BUREAU OF PUBLIC ROADS. 465 



as certified by the State highway departments, was 2,859,575 miles. 

 The maximum mileage that can be included in the system for the 

 whole country, being 7 per cent of the total mileage, is 200,170 

 miles. The mileage included in the 35 systems approved up to the 

 end of the fiscal year was 111,699 miles; and as the permissible 

 7 per cent of existing mileage is. in general, not being included in 

 the system as initially approved, it is not likely that the initial 

 program will include more than 180,000 miles. 



Analysis of the approved systems for the 35 States shows that 

 of the 1,111 cities of 5.000 or more population in these States, 

 1,048 of them lie directly on the approved system, and there is 

 probably not one but will be connected with the system by an im- 

 proved State or county road. When the system is completed, there- 

 fore, one will be able to travel from any town of 5,000 population 

 or greater to any other town of the same size without leaving an 

 improved road. 



The detailed study of the availability of the roads to the total 

 population indicates that for the country as a whole it is safe to 

 sa}' that fully 90 per cent of the total population resides not more 

 than 10 miles from the roads included in the system. In individual 

 States the percentage runs almost to 100 per cent; for example, 

 Maryland, in which fully 97^ per cent of the people live within a 

 10-mile zone on each side of the roads, and Indiana, in which less 

 than 1 per cent lives farther than 10 miles from the roads. 



A road of the approved system will cross the western mountains 

 at practically every one of the important passes. The Rockies will 

 be crossed at Berth oud. Lookout, Gibson, Targhee, Pleasant Valley, 

 and Reynolds Passes in Montana and Idaho; La Veta, Wolf Creek, 

 and Red Mountain Passes in Colorado and Raton Pass on the 

 Colorado-New Mexico line. The Cascade Range will be crossed at 

 Stephens and Snoqualmie Passes in Washington and Grants Pass 

 in Oregon, and the Sierra Nevadas will be crossed at Truckee and 

 Walker Passes in California. These passes are the controlling 

 points on the transcontinental routes westward. They are the pas- 

 sages through which the national roads must cross the mountain 

 barriers. Leading to them from the east and west the roads of the 

 Federal-aid highway system will form a perfect network of inter- 

 connected highways branching into every section of the country. 



In designing the routes to be included in the Federal-aid system, 

 the chief aim of the States and the Federal agency has been to select 

 routes which will give the maximum of local service and connect 

 with one another to form a great national system of highways. 



ROAD CONSTRUCTION IN THE NATIONAL FORESTS. 



The Federal highway act carried an appropriation of $10,000,000, 

 available for the fiscal year 1923, for the survey, construction, re- 

 construction, and maintenance of forest roads and trails. The act 

 provided that 50 per cent of the appropriation for any fiscal year, 

 but not exceeding $3,000,000, for any one fiscal year should be ex- 

 pended on roads and trails necessary for the protection, administra- 

 tion, and utilization of the forests. The balance of the appropria- 

 tions is to be expended under the terms of the law for the improve- 



