Annual Report Arizona Automobile Association

APRIL, 1929

"You are right about that camping outfit" I replied to the man at the wheel, "the modern approved tourist camp is the answer to more problems than one. Now that the American Family can all play together out of doors and go home rested and well, it will soon show up that they wi'l work better together, stick closer to each other, and make better all-around citizens in every way.(Continued from page 12) of standards of safe construction in a few localities. Eighteen states now require licensing of drivers. The American Road Builders' Association continued its campaign to educate the walking and driving public. Progress was made toward the adoption of standard warning and caution signs, several states, notably Pennsylvania, joining the ranks.

ROAD BUILDING IN RETROSPECT

Regulation of traffic was toward greater speeds and freer flow of vehicles. Ten states have recently raised or removed speed limits. Several states have eliminated 10and 15-mile restrictions through towns.

The heart-breaking detour was in evidence in 1928 almost as frequently as before, but road officials have begun to see the light. One-lane construction was more widely practiced, even in building certain bridges, while such detour eliminating devices as the Armco jacking method became established as standard rather than exceptional practice, this method being successfully used in hundreds of instances in preserving traffic flow.

Highways as competitors of railroad passenger and local freight traffic never loomed so formidably Milk, produce and in some regions livestock, go to the markets over highways. Furniture and household goods in high speed vans move over the arterial highways for increasing distances. Buses numbering over 40,000 haul passengers between cities, covering half a million miles. Tourists and vacationists numbering 44 million left home over our highways during 1928. Wisconsin and a number of western states, and Canadian provinces counted them and measured their pocketbooks. More than three million visited the National Parks last year. These trends of highway use are now recognized and hardly a county and certainly not a single state but realizes that

ARIZONA HIGHWAYS

highways are a basic tool of economic competition, region against region.

A new development is the trend toward greater co-ordination between two or more methods of transportation such as has already been established between raillyoad and airplane in trans-continental travel. The effect of this on the prestige of highway transportation is yet to be determined but wide-awake highway officials are watching it with keen interest and are laying plans for obtaining the same advantage of highspeed in their field.

This review has intended to set before you a bird's-eye glimpse of the country's highways; the status of their improvement and the broad trends in their use. If it has succeeded, you who are soon to be busily engaged in details of spring road work in a particular locality can proceed, it is hoped, with a better perspective as to your part in a road program the like of which the world has never before seen.

NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS

Sealed bids for the construction of the Mesa-Superior Highway, Federal Aid Project No. 93-A, will be received until 2:00 P. M., May 13th, 1929, and publicly opened and read at the office of the Arizona State Highway Commission at Phoenix, Arizona.

All proposals must be marked upon the outside of the envelope "State Highway Contract, Mesa-Superior Highway, F. A. Project No. 93-A."

The work consists of the construction of approximately 6 miles of a graded, drained and surfaced road, involving approximately: 53.000 C. Y. Roadway Borrow 1,200 C. Y. Structural Excavation 2.100 C. Y. Ditches, channels & dykes 22,400 C. Y. Roadway Surfacing 41,000 C. Y. Mi. Roadway Surfacing Haul 800 C. Y. Concrete 150 Lin. Ft. C. M. P. 51,000 Lbs. Rein. Steel The project begins at the end of the pavement 8 miles east of Mesa and extends 6 miles east toward Apache Jct.

All bids must be accompanied by an unendorsed, certified or cashier's check not less than 5% of the gross amount of the bid, payable to the State Treasurer of Arizona.

The Arizona State Highway Commission reserves the right to reject any and all bids.

Copies of the plans and specifications may be seen at the office of the State Engineer, Phoenix, Arizona, or may be

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obtained from the State Engineer upon the payment of Ten ($10.00) Dollars, which will be returned to the contractor should the plans and specifications be returned within ten (10) days after the opening of bids.

The bidder will be required to comply with the provisions of the specifications and contract in the bidding and the award and execution of the contract.

It is to be noted that the contractor is required to furnish all materials for a complete work.

W. W. LANE, State Highway Engineer. Phoenix, Arizona. April 20, 1929.

The year just past has been an exceedingly successful one. Although the Arizona Automobile Association is only 21 months old, we are now firmly established both within and without the boundaries of this state. We now have a state-wide. non-profit motoring association. functioning efficiently in behalf of its members and the traveling public.

Before directing your attention to the accomplishments of the Association. I wish to express my sincere thanks to the members ofthe Board of Directors, the Advisory Board, and particularly the Executive Committee who have given their time and personal attention to the organization and constructive work of the association. The following report is sufficient testimony of the excellent work accomplished during the year by Executive Secretary Sam G. Bailie and his loyal coworkers.

It is with a feeling of regret that I am chlimed to relinquish the office of president on account of the press of other duties, but will continue to give my successor and the association my whole hearted and loyal support.

A better understanding of the association and the importance of its work may be had by a review of the several departments. Hence, I will consider them separately.

INSURANCE DEPARTMENT

A high standard of efficiency is being maintained by the insurance department, which is reflected in the increased amount of business. Conducted upon sound and approved methods, with per-sonal attention to details, the insur-ance department is gaining the confi-

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