NEW HAMPSHIRE RURAL TOWNS' COMPARATIVE 

 ROAD BURDENS AND ROAD SERVICES 



by W. Robert Parks' and John C. Hohnes' 



I. NEW HAMPSHIRE FARMERS APPRAISE 

 THEIR ROAD PROBLEMS 



The rural town road plays a dynamic role in the economic, social, 

 and political life of New Hampshire. Serving the needs of the rural 

 people of the State are 8,117 miles of town-maintained roads. Town 

 roads, traversing- all areas in the State, make markets accessible to 

 New Hampshire's farmers ; they open rural areas to recreation seek- 

 ers ; they enlarge the trading areas of New Hampshire's villages and 

 cities. 



Despite its importance to rural life, the town road has been the 

 neglected stepsister of the State trunk and secondary State aid high- 

 Avays which, because of their important function of serving through 

 traffic, have necessarily received the greatest share of the State's at- 

 tention. Until recent years, the financing and administration of the 

 rural roads of New Hampshire were left completely in the hands of the 

 234 toAvns, with their wide variations in wealth, population, number 

 of road miles, and road needs. Although today the State has accepted 

 responsibility for helping to finance rural roads and for supervising 

 the expenditure of a portion of the State aids, many groups in New 

 Hampshire believe that the financial and administrative relationships 

 between the State and towns must be further modified if town road 

 administration is to be preserved. For the town road system still 

 works hardships upon many rural people and gives impetus to the 

 deterioration of numerous agricultural areas. The inadequate road 

 system provided by many towns is considered a contributory cause 

 to the improper use of rural land and the failure fully to utilize agri- 

 cultural and recreational resources. And. as taxpayers, many rural 

 dwellers are bearing disproportionately heavy road tax burdens. 



Therefore, rural people through their Agricultural Planning Com- 

 mittees have sought to discover: (1) how generally the above ill 

 effects of the rural road system are felt throughout New Hampshire; 



^ Associate Legislative Planning Analyst. Bureau of Agr. Econ.. T'. S. Dept. of Agr. 

 2 Asst. Land IJse Specialist, New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station. 



