State Committee 

 to Study 



RURAL ROADS 



IT MAY be a long time before bot- 

 tomless rural roads are a thing of 

 the past. But a committee of 20 

 Illinois farmers is going to see 

 what can be done about it. 

 The 20 men, representing every sec- 

 tion of the state, have been appointed 

 to the Illinois Agricultural Associa- 

 tion's Road Survey Committee. They 

 will make a detailed study of the rural 

 road situation and make recommenda- 

 tions to the lAA board based on their 

 conclusions. 



Members of the committee are: K. T. 

 Smith. Greenfield, chairman; Homer 

 W. Curtiss, Stockton, vice-chairman; 

 Charles S. Mayheld, lAA statf, secre- 

 tary; Edwin Gumm, Galesburg; I". E. 

 Morris, Buffalo; Herbert R. Kiltz, 

 ^X'oodstock; Lane C^lapsaddle, Earl- 

 ville; Robert Schubert, Mt. Carroll. 



Ray B. Litchfield, Toluca; Guy Gee. 

 Forrest; Quay Matthews. Alvin ; Mark 

 Harry, Humboldt; 1-mcry Irwin, Peters- 

 burg; Ed Niehaus, Butler; Erwin Isen- 

 berg, Alhambra; George Reigle, Ob- 

 long; Virgil Milner. Fairfield; and 

 Loyd Pickard, Thompsonville. 



The study will include the entire ad- 

 ministrative, financial, and operational 

 setup of the rural road system in Illi- 

 nois; a survey of the road systems of 

 neighboring states; and conferences with 

 experts on road finance and engineer- 

 ing. 



President Charles B. Shuman of the 

 lAA said the committee was set up 

 because of growing dissatisfaction 

 among Illinois farmers with the de- 

 plorable condition of country roads. 

 He pointed out that less than 50 per 

 cent of the farmers in Illinois live on 

 all-weather roads, and it is cjuestion- 

 able whether some of these roads could 

 be considered all-weather. 



"The condition of our rural roads. " 

 Shuman said, "cannot be tolerated much 

 longer. It is interfering with the edu- 

 cation ot our children and the ecoiiomi- 

 t.il marketing of our products. A far 

 higher percentage of farmers could be 

 serviced with all-weather roads with 

 present tunds if they were properly ad- 

 ministered. 



"Possibilities should be examined for 

 the reorcanization of road districts, for 



more research on road materials, and 

 lor better knowledge ot draining and 

 grading." 



The idea ot a statewide road survey 

 committee along the lines of the sut- 

 cesstu! lAA School Survey Committee 

 \\hiih made a report in 1914, has been 

 in the minds of lAA leaders for some 

 time. 



It was offered by I'resident Shuman 

 merely as a suggestion at the lAA con- 

 vention in St. Louis last November. 

 Farmers expressing tlieir opinion wel- 

 comed the suggestion with a great deal 

 ol enthusiasm and encouraged the lAA 

 board to proceed with the appoint- 

 ment of a statewide committee. 



Most farmers are agreed on the need 

 tor a long-range continuous program 

 for larm roads financed in part hv st.ite 

 money. Local property taxes tiiiaiue 

 "^ per cent ol the road mileage in 

 Illinois" present farm-to-higliway roads. 

 It is hoped the road committee \mII i^e 

 able to point the way to a better coun- 

 try road system at a price farmers ^an 

 afford to pay. 



The lAA board of directors has appointed the men above as a 

 •latewide committee to study and recommend improvement in the 

 administration of the Illinois rural road system. Front row: left to 

 right, Erwin Isenberg, Alhambra; Robert Schubert, Mt. Carroll; S. 

 S- Stetson, Milan; K. T. Smith, Greenfield, chairman; Quay Matthews, 

 Alvin; Herbert R. Kiltz, Woodstock; Miss Patricia Steffan, office 

 secretary. Back row: left to right, Charles S. Mayfield, lAA Staff, 



MAY, 1948 



secretary; F. I. Morris, Buffalo; Ronald Holt, Galva; Ed Niehaus, 

 Butler; Emery Irwin, Petersburg; Guy Gee, Forrest; Mark Harry, 

 Humboldt; Virgil Milner, Fairfield; Edwin Gumm, Galesburg; Loyd 

 Pickard, Thompsonville; Roy B. Litchfield, Toluca; Lyman Bunting, 

 Ellery; Homer Curtiss, Stockton, vice-chairman. Not in picture are 

 Icine Clapsaddle, Eorlville; and George Reigle, Oblong. The com- 

 mittee will meet on average of once each month. 



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