MICHIGAN 



ROADS ^FORESTS 



DETROIT, MICH., JULY, 1910. 



Michigan State Good Roads Association 



D . T. COLGROVE, Hastings, President. N. P. HULL, Diamondale, Vice-President. 



THOMAS SATTLER, Jackson, Secretary and Treasurer. 



EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 



-I. S. EARLE. Detroit. P. T. COLGROVE, Hastings. W. W. TODD, Jackson. 



2,000,000 TO BE ASKED 



FOR WAYNE ROADS 



A big delegation of members of the Detroit 

 oard of Commerce made a tour of inspection 



Wayne county roads a few days ago, and 



a result the fax-payers of the county will 

 e asked to^ bond for $2,000,000 for the per- 

 anent improvement of all of the unimprov- 

 1 highways in the county. 

 The route lay through nine townships, and 

 overed about 76 miles. Horatio S. Earle, fath- 



of good roads in Michigan, led the way, 

 ith County Rond Commissioners Hagger- 



Murdoch and Hines. At the numerous 

 ops made along the journey, throngs of vil- 

 gers gathered t.. meet the Detroit aggrega- 

 on. Farmers who, a few years ago, branded 

 le good roads agitation as a movement which 

 med to benefit only the automobilists, 

 leered loudly when the triangle route was 

 ;plained. 



At Rockwood there was a luncheon given 

 '. the villagers and some speeches. President 

 bner E. Lamed of the Detroit Board of 

 lommerce, expresed himself in favor of the 

 mnty being bonded for $2,000.000 to put 

 I of the roads in the county in first class 

 ndition at once. 



H. S. Earle outlined his p!ans_ for the con- 

 ruction of a road which will practically 

 mplete a good roads system in Wayne coun- 



"Fifteen years ago hardly an audience would 



ten to a good, roads speech," he said. 



'Tinety per cent of those who heard me talk 



doubt would have lynched me if they 



Idn't feared the law. Now you can see 



1 w things have changed since the county 



> od roads commission has begun its work. 



'This plan of constructing a continuous 

 tid from Detroit to Rockwod, to Flat Rock. 

 t New Boston, to Belleville, to Canton, and 

 thnce through to County Line on Michigan 

 ji:nue provides for the issuance of $2,000,- 

 0) of county bonds, to be placed in the hands 

 I the county treasurer. The money will be 

 t n placed at the disposal of the county road 

 cj nmisioners. Two million dollars ordinari- 

 Iwill pay for 200 miles of road, but figuring 

 f| bridges needed, I should say that we 

 qild get 'at least 150 miles of good high- 



V V S, 



j'The roads in Wayne county arc in such 



^ipe that few persons know much of the 



r mty in which thev live. I could ask many 



r.trciters if the Huron river ran through 



Wiyne county. They wouldn't know. The 



' rjids which skirt the beautiful scenery of 



t|t stream are not traveled because of their 



c idition. 



[If these improvements are made, Wayne 



'-otinty will no longer have to bow her head 

 in shame to other counties where good roads 

 are an established institution." 



The proposition to bond will be submitted 

 to the tax-payers at the November election. 



GOOD ROADS EXHIBIT AT STATE FAIR 



The Michigan state fair is the first in the 

 countrv to arrange for a good roads exhibit. 

 Sunt. V. V. Green, who is managing the im- 

 nlement and machinery division of the com- 

 ing state fair, rr.anv months ago determined 

 to fellow the suggestion made at a national 

 pood roads convention at Cleveland and to 

 present a good roads exhibit which would be 

 a credit to the state of Michigan. 



At the National Roads convention at Cleve- 

 land, where all the prominent good roads offi- 

 cials of the country were gathered, it was 

 recommended that state fnirs take up the 

 \vork of snreadim. good roads information 

 ihrouph the medium of elaborate exhibits. 

 Mr. Green made application to the national 

 p-ood roads department at Washington, and 

 Georce D. Marshall, superintendent of road 

 construction, was secured to direct the good 

 roads exhibit at the coming state fair to be 

 he'd in September. 



