Listening to Earl C. Smith, (wearing coat) Pike county, former 

 lAA president, discuss the Illinois road situation at the lAA offices 

 In Chicago before the lAA's Road Survey Committee are, left to 



right: Emery Irwin, Petersburg; Ed Niehaus, Butler; Robert Schu- 

 bert, Mt. Carroll; Virgil Milner, Fairfield; Ronald Holt, Galva; and 

 Committee Chairman K. T, Smith, Greenfield. 



lAA SURVEY COMMITTEE 



ilnalyzes Illinois Rnral Road Probleni 



lAA EX-PRESIDENT EARL C. SMITH TELLS GROUP PROBLEMS ARE "MANY AND PERPLEXING" 



IMPROVEMENT of Illinois farm 

 roads will be no easy task, Earl C. 

 Smith of Adams county, former 

 president of the Illinois Agricul- 

 tural Association, told a group of 

 farmers in Chicago recently. 



The group was the lAA Road Survey 

 Committee, recently appointed to make 

 a detailed study of the rural road situa- 

 tion. The committee will make recom- 

 mendations to the lAA board of direc- 

 tors based on its findings. 



Two of the first speakers to appear 

 before the committtee were Former 

 President Smith and Prof. Ellis Danner 

 of the University of Illinois College of 

 Engineering. 



"Too many of us," Smith said," ex- 

 pect good roads tomorrow. The lAA 

 has long been interested in road im- 

 provement. But rural road problems 

 are many and perplexing. And solu- 

 tions for these problems are difficult 

 to find." 



Smith explained that farmers backed 

 the bond issues for Illinois' primary 

 system of hard roads. When these 

 laws were passed, he continued, rural 

 people were told they would receive 

 help from the state in constructing and 

 maintaining access roads once the pri- 

 mary system was built. 



Today, more than half the road dis- 

 trict roads. Smith said, are still primi- 

 tive dirt. There are thousands of un- 

 safe bridges in need of immediate at- 

 tention. Smith told the 20-man com- 

 mittee the most serious problem to be 

 faced is that of revenue. The state 



8 



primary road system is in a critical 

 condition. The secondary system is 

 in need of extensive repair. 



The state highway department, the 

 counties, and the cities each are ask- 

 ing for at least one billion dollars. 

 Where does the farm-to-highway road 

 fit into the picture.' Rebuilding primary 

 and secondary roads and the providing 

 of all weather roads in road districts 

 probably will call for a 20-year program. 



Smith called upon the committee to 

 present the facts, then demand satisfac- 

 tion. The stock argument, he said, 

 against the use of motor fuel funds 

 on farm roads has been that they bear 

 such a small portion of the traffic. 

 Counts show more traffic on these 

 roads than was thought. Smith said. 



"The overall problem," Smith con- 

 cluded, "is enormous. But the farmers 

 of Illinois must stand ready to offer 

 constructive suggestions." 



Professor Danner discussed some of 

 the engineering aspects on the need 

 for research on the construction and 

 maintenance of farm roads. He pointed 

 out that the type of topography, cli- 

 mate, and traffic, as well as other fac- 

 tors must be considered before satis- 

 factory roads can be economically sup- 

 ported in any road district. He said 

 that many of the present road failures 

 are due to frost and heavy truck traffic. 



He told the committee that 500 ve- 

 hicles a day will cause a good gravel 

 road to become unpassable in a short 

 time. One thousand vehicles a day 

 will cause the same condition on the 



thin black top roads. 



Professor Danner pointed out that 

 one of the biggest steps forward in 

 the improvement in road district roads 

 would be the reorganization of many 

 small districts into larger road districts. 



Danner pointed out also that al- 

 though a great deal of research has 

 been done on hard road problems prac- 

 tically none has been done on farm 

 roads. Industry, he said, puts enormous 

 sums into solving their difficulties by 

 research. He said, however, that no 

 money was available to the college of 

 engineering for study of farm roads. 



Some of the problems, studied at least 

 in part by the committee so far, are: 1. 

 Continued state grants for farm-to-high- 

 way roads. 2. Reorganization of small 

 township road districts into larger 

 units. 3. Construction, required right- 

 of-ways, administration, finance, and 

 maintenance of primary, secondary, and 

 township roads. 4. Current abuse and 

 violation of the refund provision of 

 the motor fuel tax law. 5. Weights, 

 lengths, and speed of trucks and buses 

 on Illinois highways. 6. Present and 

 future legislation concerning farm-to- 

 highway roads. 



Most farmers are agreed on the need 

 for a long-range continuous program 

 for farm roads financed in part by state 

 money. Local property taxes finance 

 75 per cent of the road mileage in 

 Illinois' present farm-to-highway roads. 

 Farmers look to the road committee to 

 point the way to a better country road 

 system at a reasonable price. 



LA. A. RECORD 



k 



