ECONOMIC SUEVEYS OF COUISTTY HIGHWAY IMPEOVEMENT. 41 



adamized under the money-aid plan cost an average of $6,303.52 

 per mile, and that 47.25 miles graded but not macadamized cost 

 $3,248.83 per mile. On this basis the grading cost about 52 per 

 cent and the macadam about 48 per cent. The transformation 

 wrought by the new construction is strikingly shown in Plates XII 

 and XIV. 



HOW THE ROADS ARE MAINTAn<fED. 



The improved roads of Lee County are not systematically main- 

 tained, and -they are beginning to show signs of wear. A httle 

 work is done now and then in cleaning out ditches and opening up 

 culverts under the direction of the district road superintendents. 

 A 3-mile section of the road from Ben Hur to JonesviUe was resur- 

 faced in 1914 at a cost of $2,500, paid from the bond-issue fund. 

 This road was scarified and resurfaced with No. 2 stone and screen- 

 ings, sprinkled and rolled down, and is now in very good condition. 

 The balance of the road is badly worn and should be resurfaced as 

 soon as possible. This is the only extensive repair work that has 

 been done. 



EFFECT OF ROAD IMPROVEMENT ON LAND VALUES. 



Since changes in assessed valuation between 1910 and 1915, as 

 pointed out elsewhere in this chapter, have been comparatively shght, 

 it would appear, if such a standard indication were accepted, that 

 the improved roads have not produced greater property values in 

 the county. Personal inspection and inquiry in 1911, however, relat- 

 ing to 32 distinct farms, indicated an average value on the roads 

 selected for improvement of $40 per acre, while the lands along the 

 cross-country roads averaged about $25 per acre. Lands along the 

 Ben Hur-Jonesville road, the only one improved up to that time, 

 averaged about $100 per acre, and it was ascertained that the average 

 before the improvement was about $25 to $35 per acre. 



In the 1913 study it was found that the average value of seven 

 tracts of land selected at random on the improved roads, containing 

 a total of 1,289 acres, was $75 per acre, showing an increase in the 

 two years preceding of about 80 per cent. One case deserves special 

 mention as illustrating the effect of road improvement on land values. 

 A tract containing 109 acres on the road between Ben Hur and 

 JonesviUe was sold before that road was improved for $4,500, but the 

 purchaser failed to take the land, claiming that the price was exor- 

 bitant. This same land sold in 1911, after the road was finished, for 

 $9,000, a gain of 100 per cent over the supposed exorbitant price. 



