Arizona Highway Department

WHILE the Arizona Highway Department is the youngest in the country, but little better than a summary of its achievements can be given in the space alotted to this history. The actual history of the department begins with the appointment of James B. Girand on April 1, 1909. Prior to that time all road work in Arizona was under the direction of district road overseers (appointed by the county boards of supervisors. The annual expenditure on road work at that time was $250,000. Due to the fact that no funds were available before the latter part of 1910, little construction work was undertaken by the Highway Department during the first year of its existence.

However, a tentative system of highways was laid out, a north and south highway-beginning at Douglas in Cochise county and terminating at the Grand Canyon, and an east and west highway beginning at Yuma in Yuma County and terminating at Clifton in Graham (Now Greenlee) County.

When the necessary funds became available the construction work on certain sections of these two main highways was started and was carried on until the advent of statehood, February 14, 1912.

The office force of the first state engineer, Lamar Cobb, consisted of three persons, a chief clerk, office engineer and one draftsman. The appropriation under which the department was operated was $250,000 yearly, to be expended for construction only, the maintenance being cared for by the counties, with the state engineer acting in an advisory capacity.

Engineers skilled in road building were few and worry and discouragement was the lot of the early road builders of this state.

Arizona, the fifth largest state in the Union, was forty-fifth in population. With an area of 113,810 square miles it had a population of 225,000 persons and a taxable wealth of $140,338,000. The greatest portion of the taxes was borne by the railroad and mining companies. The latter were interested only in dividends paid to absentee stockholders and not in any way interested in the development of the state as a whole.

Arizona was a sparsely settled, poverty stricken state with a road program on her hands of more than 1500 miles of north and south, east and west highways to be constructed, connecting the various counties of the state along the most direct and beneficial routes.

The state road appropriation passed in 1912 divided the state highway fund among the various counties, the county units to be so selected as to accommodate the greatest number of persons. Maintenance was a serious problem where twenty-five mile stretches of road without a habitation were not unusual. From these facts it may seem that inadequate funds and excessive road mileage to be constructed resulted in little better than a patchwork system, here and there a stretch of improved road in the more thickly settled communities.

When compared with present achievements these first five years of the Department's existence were little more than an educational and pioneering campaign. Education of the public to a realization of the value and necessity of roads was seriously undertaken and the state engineer made long trips over incredibly bad trails to the farthest communities in the state, to be met with indifferent success. The public could not be made to realize that highways pay dividends and that the comparatively small amount of taxes which went to their building was money well spent when the enormous increase in property values was considered.

An effort was made in 1912 to interest the public in a million dollar bond issue. The state engineer attempted to secure the co-operation of the various boards of supervisors and through them the public at large, only to be met with a storm of disapproval. A million dollars spent on roads? Preposterous! The reactionary and partisan press contributed its share to the general outcry. Accusations of wanton extravagance were in order. The department was found guilty of the profligacy of spending $5000 for a truck and considerable clamor ensued.The advent of Federal Aid, under a law passed by Congress in 1916 gave the first impetus to road building in Arizona. There have been revisions of the act since then, among which was the creation of the Seven Per Cent highway system. The motor was abroad in the land and civic pride began to awaken. It was beginning to dawn upon our citizens that having the tourist bog down in our adobe or break springs and axles in our dust ruts was poor publicity. Also, some thought was being given to the profits to be derived from the tourist industry.

The Federal Aid Road Act was assented to by act of legislature March 8 and the first actual money from this fund was received January 5, 1918, on the construction of the Florence bridge.

During the year 1918, under the regime of Thomas Maddock (1918-1922), one million dollars, an amount equal to the expenditure of the previous five years of his predecessor, was expended on road work in Arizona. The splendid Superior highway was constructed and the first concrete road, a stretch of approximately four miles between Phoenix and Tempe, was built. The following year the annual expenditure of the Department increased from $1,000,000 to about $4,000,000. The mention of a million dollar road program no longer threw the public into a state of panic. The Highway Department had grown to be one of the greatest enterprises in the state. An attempt was made to connect the links of the highway system, so that the widely scattered highways would form a complete state road.

During this administration Maricopa County carried out a road program which was an inspiration to the rest of the state. More than three hundred miles of concrete roads were built, giving Maricopa county the greatest mileage of concrete roads of any county in the United States at the time. This interest in road building naturally spread throughout the state and improvements and progress were in order.