Macadamized and gravel roads will be il- 

 lustrated and the methods of preparing ma- 

 terial will be lectured upon and explained 

 fully bv Mr. Marshall and his assistants. Mix- 

 ers, rollers, stv-ne ^preaders and. iff fact, every 

 type of improved machinery will be shown. 



ting the highway in such fine condition, and 

 no extra work. 



The King drag has been used in Missouri 

 for a number of years in good road making. 

 Its use has made otherwise impassable gumbo 

 roads passable. The same manner of treat- 

 ing country roads has also been adopted by 

 other states in the union, the work being done 

 bv the farmers with much profit to them- 

 selves. 



TRYING OIL IN JACKSON. 



Jackson city is trying oil on its dirt streets. 

 Seymour street is the first one to receive 

 treatment. Sixteen barrels of oil, each con- 

 taining fifty gallons, were put on this street, 

 after which it was lightly sprinkled with fine 

 crnvel and closed for forty-eight hours. 



The cost of preparing and maintaining such 

 a road is less than the ordinary cost of water- 

 ing alone, and the work of rebuilding the 

 mads. 50 per cent less. The oil acts as a 

 binder, is elastic and prevents the road from 

 brenkimr into h.Ves by tire suction, while the 

 w>rk rf keeping down the dust is minimized. 



The oil costs , little over 3 cents a gallon 

 bv the tank car. and the work will cost the 

 property owners ?"4. instead of $36. 



KING DRAG FOR CITY DIRT ROADS. 



The matter of dragging city dirt roads with 

 what is known as the Kintr drag may be tried 

 out ir Lansing. The scheme has worked out 

 ' ndidly on Mr. Hope avenue, from Logan 

 street west. The Mt. Hope road, which has 

 been made by auto testers with the King drag, 

 is one of the finest in the vicinity of Lans- 

 inor. It is comparatively level and hard as a 

 rock. There was no expense attached to put- 



YPSILANTI IS AWAKENED. 



A number of business men of Ypsilanti are 

 advocating the starting of the building of a 

 macadam or some other suitable road between 

 Ypsilanti and Detroit. It is more than likely 

 that the matter will be brought before the 

 township board of Ypsilanti at an early date. 

 The plan will be to build a state reward road 

 similar to that being built by Wayne county 

 outside of Detroit, with which it will even- 

 tually connect. 



FAVORS CONCRETE ROADS. 



Deputy State Highway Commissioner F. F. 

 Rogers, of Lansine. had a conference recently 

 at Saginaw with W. R. Burt, County Road 

 Commissioner A. Green and a committee 

 composed of Supervisors Pero, Gugel, Alderton 

 and City Engineer Roberts. The conference 

 was mainly along the line of material to be 

 used in building roadways in Saginaw county 

 -,nd had considerable to do with the gift of 

 $10fno which Mr. Burt tjavc to the county 

 as an incentive to make bett:r roadways. 



It is understood that the gift will facilitate 

 the laying of stone which will be imported 

 from upper peninsula quarries, and which 

 would be a hardship on the county exchequer 

 if the money had not been forthcoming. Com- 

 missioner Rogers and County Commissioner 

 Green made a flying trip over some of the 

 new roadways in the county. Mr. Rogers is 

 of the opinion that concrete is the best ma- 

 terial for laving new roadways. The ma- 

 terial is much the, same as used in the con- 

 crete beds for street paying, only richer in 

 cement. The material gives a typical street 

 pavement of lasting durability in the county 

 districts. 



The good roads work in Michigan^ is go- 

 ing on rapidly, according to Commissioner 

 Rogers, and he says the state is being netted 

 with a fine system of county highways. 



Preparations are being made to build good 

 'roads from Farmington to Northville and 

 from Northville to Waterford. The Grand 

 River road from Detroit to Farmington is 

 being built anew and from Wayne to Ply- 

 month, but the roads are in a wretched shape 

 around and in Northville. Crushed stone will 

 be used and efforts will be made to secure the 

 state's he]p in building roads. 



