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lew Sy stem Better Roadsti'5s..to itig- Citizens. an*d, Taxpayers of £||^oa.;goimty^^,/lA _ • iGtoUemen^KV^^^Vyoti., are jhinterested’an. r^ucti’oii~ of wherever itjis. possible to le-pimately and properly do so. jieris. is one thing* which I have ^served in this county, as well as |hers, that a very great deal of jjoi ,. could bejsaved if a new Sys-Jbi-were adopted in', the' construc-gm and maintenance ;'of our roads. He present system Svas adopted in jg early beginning of the develop-Sent'of this country, and (without l^t.was-’thd'-'- /hnlyy system that gild1' have- been adopted at thaton the roads, where, graveling is necessary. About r 50 cent of the roads of MadfkonXoimty are composed of graveL^r natural rpad » !!J:' tlic cost of constructionwould be reduced very materially.I here is needed about 75 miles of. roads in the lower valley and a proportionate;'amount in the upper, valley, to connect airthc towns and villages and to .cross-cut the' country sufficient to give the farmers- an opportunity to market their fami products during any season of the year at from 25 to 30 per cent less than is now incurred. The maintenance cost would be reduced at least one-half, and a saving in the marketing of the crops to the farmers of 15c to 20c per acta per annum, which over an area of , ■ a s acres, would be a saving in the neighborhood of §10,000 per annum, or about §50,00(1 in five years. We would also save in the neigh-'jm. ' It passibly. was the best for i lime, but the 'System. has, outlived ' borhood of §50,000 in maintenancek'usefulness, and mow that weMTe started out with a new county, - iould start out with new meth-is-whercver- it is advisable to do• ' -.■for-,a number of years past, there fas been expended on the roads of tanont County from S50,000 to $0,000 per year or an average of ikiiut'- 860,000; part of this amount ferbeen spent for bridges under |octract, with pretty good results, werally speaking.' About”- §30,000 1(10,000 has been expendedfon the jtjsairs and maintenance and'some jitle construction; work on theIiids,.under the supervision of 40 rjfid;road overseers, ‘building,' 40 h,50.'difrerent kinds of roads. . A|reat many of these men were, not hperienecd in this .line of work and iereforc made it very expensive, ad in this way a great de^il of joney has been lost .to the county, jhey also labored under disadvant-•jjts as much of the work, done was ‘iae under unfavorable conditions, id;much of it temporarily, and were unable torse cure proper and had to take , what they «iuM- get at such' times' as condi-ho's forced them to make such re-plrs as had to be made to meet the flic’s demands, in orderf that the people could travel the roads n some actions at all, hence a considerable oss of money has boen-the result-year to year. * 'N,Possibly in what is now MadisonJoiinty, in the neighborhood, of M.OOO per year has’been’.lost by, jko methods which-have,.been ...in wjfuc, and a very great deal 6F the h is have been in very, bad shape,1 id certain seasons of the ymar, al-: ist-impassable, hence the- urgent fcessity of a change, in this sys-m., *|K* - ’ *iTbe new system which, should be fated, in my judgment, is to se-: We'.one supervisor fbr.: -thfe,' lowerhllon nvtrl ~--'it.'-'‘hey.and one for'ih'e. basin - Valley, who are iii every-way compe-to build a ^ proper; modern nder the direction.ifof, .’the. JjSoty commissioners,'....then ;vwe. $dcl have uniform1 roads, ’ cheaply; Instructed. The! maintenance .cost'J the roads in theirJpresent condi-5® is„ very muchxmore'. than,^it Nd be if the roSSs^wc^e'prpper-.fraded and properly1,'drained ayj-(-lt; efficientin five, years on good roads well constructed, rising cement in construction wherever practicable, instead of lumber. ’Inasmuch as the farmers and taxpayers arc borrowing money at 10 and 11 per cent by- bonding, we could secure money at about 5 per' cent, and in twenty yegrs the total cost of the road would be saved in interest alone. Fifty thousand dollars would remodel 75 miles of roads, I think, and would give thpm proper shape and put gravel (o the extent of 10 or 12 inches thick where necessary, gravelling half of the distalice of 75 miles in the lower valley and a proportionate, amount, would do likewise in the basin or upper valley. The roads constructed in this way and under*, proper management and proper supervision .with the proper teams and tools, by-contract' wherever possible, could be done for one-half as against the old method, and providing good roads over which the..,people can travel any time of the year, rain or no rain, with an increased load of 25 or 30 per cent as against the presentconditions. In five years we will have saved in various ways {he cost of the -construction of the roads at least three timcsj as against the old system, and very materially reduce taxes, which is one of the most important things confronting the people of Madison County at this time, to say nothing about the saving* of interest.If thought best, the inlcerst could be deducted at the time of , the sale of the bonds and paid in advance, getting the benefit of such payment, and as 75 miles would take in prac- j tically all the roads over which the j main part of-the travel is now pass-1 irig;. we would be relieved of any direct taxation for road purposes for. at least two years- because the roads would be under- course of 'constructioii,' and when completed the lower valley could, be divided-into, about three districts,, haying three jmen, using four* horses ( each; beicm'girigio *e county, with prpper-. wqirnnc tools and' ironic-wideTired wagons,, tools’and implements; to .keep; the roads- in; proper shape,‘putting inC.all their time..on: the Irodds; These horses -and‘tools, could be, bougbhh withV; tlie bond money and. the men.' hired, to. wok(Continued, on; Page 5,. Colunrn,3;)
Newspaper Details
Sugar City Times
Sugar City, Idaho, US
Thu, Feb 19, 1914
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Allison G.
USA 21 Mar 2024
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Sugar City Times
