The Buffalo Bulletin

WYOMING'S INVESTMENT IN GOOD ROADS MORE THAN NINETEEN MILLION DOLLARS

State Is Committed to Highway Program Which Will Make Every Locality Accessible by Well-Built Motorways

Inasmuch as this account of the highways of Wyoming partakes of the nature of a statistical report, a sincere effort will be made to give the information as correctly and accurately as possible. Since the mileage of state highways is not a constant figure but varies from year to year, due to new surveys or construction, where distances may be either shortened or lengthened, any figure for the mileage of state highways can apply only for a particular time. At the date of this writing, March 1st, 1926, the total mileage of state highways is 3148.75, which includes all of the highways on the so-called 7 per cent or Federal Aid System, and also some additional mileage which has heretofore been taken over into the State Highway System. The total mileage of the 7 per cent or Federal Aid System is 3014.47, and it is upon this system only on which Federal Aid for construction applies. This leaves a difference of 134.28 miles of state highways which are not included on the 7 per cent or Federal Aid System. As our total mileage of state highways is not in excess of 7 per cent of the entire mileage of public roads in Wyoming, it is probable that such of the above mileage of state highways not at present on the Federal Aid System as forms connecting links with the Federal Aid System, may be approved by the government as part of such Federal Aid System at a later date.

There is also another system of roads in the state, known as Forest Roads, and the word "System" may be somewhat of a misnomer because these roads do not in themselves form a connected system, but where such roads form important connecting links with our main highway system, they are included either as a part of the Federal Aid System or the State Highway System, as the case may be. There are a total of 491.25 miles of Forest Roads in Wyoming of which 337.18 are included in the State Highway System, and of this latter mileage, 309.80 are on the Federal Aid System, leaving a balance of 154.07 miles not on the State Highway System.

Types of Roads In Highway System

At the present date Wyoming has an investment of slightly over $19,000,000.00, which has been expended in the construction and maintenance of the State Highway System. This includes 900 miles of roads which have been graded and surfaced and 600 miles which have been graded and drained, but not surfaced, and 1,256 miles which have been shaped up by what we call "tractor grading." This latter is a cheap form of construction by which roads are made suitable for travel but which have insufficient drainage and are not graded to true level or alignment, but follow generally the contour of the country. They have, however, very good riding qualities when weather conditions are suitable. We have also constructed a total of 5.25 miles of bridges of all classes, not including structures under 20 feet in length, clear span. This makes a total of 2,756 miles of state highways which have been constructed to standards varying from paved roads to the lowest form of tractor grading, and leaves approximately 393 miles of roads on the State Highway System entirely unimproved. Of the 491 miles of Forest Roads, 223 miles have been constructed, of which 205 miles are included in the State Highway System, and of this latter mileage, 196 miles are included in the Federal Aid or 7 per cent system, leaving 18 miles constructed which are not included in these systems. There remains a balance of 268 miles of Forest Roads which have not been constructed, and of this mileage, 132 is located on the State Highway System, which will later on be constructed as cooperative projects between the government and the state. The balance of 136 miles, which is not located on the State Highway System, will be constructed by the government, according to the following arrangement: Where the cost is less than $5,000.00 per mile, the construction is handled by the Forest Service, and where this cost is exceeded the construction is handled by the Bureau of Public Roads.

State Taxes for Roads Are Small

It is highly interesting to note how the expense of constructing the highways of the state has been handled. Of the $19,015,396.84 total expenditure as of November 30, 1925, the distribution has been as follows:

Combining these percentages and expressing them in a different way, we may state that this entire cost has been borne between the government the people and the motor vehicle owners as follows: Government 67.8 per cent; motor vehicle owners 24.0 per cent;

10.3 per cent, which latter includes interest on daily deposits and contributions or aid from corporations or individuals for special benefits conferred. This last item has come principally from the railroad companies and oil companies where they have cooperated in projects of special importance or benefit to themselves. This record of cost indicates how fortunate the state of Wyoming has been in that this whole program of construction to date has been effected at a cost of only about 10 per cent of the total to the people as taxpayers, and indicates that although the real property of the state has been greatly benefited by highway construction, it has not been necessary to impose heavy burdens on this class of property, as has been the case in most other states. Bonds to the amount of $4,600,000.00, which were issued in 1919 and 1921, to be retired from motor vehicle fees, will be paid off in the summer of 1929, so that at that time the state will not owe a dollar for the construction of its great State Highway System, and yet when the mileage of our highways is compared to the average state highway mileage of the middle western agricultural state, such as Minnesota, Iowa, Kansas or Missouri, we find that for our population we have about six times the mileage per capita as in the states referred to. It is to be noted, however, that interest on the bond issues referred to above have amounted to date to nearly $900,000.00, and this has been met through a tax levy each year. Since road facilities in the state of Wyoming at the present time are not so far behind the requirements of traffic, as is the case in most other states, the future bids fair for all necessary progress to be made as conditions may warrant, and with public opinion fairly well crystallized about a "pay-as-you-go" policy for the completion of the work, which it appears can be done without undue burden, it is safe to say that our highway system will be completed in due time without the imposition of a great burden of debt upon the people of this state.

The following tabulation gives the mileage of state highways, also total public road mileage in the state by counties:

	Per Cent.
Federal aid	35.0
Oil royalties	22.8
Bond issues	24.2
Appropriations	7.0
County and other aid	6.5
Gasoline tax	3.8
Miscellaneous	0.7

County	State	Total Roads
Albany	176.59	2,955.9
Big Horn	109.45	1,647.6
Campbell	67.98	1,259.9
Carbon	190.90	2,201.3
Converse	74.86	5,967.0
Crook	90.55	1,568.5
Fremont	297.86	2,487.3
Goshen	109.48	2,401.9
Hot Springs	33.02	1,124.6
Johnson	145.25	2,264.0
Laramie	168.86	8,504.8
Lincoln	216.40	1,828.5
Natrona	199.09	2,523.6
Niobrara	123.05	2,873.7
Park	146.99	1,456.2
Platte	132.39	1,981.1
Sheridan	127.19	1,376.6
Sublette	154.71	1,227.2
Sweetwater	206.67	1,778.3
Teton	125.02	841.4
Uinta	76.95	844.3
Washakie	82.02	1,214.9
Weston	93.67	1,890.3