MICHIGAN ROADS AND FORESTS 



The Cedar Springs Road, Muskegon County, One of the Finest in the State. Courtesy Muskegon News. 



MUSKEGON HIGHWAYS 



AMONG BEST IN STATE 



Muskegon county, the France of Michigan, is 

 the chief good roads section of the state and an 

 example for other counties and states for its fine 

 country thoroughfares, says the Muskegon News. 



One of the first to adopt the state good roads 

 law, it can be safely said that this county leads 

 the state in this improvement, which means so 

 much to the people, and for this reason is be- 

 coming one of the most important questions of 

 modern civilization. 



Fortunate indeed is this county in having for 

 its superintendent of highways a man of the 

 caliber of Albert Bosch, who because of the work 

 he has done is recognized by road experts and 

 by state authorities as one of the leaders of the 

 art. Mr. Bosch, with the members of the county 

 road commissioners, recognized from the first the 

 Value of good access into and through that part 

 of the state over which they had jurisdiction, 

 and, but fairly started, they have accomplished 

 splendid results. 



' At the present time, with work for this season 

 at a standstill, there are 80 miles of roads either 



already constructed or under the course of 

 building. Much of this, however, built with 

 gravel, is in need of constant improvement and 

 repair. Out of this mileage a total of nine miles 

 of macadam road according to the state specifi- 

 cation has been laid, of which six and a quarter 

 miles have been built during the present season. 

 The eighty miles is the total of so-called county 

 roads which has been selected by the board of 

 supervisors from the hundreds of miles of coun- 

 try road throughout the county. 



Muskegon county's road commission now 

 considers practically nothing but stone roads. 

 There is no good gravel in the county and the 

 gravel roads already built have not proved satis- 

 factory. 



The "country" roads which the supervisors 

 have decided to be "county" roads are : Cedar 

 Springs, 20 miles; Whitehall, 15; Fruitport, 12; 

 Holton, 14 ; Ravenna, 9 ; Lake Harbor, V/2 ; 

 North Muskegon, 1% ; Peck, J4 ; Montague, 1 ; 

 McKinney avenue, 2, and Sullivan, 2. 



The Muskegon county road commission is com- 

 posed of Martin Ryerson of Holton, F. D. Hoog- 

 straat of Ravenna, and Charles Ellis of Muskegon 

 township. Mr. Hoogstraat has been a member of 

 the board since it has been organized, 12 or 13 

 years ago, while Mr. Ellis and Mr. Ryerson are 



serving their first term. Mr. Ryerson will have 

 been a member of the board four years next 

 May, and Mr. Ellis five years at that time. John 

 B. Barlow is clerk of the board. The board 

 when established mapped out over 75 miles to be 

 called county roads and out of this has improved 

 40 miles. 



They have built some of the finest roads in 

 the country and those built during the season of 

 1908 are considered so by all road experts who 

 have examined them. 



Muskegon county has already expended for 

 road improvements $275,000. Thirty-three thous- 

 and dollars were spent last year, 'and a like 

 amount has been appropriated for next year. The 

 Cedar Springs road is classed by people of wide 

 experience in road traveling as one of the best in 

 the world. 



The Muskegon county highways, that is, the 

 newly laid stone roads, have shown positively no 

 effects of the auto traffic, a problem with which 

 the authorities on both this and the other side 

 of the ocean are bothering themselves. The 

 Lake Harbor road during the summer has had 

 an average passage of 50 machines a day. For 

 fruit farming the roads are invaluable, since they 

 offer a rapid and safe means of getting fruit to 

 market in the shortest possible time. 



GOOD ROADS DELAYED IN EMMET. 



Wade B. Smith, prosecuting attorney of Emmet 

 county, has filed an opinion that no township in 

 Emmet county is exempt from taxation for 

 count'- road system by reason of their having 

 adopted the township road system. Some of the 

 townships that had formed a good roads district 

 thought that they ought not to be included in the 

 taxation for the county system. The county road 

 lystem cannot get under way in Emmet county 

 for a year, owing to a blunder of the new road 

 commission. The commission neglected to sub- 

 mit a report to the board of supervisors, stating 

 amount of money that should be raised for 

 the county road purposes. The commissioners 

 having made their report to the board, no 

 >.'v can be raised for county road purposes 

 this year. The commissioners can take over any 

 county road, but cannot make any provisions for 

 raising money for same. 



PASSING OF TOLL ROAD. 



The Genesee piank road in Saginaw county is 

 out of existence, having been turned over to the 



township of Bridgeport and Buena Vista. It 

 marks the passing of the last toll road in Sagi- 

 naw county. 



A petition to make the Genesee road a county 

 road will no doubt be made at the next meeting 

 of the supervisors and it will only be a question 

 of time when the road will be made into a stone 

 road. As the road stands now it must be im- 

 mediately repaired, and such is the intention of 

 the townships. 



The Genesee road is planned as one of the 

 trunk lines to extend to the county line, form- 

 ing- one of three on each side of the river, that 

 will make Saginaw county one of the best coun- 

 ties in the state for highways. The board of 

 trade public improvements committee acted early 

 and already has formulated plans to this effect 

 and will get matters in shape to present to the 

 supervisors and taxpayers at the next meeting 

 of the board. 



Road Commissioner-elect Alpheus Green of 

 Saginaw county has decided to appoint Supervisor 

 Ernest J. Dexter of Marion township deputy road 



commissioner. Mr. Dexter has been for several 

 years a representative on the Board of Super- 

 visors from Marion township and has acted as 

 chairman of the Finance Committee. He was 

 twice a candidate for the county clerkship nomi- 

 nation and is recognized as a valuable man .in the 

 position which he will assume next January. 



The people of Rapid River, Delta county, will 

 buy a portable stone crusher and a road roller, 

 for use on the township roads. As Masonville 

 township progresses, good roads become neces- 

 sary; in fact, good roads not only attend, but go 

 before progress. The township abounds in lime- 

 stone suitable for use. 



The tar coating which was given the Colfax 

 avenue macadam has made that street one of the 

 finest paved thoroughfares in the city of Benton 

 Harbor. The cost of macadamizing Colfax was 

 unusually heavy to the residents of the street, oc- 

 casioned by much experimenting. Heavy rains 

 played havoc with the roadbed until the tar was 

 applied. 



