenance division began
the crawling and reshaping of many
routes which could not at once be per-
manently improved, and the construc-
ton division began preparing plans
and letting contracts for grading, grav-
cling and paving the more heavily
travelled routes.
Only limited amount of paving,
where traffic was so heavy that main
tenance of gravel roads was impossi-
BILE, was undertaken. At the end Of
1925, nearly 1000 miles had been
brought to permanent grade. AS to
surfacing, S33 miles were paved. 229
bituminous treated, 4,151 had heavy
gravel, 1,044 light gravel and 674 were
maintained earth or sand-clay. Thus
Minnesota, in a very short time, was
brought out of the mud. Two years
ago the department undertook to keep
the roads open in winter. Minnesota
now has road system which, with
the exception of periods of unusually
heavy snow or rain, are open and
passable all the year around. Even last
winter. with the heaviest snow in a
decade, the roads were kept better
than 95 per cent open.
Minnesota has probably one of the
most efficient maintenance organiza-
tions in the country. The state is
divided into sixteen maintenance dis
tricts, each under local superintend-
ent. On the unpaved roads there is a
local patrolman every seven or eight
miles, who goes over his stretch daily
in summer, and In winter whenever
conditions require. These men use
both team and motor graders for
smoothing the highways, clean and
repair bitches, cut weeds, fill chuck
holes as they develop and do anything
and everything else which may add
to the safety and comfort of the road
user. This is supplemented by spe-
cial motor patrol maintenance, re-
graveling, reshaping and other spe-
cial maintenance.
Safety Factor
Safety has also been a prime fac
tor in all construction plans. In five
years 3S2 railroad grade crossings
have been eliminated. Sharp turns
and steep grades and other hazards
have been eliminated wherever posi-
BILE and others are plainly marked.
Pavements have minimum width of
Is feet and gravel roads are surfaced
to width of "a feet or more on all
grades built since the state took over
the system. On the heavily travelled
routes which have not been paved,
oil, tar and calcium chloride are be-
ing used to protect the surface and
keep the dust down.
Some tourists and visitors may not
be greatly interested in the arguments
relative to the virtue of paved roads.
Commissioner G. M. (Babcock has re-
peatedly recommended that funds be
provided for a more extensive paving
program. He is urging paving as a
means Of reducing maintenance ex-
penditures and providing roads that
will reduce vehicle operating costs to
the man who uses the roads the year
around. Another virtue of paving is
that it Is uniformly good the year
around, and is not affected by the
spring breakup or other periods of
excessive moisture when the unpayed
roads become poor and often impassa-
BILE. But in the touring months, May
to October, the gravel roads and even
the maintained earth roads are uni.
formly good. Tests made with
'roughometer" have confirmed the
popular impression that many gravel
roads In Minnesota during the sum-
mer season are smooth as pavement.
The man who is driving for business