June 1942] Agricultural Experiment Station 27 



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engineer should be of even greater interest to the citizens of the town 

 itself than to the State as a whole. Towns receiving Duncan aid are 

 those which have the highest road tax burden and are presumably in 

 greatest need of State assistance. That townspeople receive the most 

 possible from this money should be the town's chief concern. Through 

 his expert appraisal of each proposed expenditure of Duncan aid, the 

 trained highway division engineer could be of immeasurable service 

 to the town road supervisors and, at the same time, could insure that 

 the townspeople were getting the largest possible benefits from their 

 State aid. 



RECLASSIFICATION OF TOWN ROADS 



It is recommended that the State highway commissioner take 

 immediate steps to delete from the Class V system all mileage which, 

 in his opinion, is not important to local use and is not now regularly 

 maintained by the town. In so far as possible, the Commissioner 

 should cooperate with town selectmen in deciding upon the roads 

 which are to be removed from Class V and placed in Class VI (entire- 

 ly town supported). Needless to say, each decision for reclassification 

 should be reached only after careful consideration of the road's local 

 usefulness. It is also suggested that the town place under gates and 

 bars or discontinue entirely all town roads which are of little or no 

 benefit to the town."" 



The total TRA allotment would be unafifected by the deletion of 

 the estimated 850-875 miles of "doubtful necessity" roads from the 

 Class V system. Four hundred thousand dollars would still be dis- 

 tributed according to Class V mileage and $100,000 according to popu- 

 lation. However, the allotment for each remaining Class V mile 

 would be increased. It is impossible to predict how the total aid re- 

 ceived by each town would be affected unless the exact mileage to be 

 eliminated in each town were known. Eindoubtedly, some of the 

 Duncan aid towns would lose a considerable amount of State aid by 

 this reclassification, since both of their town road aids are partially 

 determined by their miles of Class V roads. Their loss, however, 

 could be partially offset in three ways: (1) by the proposed modifica- 

 tion of the Duncan aid formula ; (2) by the increased TRA allotment 

 per mile of remaining Class V road ; and (3) by the town's subsequent 

 discontinuance of useless Class VI roads wherever possible. After 

 the policy of reclassifying Class V roads is well under way, its eft'ect 

 upon the aids of individual towns must be closely examined. It may 

 then be necessary to amend further both the TRA and Duncan aid 

 formulae. 



In summary, then. Class V roads of doubtful present and future 

 necessity should be placed in Class VI, because as long as State aid 

 is paid on the basis of such mileage, towns will be encouraged to re- 

 tain useless roads in areas unsuitable for settlement ; towns whose 

 entire Class V mileage is correctly classified will be penalized; and 

 the State will continue to subsidize useless road mileage. 



25 In order to ascertain a town's legal liabilities to property owners in regard to road services, the 

 opinion of the State Attorney-General should be obtained. 



