June 1942] Agricultural Experiment Station 17 



to the maintenance of costly roads in sparsely settled, unproductive 

 areas, the credit side shows short-term gains from the collection of 

 State aids for certain Class V roads upon Avhich the town spends little, 

 if any, money for maintenance. The weight given to the mileage 

 factor in the present formulae for distributing State aid to Class V 

 roads is directly accountable for this gain. Mileage and assessed 

 valuation are the principles upon which the Duncan aid is distributed. 

 Under TRA, four-fifths of the annual amount available, $500,000, is 

 distributed on the basis of Class V mileage and one-fifth on the basis 

 of population. Mileage, assessed valuation, and population are un- 

 doubtedly worthy criteria for determining the distribution of road aids 

 to towns, but the relative weight that each of these factors deserves 

 is open to question. Nevertheless, since the legislature has chosen 

 to emphasize Class V mileage as the chief measure of to\\n road 

 needs, it is necessary that this factor be made as accurate a measure 

 as possible. 



Class V roads are designed to serve local traffic and are defined 

 by law as regularly maintained public ways. It is a well known fact, 

 however, that many of the roads now placed in Class V are not regu- 

 larly maintained by the towns. For example, a town may be listed 

 l)y the State highway department as having 30 miles of Class V roads, 

 when the town may actually spend little, if any money on three or 

 four of these miles, which are traveled only on the rarest of occasions. 

 Thus, the town is collecting State aid on the basis of 30 miles and at- 

 tempting to maintain only 27 miles. If this situation were an uncom- 

 mon one, it would be too trivial to justify any' concern. This is not, 

 however, an isolated case, but is representative of a large number of 

 the 234 towns. 



Although the State highway commissioner has the power to re- 

 move roads from Class V and place them in Class VI. he has been 

 reluctant to exercise this discretion too freely for fear of depriving a 

 needy town of the additional aid which this "doubtful" mileage pro- 

 vides. Almost without exception, the town itself is violently opposed 

 to a reduction of its Class V mileage with its corresponding reduction 

 of State aid. If the town can collect -$100 annually for a mile of road 

 on which it actually spends $10 or less, it has no incentive to reclassify 

 this road of its own accord. Certainly the highway commissioner is 

 to be commended on his desire to protect towns with heavy road bur- 

 dens from acquiring even heavier ones through a reduction of their 

 "dividend paying" mileage. Neither can the low valuation town be 

 censured for attempting to retain the total aid which is so vital to the 

 support of its road system. Nevertheless, if Class V mileage is to 

 ])lay such an important role in determining State road aids, it is im- 

 ])erative that this mileage not be inflated. Furthermore, in the interest 

 of promoting proper land use, roads should not be kept even partially 

 o]ien in areas which are unsuitable for agricultural or recreational 

 development. For, as long as a town keeps open a road in a low 

 valuation district, undesirable settlement in the area is likely to con- 

 tinue. 



