ROADS AND STREETS 



5031 



ROADS AND STREETS 



versified farming is a good market. .The mar- 

 ket may be a near-by town, or it may be 

 a distant city, with railroad connections. In 

 any case, speed of transportation from the 

 farm to the unloading point is essential. 

 A farmer who lives ten miles from town and 

 raises peas, spinach and other spring crops, is 

 at a great disadvantage if his market road is 

 poor, whereas the farmer twenty miles from 

 town, but on a good road, may visit the market 

 every day without great expenditure of time. 



When any community passes from a condi- 

 tion dominated by bad roads to one charac- 

 1 by good roads, land values in the com- 

 munity rise. In cities, in fact, an owner of 

 land usually adds the taxes for paving and 

 other improvements to the price he fixes for 

 the land. Of course, a good road does not add 

 to the fertility of the soil, but it does im- 



suffers from poor roads, for it is a common 

 practice for parents to keep their children home 

 in severe weather which makes the roads im- 

 passable. Good roads also encourage the use 

 of the schoolhouse as the social and intellec- 

 tual center of the community. Grange meet- 

 ings, lectures, entertainments and institutes of 

 various kinds may well be held in the schools, 

 but if the people are to get the full benefit 

 from their schools, the buildings must be ac- 

 cessible at every season. 



The improvement of rural free delivery serv- 

 ice is dependent on the improvement of roads. 

 Regular mail delivery demands improved roads, 

 and in some cases rural delivery has been aban- 

 doned by the government because of poor 

 roads. All social activity in rural communi- 

 ties is dependent on the roads. Poor roads 

 discourage attendance at public meetings or 



THE AVERAGE LOAD ON VARIOUS ROADS 



At the left Is a representation of a load that can be carried on a dirt road ; in the center, on a 

 macadam road ; at the right, on an asphalt road. 



prove the site value, the value of land with 

 reference to markets, schools and towns. Any 

 increase in value is partly offset by taxation, 

 but it has been found in every case that the 

 landowner appreciates the improvement and 

 sets an increased price on his property. 



The roads of the United States and Canada 

 are being used each year by an increasing num- 

 ber of tourists, many of them in automobiles. 

 Automobilists visiting Colorado spend in that 

 state alone about $3,000,000 a year. This is a 

 return which more than pays the cost of main- 

 taining good roads and leaves a margin of 

 profit. Much has already been done by motor 

 tourists to secure good roads, and the senti- 

 ment in favor of good roads owes more to auto- 

 mobile owners than to any other single factor. 



Social Advantages. One result of good roads 

 may be better schools. The place of the one- 

 roomed red schoolhousc is being taken gradu- 

 ally by the graded, consolidated country school, 

 with several teachers under a competent prin- 

 cipal. Consolidated schools are possible, how- 

 only where the roada are kept in good 

 condition. Poor roads often prevent the con- 

 solidation of several small, weak schools into 

 one strong school. Even the district school 



even neighborly visits, and under the worst 

 conditions all travel is suspended. The im- 

 portance of a good road is also great in an- 

 other way, less tangible, less easy to value, 

 but none the less vital. It is a matter of com- 

 mon observation that a well-built, well-kept 

 road has aesthetic value. Aside from being 

 more attractive in itself, it encourages the 

 owner of land to keep his place in order. It 

 is no wonder that a slimy, muddy bog in front 

 of a farmer's door reacts on the whole family. 

 An improved road is not only good in itself, 

 but it may stimulate the residents along its 

 borders to greater effort and greater self- 

 respect. 



Some Conditions to Consider. Road making 

 has become a highly developed branch of en- 

 gineering. Expert work begins with the lay- 

 ing out of a road, avoiding on the one hand 

 tin meandering course of New England roads 

 and the angularity of the section line roads of 

 the Middle West. It is a 'recognized principle 

 to avoid the heavy grades of hills as much as 

 possible by winding around the hill, and to 

 deviate from a straight line to avoid lowlands, 

 or any place where drainage would be defective, 

 for the necessity of thorough drainage is appar- 



