The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. FRIDAY, JANUARY 19, 1912. IMPROVING THE ROADS.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXII, Issue 31, 19 January 1912, Page 4

The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. FRIDAY, JANUARY 19, 1912. IMPROVING THE ROADS.

We arc pleased to notice the fact, that the Strdtford County Council has; decided t 6 purchase a road roller with] the object of bringing the metalled’ roads of the County up to. a’Higher ’state 'of efficiency.’ ! Such 'a purchase, 'though !ui'admitteclly heaVy 1 item for any local body to face from the point of view of first cost, is certainly one which must prove itself justified and be generally recognised as promoting ultimate econorny in more than one direction. With the ever increasing and more varied traffic on roads, local bodies are universally recognising that a corresponding improvement to the roads l ' thduisolyes is'fast hdComing vitally necessary,' 1 and it is not too ■much'to assert’' that, in the near future,- ’•any 'County or Borough having' a considerable length of metalled . . i road Or street to upkeep and maintain will not attempt to do so without the-, assistance of a road roller. To all who have travelled in any class of vehicle over a road that has been laid down per medium of a steam roller and have compared it with a,road constructed—no matter how carefully—without rolling, it must have been quite patent that the former method of construction is systematic and business like, while the latter is, to say the least, unsatisfactory and wasteful. Apar; from the very great extra comfort tc the travelling public, economy is arrived at in several ways. In the first place the life of a coat of road metal is greatly increased by tin thorough consolidation of that metal immediately after it lias been laid, tin wear and tear on it owing to lessen friction, being greatly reduced. Again proper consolidation reduces to a mini'll um the waste which occurs throng;, i large proportion of the metal of unrolled roads working loose and being scattered along the sides of the road way, and from any standpoint the cost of maintenance of a A jam- 1 oiled

road compares more than favounthly with that of an unrolled road. These points indicate tho direct saving which can lie effected, but to the i a repayer who provides the wherewithal to maintain the roads, there is also a big indirect saving in the lessened wear and tear on horsos, harness, .and vehicles, when travelling over properly formed and smoother highways. As a whole, this must be a very considerable item and one which ought not to bo ignored in considering the rjiiestion. With its new roller the Stratford County Council is acquiring a scarifier, for which great use can be found in the direction of ripping up lengths of existing road, where die metal is present in adequate quan city, but which, through wear and other causes, have become rough and uneven. Such lengths of road can, after treatment with the scarifier, bo raked into shape and often without additional material being required, rolled and a first-class surface again provided. Wo congratulate tho County on its purchase, and hope that the Borough will sec its way to adopt a like policy. Our roads would certainlv be tho better for it.