RURAL PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT 99 



WIDENING TO 120 FEET (Tramways in Grass.} 



Land for new road, 13| yds. at $1.25 $16.66 



Street works, per lineal yard 23.39 



Tramways (in grass) including land, 1 yard at 34.16 



$74.21 

 = $130,640 per mile. 



This estimate does not include for any alteration to the old 40 

 foot road, nor the extra land required to make the excess of 80 feet in 

 width. 



This is a special case, no doubt, as in making the 120-ft. road 

 it is possible to save the cost of reconstructing the existing road; 

 but even apart from that, the wider road would not seriously exceed 

 the cost of the narrower road. The saving of $20,790 in the second 

 case would be nearly sufficient to enable an extra 40 ft. of width of 

 land to be purchased at a price of 10 cents per foot. That price 

 would be sufficient, in view of the greater advantage to the owners of 

 real estate in having the wider road. In any case, if such a road were 

 made in a country district, obviously the 120-ft. road could be made 

 cheaper than the 80-ft., as the cost of the land would be much less 

 and the saving in construction would be the same. The saving in 

 paving alone due to laying the tramways in grass is $15,000 per mile. 

 Another advantage of the cheaper method is that trolleys running 

 on grass are less noisy and do less injury to agricultural and residential 

 land. Alternative road sections are shown on figure 31. 



INCIDENTAL PROBLEMS OF ROAD PLANNING 



Wearing surfaces of roads have to be adapted to local traffic in 

 agricultural areas, factory areas and residential areas. The complex 

 question of the modern traffic problem requires consideration to be 

 given to the width of main arteries before buildings are erected upon 

 the road frontages, and that is why this question is of particular im- 

 portance in rural areas. In the financing of roads we have to 

 recognize that everything that is spent on unnecessary width and con- 

 struction on secondary roads is so much capital withdrawn from 

 use in improving the main arterial system on which the opening up 

 of agricultural territory, and the bringing of the market nearer to the 

 farmer, depends so much. 



Improper location of roads not only increases the cost and diffi- 

 culty of construction, but it adds greatly to the cost of buildings. 

 Owing to building lots being too shallow people who want gardens can- 

 not obtain them unless they have twice the width of lot that is really 



