The Sauk Centre herald., 1930-03-13
ALL HICHWAYSARE
ROUTE FOR FARMER
Public Roads Bureau Chief
Declares Main Arteries
Carry Most Traffic
Interesting Radio Talk
Better Engineering Greater
Efficiency Greater Need
in Road Progress

The need for money for county
and township road construction is
not so pressing as the need for
greater efficiency and better ell
gfneering, Thomas H. Macdonald,
chief of the U. S. Bureau of Pub
lie Roads, said in a recent radio
talk.
when people speak of farm-to-
market roads, I often wonder
what kind of roads they mean, and
what other kinds of roads there
may be that are not farm-to-mar-
ket roads," Mr.. Macdonald said.
Il have always thought of all our
rural roads as farm-to-market
roads. To be sure, there are some
roads that serve not much traffic
except that which originates on the
farms, and some that carry, in ad-
dition to farm traffic, a heavy in
ter-city movement of vehicles. It
has been my observation that the
city roads serve also the heaviest
farm traffic, and are therefore the
most important farm-to-market
roads.
Certainly it is true that the
farmers markets, for buying as
we'll as selling, are the cities, and
the bigger the city the better the
market. So I think the principal!
distinction to be drawn between
roads is one rather of Importance
than of kind. Those who talk Of
hi hn 70 -fN
market roads actually mean that it
is time to be doing something for
the improvement of the less impor-
tant roads, the secondary roads.
as they are called. 1t is not only
time that something be done for
these roads, but the process is al
ready we'll under way"
Citing reasons why progress has
been slow in the past, Mr.. Mac
Donald said that half of the 5000
counties to build roads without any
engineering direction whatever and
none but the most primitive road
building equipment: Of those that
had the basis of an engineering
organization, not more than half
are really adequately equipped and
organized to build roads for mod
ern traffic.
'Thus poorly equipped, these
counties have been trying year af-
ter year, to improve all of their To-
cal roads, spreading their slender
revenues over a mileage so great
that the slight benefits of each
years work have been lost by the
time the next year rolled around.
That is one reason why improve
ment of local roads has not kept
pace with the more orderly inn
provement of the main roads by the
state and federal governments.
"The federal and state govern
ments have avoided this mistake,
and have limited their systems to
mileage that could be improved
within a reasonable time. The most
important roads have been chosen
and they form a network that COW
ers the entire country. But the
federal and state governments are
adding to their systems from time
to time and this process is having
two effects" Mr.. Macdonald said.
First, it brings under the control
of the well-equipped federal and
state highway departments mile
after mile of the more important
county roads and insures that they
will be improved as their import
ance demands. Second the roads
taken over, being the more heavily
travelled of county highways, are
those which have required the
largest expenditure. Relieved of
them, the counties are able, without
increase of local taxes, to expend
a larger sum per mile on the re-
naming mileage and so effect a
more lasting improvement.
"There is another way in which
federal and state improvement of
the principal highways of them
farm-to-market roads, is brighten
the prospect for more local road
improvement" the speaker added.
"The improvement of the main
roads alone has made possible the
great increase in number of motor
vehicles in use. The high class of
service afforded to these motor We
hicles by the improved main roads
has made their owners willing and
able to pay ever increasing sums
for road construction and mainten-
ance." Between 1921 and 1928 the
amounts paid by motor vehicle