lAA POSTWAR PROGRAM 



ON 



RURAL HIGHWAYS: 



Ml - Weather Roads 



IN EVERY TOWNSHIP 



IN THE STATE 



A POSTWAR program to provide all- 

 weather roads in every township of 

 the state has been recommended by the Il- 

 linois Agricultural Association to the Il- 

 linois General Assembly as a basis for 

 legislative action. 



The general outline of the program was 

 presented at a dinner conference held by 

 the Illinois Agricultural Association 

 March 27 in the Abraham Lincoln Hotel 

 in Springfield for state senators and repre- 

 sentatives. The holding of such a con- 

 ference for members of the General As- 

 sembly is a custom of long standing with 

 the I A A, and more than 1 50 attended the 

 recent dinner, representing fully three- 

 fourths of the members in the state legis- 

 lature. 



The road building program was one of 

 the matters affecting broad policy delib- 

 erations outlined to the members of the 

 General Assembly by President Earl C. 

 Smith and Paul E. Mathias, corporate sec- 

 retary and member of the lAA legislative 

 committee. 



President Smith pointed out that over 

 the years Illinois farmers had been the 

 strongest supporters of good roads legis- 

 lation and cited their work in securing 

 the 60-million dollar bond issue in the 

 early 20's and later the 100-million dollar 

 bond issue for road building. 



The lAA leader offered the all-weather 

 road program, not only as an essential 



need of the farmers, but as a program that 

 would offer employment in the postwar 

 period. He asserted that there are more 

 than 8,000 postwar planning committees 

 operating throughout the country, but 

 none had offered a program that has as 

 much inherent practical value for pos- 

 sible postwar employment as the rural 

 road building project. 



Outlining the need for "farm to high- 

 way" roads. President Smith cited these 

 figures. There are 104,651 miles of high- 

 ways in the state. Of this mileage, 10,283 

 miles are state highways; 18,191 miles 

 are county and state aid roads, and 76,177 

 miles are township roads. In other words, 

 nearly three-fourths of the roads in the 

 state are township roads, and although 

 farmers pay the same license fees and 

 other levies as their city neighbors, every- 

 thing the farmer gets in the way of roads 

 in his township comes from property 

 taxes. 



President Smith pointed out that the 

 Association is not seeking to abolish prop- 

 erty taxes for this purpose, but that he 

 was merely citing the facts on the situ- 

 ation. 



The Association is interested, he said, 

 on how federal funds, allocated to states 

 for postwar road building, are used. 



The Association believes that surplus 

 State funds should be used for matching 

 federal funds available for secondary and 



feeder roads. Under the federal road pro- 

 gram, approximately $4,700,000 per year 

 for three years will be available for all- 

 weather surfacing construction for each 

 year for a period of three years. This 

 would mean that a township would have 

 from $8,000 to $10,000 each year for a 

 period of three years to use for its roads. 



If these roads are economically con- 

 structed, a considerable mileage of roads 

 should be built from these funds. The 

 Association believes that since these town- 

 ship roads are used primarily by farmers 

 with relatively light loads, it is not nec- 

 essary to build roads with culverts strong 

 enough to carry trains or to have 60 to 

 80 feet of right of way. With construc- 

 tion standards adjusted to meet the needs 

 of the users of the roads, more miles of 

 all-weather road can be provided with 

 the funds available. The main interest 

 of the farmer is to have an all-weather 

 road that will get him to the primary 

 road during muddy seasons. President 

 Smith asserted. Therefore, the Associ- 

 ation is recommending that any road 

 legislation that the General Assembly 

 drafts limit the specifications for these 

 roads to what is shown to be reasonably 

 necessary by traffic surveys. 



The construction of the roads would 

 be directed by the township highway com- 

 missioner under the supervision of the 

 county highway engineer. Allocation of 

 funds would be on the basis of the mile- 

 age of roads in the township, other than 

 state and county roads, as it relates to the 

 total mileage of such roads in the state. 

 The allocated funds would be used for 

 surfacing, with the township building the 

 grade and culverts. 



Providing all-weather roads in every 

 township of the state. President Smith 

 said, would not only furnish employment 

 in the local area, but would aid io the 

 improvement of rural schools. He pointed 

 out "We can't get far with rural school 

 improvement in some areas until the 

 roads are fixed." All-weather roads also 

 would be of material aid in the efficient 

 operation of the rural mail routes. There 

 are times, President Smith reported, when 

 the rural mail man finds it impossible to 

 reach some of the farms on his route be- 

 cause of impassable and muddy roads. 



Mathias spoke briefly on matters of 

 general policy including the Association's 

 position on the proposed call for a con- 

 stitutional convention. (This position is 

 outlined in this issue of the Record in a 

 statement adopted by the lAA board). 



He also discussed the Association's 

 position on school legislation with refer- 

 ence to pending bills on increased school 

 transportation aid, county school surveys 

 and the state distributive fund; legisla- 

 tion in regard to the length and weight of 

 trucks; and regulation by the Commerce 

 Q>mmission of trucks and buses. 



I 



L A. A. RECORD 



