RURAL PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT 87 



the report for 1914 of the Victoria (Australia) Country Roads Board : 



Badly located and badly graded roads are a heavy and 

 constant tax on any community. This is not only because of 

 the fact that the gradient determines the amount of load that 

 can be carried, but because steep gradients cause increased 

 erosion by water and increased wear by traffic. The expen- 

 sive maintenance is thus greatly increased; so much so that 

 the additional cost each year may exceed the amount of inter- 

 est on the capital that would have been necessary in securing 

 the better grade in the first instance. 



As an illustration, a case is cited where two pieces of road were 

 made of the same material and at the same time, one length being 

 on a grade of 1 in 12, i.e., about 8.3 per cent, the other on the level. 

 While that on the level ground remained in good condition, the por- 

 tion on the grade had to be reconstructed owing to abrasion and 

 scour. Having regard to these facts, the Board decided, when it 

 was formed, that no expenditure in the way of permanent improve- 

 ments should be incurred on any road until it was ascertained by in- 

 vestigation that the location and gradients could not be improved 

 at a reasonable cost. It was felt that the labour thus caused in sur- 

 veys and investigations was worth while. 



THE ADVANTAGES OF PLANNING ROADS IN CANADA 



In Canada, good, well planned roads would help to build up 

 manufacturing industries, cheapen production and reduce the cost of 

 living by bringing the farmer nearer to the consumer. They would 

 help to attract settlers to areas that must remain unsettled without 

 them. As new roads are made, farmers are educated to appreciate 

 their proper value and become their most active supporters, but so 

 long as they have five miles of road reservations where one or two 

 miles would serve, they naturally object to face the enormous burden 

 of improving them. Roads cannot be properly classified into dif- 

 ferent groups, nor an equitable arrangement made for apportioning 

 the cost between the different authorities, unless the system of high- 

 ways is properly designed in the first place. 



Reference has been made in a previous chapter to the good agri- 

 cultural and industrial conditions prevailing in the county of Water- 

 loo, Ontario. The system of laying out the land and planning the 

 roads to suit the traffic has had something to do with the success of 

 settlement in that region. The lots in Waterloo were laid out by 

 private companies, the dimensions being 80 chains by 56 chains 

 and there were no road allowances. As towns and villages grew up, 

 the settlers made the roads in the most convenient position to give 



