RURAL PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT 91 



fully used. In some cases buildings cannot be erected until the road 

 is properly made, and this applies to rural as well as to urban sub- 

 divisions. 



Principle on which Roads Should be Planned 



Roads and streets have to be planned, in all respects, so as to 

 obtain the maximum of convenience at the minimum of cost. Even 

 when that principle is acted upon, the tax which industry has to meet 

 to obtain adequate means of communication is as much as it can bear. 

 The comparatively narrow standards of road width in Britain, even 

 when accompanied by having the roads in the position best adapted 

 for cheap construction, and by having only a sufficient number of 

 roads as are necessary, seems to be as much as can be paid for by a 

 reasonable tax on the community. 



The ambition on this continent to have over 50 per cent greater 

 width than the British standard, with a more scattered and less 

 wealthy rural population, has meant, in practice, that we have more 

 road space than we need or can properly use, and that, even with the 

 assistance of the provincial governments, only a small proportion 

 can be paved. The absence of planning also results, in many in- 

 stances, in political influence, rather than the general benefit of the 

 community, being the guiding factor in determining which roads 

 will be improved at the public expense. To say that a 66-ft. mini- 

 mum is desirable may be true, if it were possible for the community 

 to construct and maintain that minimum. One might also say that 

 it is desirable that every farmer should have a water supply under 

 pressure, a bath room and a motor car, even if they are beyond his 

 means. But should he be compelled to have these things before he 

 is permitted to occupy a farm? 



The chief difficulty in getting the public to realize the economic 

 absurdity of a 66-feet minimum is due to the fact that the ultimate 

 cost of making and maintaining a proper surface and other improve- 

 ments is ignored when the streets are laid out, and that proper expert 

 knowledge is not applied to planning a comprehensive system of 

 highways. Highways should vary from the narrow carriage drive 

 of 24 feet to the wide main thoroughfare of over 100 feet in width, 

 and the character of the development permitted on the land front- 

 ing the highway should be controlled so as to secure that the build- 

 ings will have proper relation to the character and width of the high- 

 way. As already pointed out, air space is a separate matter and should 

 be settled by other means than by fixing widths of the highways. It 

 is erroneous to assume that costly paved streets are needed to provide 



