The Waterbury Democrat., 1935-11-18
State Road System
 Shows Improvement
Highway Dept. Supplements Own Funds With Money
 Made Available By PWA Many Routes Improved

and other states demands high grade costly highways as contrast cd with the narrow, less substap- tial roads, which suffce in states where population and industry are not so intensely concentrated.
 Be that as 1t may, the Connecti- cut highway department strives to give the Connecticut motorist . 100 per cent return on his money, since 1t is the motorist who finances all state road construction and recon struction through the fees which he pays to the state in the form of license, registration and gasoline taxes. In connection with these pay ments, 1t should be pointed out that the general assembly of 1885 made alterations in the general statutes which considerably reduce our reg istration fees while increasing the gasoline tax by one cent per gallon.
 We anticipate that the annual returns to the highway fund will be approximately the same as In the past, but that the basis of the tax will prove more equitable, since the man who uses more gasoline and who therefore makes greater use of the highways will pay more proportionate share toward their construction and upkeep than in the past. This is only fair and 1t is unlikely that fair-minded motorists will object to 1t especially in view of the fact that the annual regis tration fee which must be laid out as e lump sum will be less, while the gasoline tax will come under the heading of painless payments
 The contracts which have been awarded this year as regular state road projects number S0 and these call for various types of improve ment 'n 20 miles of road, oil In the states primary of trunk line suy- tenn of highways. To this must be added contracts in force in 23 towns for the improvement of some 70 miles of town road, mainly with gravel surfacing and seven bridge projects which are being handled with state funds. Thus, including all types of work, the department during the first 10 months of 1895, contracted for i5s miles of highway improvement and the construction or improvement of f8 bridges, which is e sizeable amount of work for any year.
 Operations of the highway depart ment are by no means limited to the actual construction and reconc- sturtion of roads, for many other duties fall within the province of the apartment. It is necessary, for instance, to go of the travelled por- ton of the highways and Into that section of each road which the state owns, in anticipation of neces- sary, future widening, beyond tho highway shoulders. This roadside work calls for no small amount Of attention. In fact, when spring ar- rived last year, the bureau of road. side development launched its most ambitious schedule since 1t was founded eight years ago.
 Waste Areas Bettered
 Many miles of highways have been planted to shade trees, eIia. bankments covered with vines, and waste areas transformed Into lovely garden sites. Additional picnic areas were built to keep pace with the ever increasing demand for safe parking facilities of the travelled way. Sight lines at intersections and on the inside of curves have been carefully maintained. During the summer several hundred tenn porary workers were engaged in moving grass on the raadsides, re- moving debris, and in general, keeping tho right of way more san. itary and aestheticaliy pleasing.
 Several major long projects were concluded and others begun during 1885. Tn East Lyme pWA land. scare improvement of the roadsides gave work to more than 100 work CTS. In Lime Rock, another PWA project developed and enhanced the naturally beautiful roadsides along the upper Housatonic valley. Some of the big traftic rotarieS, notably those of Corbinns corner, West Hartford, and in North stonington at the intersection of Rouptes No. 2 and 84, have been landscaped, while others in Vernon and North Madison are in the process of grad ing. On the Merritt parkway in Greenwich and Trumbull, landscape groups are busy improving and de- veloping the wide right of way in a manner calculated to assist nature in coming back. Scars of construc- ton are being healed as rapidly as loam and sod can be applied to slopes and entertainments. Stumps of trees are killed by the ravages o forest fires, are being pulled, and standing dead chestnut trees are be- ing cut up for use of nearby fami- lies on the list of unemployed. Ex- cess young growth is selectively trimmed to permit the proper de- velopment of desirable plant life. It has been found advisable to permit construction contractors to dig out gravel banks in certain areas ad- jacent to the streams, in order that the brooks may be diverted into the pits to create lakes at no cost to the state. Some of the plants sal- vaged ahead of construction are being replanted along the highway where they will add to the attrac- tiveness of the vicinity. Tn general, the whole program has been di- rected toward the goal of making our highways safer, less expensive as to maintenance, and more enc joyable to the motoring public.
 PlRnning highway construction and reconstruction so that faster travelling speed with greater safety might be possible has always been AA.n .A..a laA Aha kNnNnNaarAinsnA hAlh.