Frank R. Goodman, an able engineer and connected with the department from the beginning in the capacity of division engineer, assumed control of the Highway Department in January, 1923. The endeavor of the previous administration to keep pace with the demands and needs of the public with the usual inadequate funds had left the finances of the department in an involved state, and the activities of the legislature rendered no relief to the situation. A complete cessation of work on some of the projects under way was imperative. Mr. Goodman, during his brief term, earnestly advocated a lieve the situation, but history repeated bond issue of ten million dollars to reitself and he met with no success. It is food for thought that had this bond issue been authorized the bonds would have been paid in full by now and the state would be farther advanced in its road building program and consequent prosperity. Mr. Goodman resigned in April 1924, and W. C. Lefebvre was appointed to succeed him.

The early part of 1925 was a forecast of the evil days which were to fall upon the Highway Department. Political bickering, resulting in a loss of public confidence, brought the financial condition of the department to a desperate pass. The bill under which the department operated at that time was drawn with the idea of tieing its hands in every possible way. The legislature of 1925 failed to make adequate appropriation for carrying on the road work. In fact it was threatened that with the exception of maintenance the activity of the department would cease.

The Eighth Legislature which convened in 1927 was even more hostile than its immediate predecessor and no relief was afforded the needs of the department, with the result that for several months it was practically closed down. All work was stopped and a tremendous economic loss resulted. The legislature then created the present Arizona State Highway Commission, consisting of five members, placed the Motor Vehicle Department under the charge of the Highway Commission, and financed the department in the sum of $4,782,287 for the balance of the fiscal year.

If nothing else could be said on behalf of a highway commission, by removing the department from politics it relieved the future heads of the department from the storm of partisan villification and abuse which had assailed those of the past-men whose integrity in private life and divorced from politics would never have been questioned.

The budget for the fiscal year 1928-1929 called for an expenditure of $6,-359,933. There are 2,150 miles of roads to be maintained and construction projects too numerous to mention. The highway department has a pay roll of approximately seven hundred and fifty employees.

The importance of accounting for the expenditure of nearly six and a half million-an increase of 4,000% over the first year of statehood was realized, and as a result the Accounting Department was placed in the hands of R L. Jones, C.P.A., who installed a modern system of accounting. Electric tabulating machinery has largely replaced manual effort The Accounting Division is prepared to handle a volume of business double its present requirements with the addition of not more than one or two clerks. The books are maintained under a controlled plan and the condition of the budgeted items of expenditure is known daily. The imprest fund of fifty thousand, provided for the use of the state engineer, is inadequate to the present needs of the department. This fund revolves two and one-half times monthly which makes it difficult to meet pay roll requirements when they become due The department could function in a much more business like and economical manner if the law did not require its expenditures to pass through the State Auditor's office.

Traffic increases steadily in Arizona.

A few words as to the present tourist traffic and a predicted future increase based on the figures of the past years, will not be amiss here.

In 1925 there were 214,764 foreign cars passed through Arizona. Estimating that each car carried an average of 3.5 persons. The total number of persons who motored through the state that year be 751,647. Each person spent at least three dollars a day for five days, or the sum of $11,275,110 spent in this state in 1925 by the tourist.

Compare these figures with those of the present year, 1928, and it will be noted that Arizona is fast becoming the Mecca of tourists. Tourist cars entering the state in 1928 numbered 447,855 and they brought 1,567,493 persons, who spent $23,512,395, more than twice the figures given for 1926. If this ratio of increase continues the road problem facing Arizona is a serious one.

On December 12, 1928, the Highway Commission appointed W. W. Lane as state highway engineer, a man whose reputation as an engineer is national.

Foreseeing the traffic needs of the state, Mr. Lane presented a road financing program to the legislature of 1929 which, according to experts, is one of the most comprehensive and forward-looking plans ever formulated. History, with its habit strong upon it, once more repeated itself. The partisan and reactionarv press distorted the terms of the program, misrepresented facts and figures, and the financing plan, for the time at least, is shelved.

Still road building progresses in Arizona. We have bridged the Grand Canyon and our roads are acclaimed by all who use them to be excellent and far in advance of states with larger taxable wealth. Arizona is on its way to greater progress.