THE interest of farm people in Illi- 

 nois in ^ood roads is of Ion/: stand- 

 ing. At each annual mtetinc for 

 more than 2") years, the voting del- 

 egates of the Illinois Agricultural As- 

 sociation have adopted resolutions on 

 some phase of the subject of primary, 

 secondary and farm-to-highway roads. 

 The Association supported the state bond 

 issues tor highway purposes and the en- 

 actment ot the gasoline tax. 



It has opposed efforts to reduce motor 

 vehicle license fees and has opposed the 

 diversion of motor vehicle tax revenues 

 to non-highway purposes. It has opposed 

 increases in the axle weights of buses and 

 trucks permitted to operate over our pub- 

 lic highways. It has endeavored to sup- 

 port legislation for the protection of our 

 liighway system and to secure fimds to 

 build that system. 



Thousands of farm homes arc mud- 

 bound during certain seasons each year. 

 Our state primary road svstem and much 

 of the state aid system is in need of re- 

 construction and repair. Many bridges 

 are no longer useable and must be re- 

 placed. Increased demands are made up- 

 on our highway system. 



The solution ot the problems raised 

 can be reached only u|X)n the bass of a 

 study of all of the tacts ot the situation. 



1 . Road District Reorganization 



There are over 1600 separate local 

 road districts in Illinois. Their road 

 mileage and their financial ability varies 

 greatly. Some have very good road sys- 

 tems. But for years, the cost of adminis- 

 tration, labor, and machinery has made it 

 financially impossible for a large number 



of these districts to improve and maintain 

 their roads or to repair culverts and 

 bridges. 



Over half of our local farm roads are 

 still primitive dirt. Hundreds of bridges 

 and culverts on these roads are in crit- 

 ical need of attention. Rural people in 

 many areas believe that overhead cost 

 could be substantially reduced, the taliber 

 of road district personnel improved, and 

 more money made available for actual 

 road and bridge construction and main- 

 tenance if township road districts anil 

 road districts in commission governed 

 counties were- combined into larger units 

 for road and bridge improvement and 

 maintenance. 



Every possible economy should be et- 

 tected. We urge that consideration be 

 given by your commission toward the pos- 

 sibility of road district administrative and 

 financial reorganization. 



2. Increase in Motor Fuel Tax 



Since the approval of the S(S0.000.000 

 hard road bond issue in 1918 and the 

 SIOO.000.000 bond issue in 192i. the 

 farmers of Illinois have been paying their 

 portion of motor license fees for the 

 construction of state hard roads. 



Ah'/rc /r .7 il.ih'nu-u! 'in hii^'nuy pv-b. 

 !ew< h\ the UliHn'n AgrHuUin\i\ .-In-. 

 CLit'ion to iht Illinois: Hrobu.fi .;/;./ 

 Ty.ifjjc Problems Cnmmhu"}!. It u .i< 

 pn-ienteJ April 19, 194S ni Spr/ni;fi.!J 

 h\ PmiI E. MmIj'ij^, lAA seintM-y. This 

 stMtnwnt /.< h.aeJ '>>/ policy reu/luti'oi^ 

 jjopttj h\ ll\- Jthi^Me .t'iimhl,\-> ..•.' 

 lAA .lu'iii.d meetings. 



No part is available for local town- 

 ships and road district roads. Tlie Asso- 

 liation would not be opposed to a reason- 

 able increase of tlic present three cent 

 motor fuel tax. However, we believe 

 that a substantial |X)rtion (not less than 

 one cent) of any such increase should 

 definitely be allocated for use on Icxal 

 roads and bridges other than those now 

 in the- state and county system. 



3. Weights of Trucks and Buses 



Illinois now faces a critical hard road 

 problem. In recent years there have bctn 

 spectacul.ir increases in motor vehicle 

 trattic. Conditions on the roads and 

 streets of the state liavc become worse. 

 es|X'cially during the war years. Traffic 

 volumes of he.ivy trucks and buses ha\e 

 reached unprecedented levels 



\^. hilc iica\v trucks and buses consti- 

 tute- but a small proportion of' tlu- total 

 traffic on our highways. the\' .ire rcspon 

 sible for much of the wear and destruc- 

 tion of our highway system. 



The Association is opposed to any in- 

 crease in the load limits for buses and 

 trucks bcAond the maximum weights our 

 highwa\s -i^ere designed to carry. Manv 

 such highways .irc inadequate t'lr the 

 maximum loads \m-\w permitted by law 

 We also urge siriit (ntorcenient of the 

 law relating to tile length, weight, and 

 speed of trucks and buses. 



4. Secondary Roads Standards 



1 he standards ot design and speci- 

 fications tixed tor larm-to-market roads 

 often result in .i width of right of way 

 and .\n unnecessarily expensiie type ot 



{C'i:l;>//uJ '.',' /..;;-c vl) 





Traffic Ooniniission Hears IM on Roads 



STATEMENT ASKS REASONABLE GAS TAX INCREASE FOR RURAL ROAD MAINTENANCE 



You don't need to travel far in Illinois to find worn out bridges and battered roods. 



JUNE, 1948 



