# STATE INTEREST IN HIGHWAYS B 480496 A Report on Highway Classification Prepared for the Joint Fact-Finding Committee on Highways, Streets and Bridges Washington State Legislature by the 1952 Volume I * ~~ tº 2^3 */ 4. 3. s *.* i & r º zººſ, ºt) 4.3 †. $ºes A - ** * #. §4/ jºf § A R T E S S C ; E N T 1 A v ERI TA; STATE INTEREST IN HIGHWAYS A Report on Highway Classification Prepared for THE JOINT FACT-FINDING COMMITTEE ON HIGHWAYS, STREETS AND BRIDGES Washington State Legislature By the (3. a 9 º' Washington State Council for Highway Research 1952 Volume 1 Trans portation Library HE 33% ºst. V, I {ransportation Library October 1, 1952 TMrs. Julia Butler Hansen, Chairman Joint Fact-Finding Committee on Highways, Streets and Bridges Washington State Legislature Dear Mrs. Hansen: We take pleasure in submitting this report as one more step in the orderly program of fact- finding by which the Legislature seeks to solve the State's highway transportation problem. The research here reported was conducted at the State College of Washington and at the Uni- versity of Washington with no other directions than to find the facts with which prudent and impartial legislation can be conceived and enacted. The role of the Council in this activity included the preparation of the original program, periodic appraisal of progress reports, and an editorial review of the findings of the research agencies. Our report is contained in two volumes: the first describes methods and results; the second contains the extensive computations and detailed analyses essential to the job. We endeavored to carry this assignment out in a manner which would merit the approval of your committee, and that would be of benefit to the people of the State of Washington. j . . . " , Respectfully submitted, WASHINGTON STATE CouncIL for HIGHwAY RESEARCH &242, Q R. G. HENNES, Chairman FRED J. Dixon g tº Professor, University of Washington District Engineer, United States Bureau of Public Roads E. B. MOORE Chairman, Civil Engineering Department, State College W. A. BUGGE, Secretary of Washington Director, Department o dys 2%zéka- C. W. MARTIN O2COD22 Chairman, Engineering Committee, Association of FRED REDMON * * & Washington Cities Chairman, Washington State Highway Commission R. C. WATTS Executive Secretary, Association of County Commis- Washington Highway Users Conference sioners TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I. FACING THE PROBLEM Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 The Nature of State Interest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . l Highway Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 CHAPTER II. ANALYZING THE PROBLEM Getting the Facts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Intercity Travel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1O The State Needs Farm Roads. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Highways Feed Industry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Tapping Our Mineral Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Commerce on the Highways . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Recreational Roads. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 A Yardstick. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 CHAPTER III. AN ANSweR TO THE PROBLEM The Essential Characteristics of a State Highway . . . . . . . . . . . .22 Using the Yardstick. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Suggested Study Form for Analysis of State Highways . . . . . . . 24 Some Further Considerations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 CHAPTER IV. WHAT OTHERs SAY ABOUT HIGHwAY CLASSIFICATION . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 FACING THE PROBLEM Introduction Roads and streets are so interlaced with every modern activity that it is impossible to conceive of our American pattern of living without them. Even competing forms of transportation are utterly dependent upon highway tributaries. So vast an enterprise is bound to create problems which demand the most thoughtful effort for their solution. How good must roads be? What roads should be built? Who is to administer them? How shall they be financed? How shall the cost be assessed? How shall funds be distributed? How can we get more roads for our tax dollar? All these questions are interrelated, and be- cause of this inherent complexity the progress toward better roads demands an orderly, factual, step-by-step approach. In recent years a factual, orderly approach has become the policy of the Washington Legislature. Through its interim committees the Legislature has sponsored various studies of the engineering and financial aspects of the highway problems. It has been difficult for the Legislature to resist pressures for state highway system ex- pansion which would add many hundreds of miles more than can be supported by existing revenues. This situation calls for a study of those factors which would justify the inclu- sion of a stretch of road in the state highway system, and which would measure the merit of any proposal for extension or addition to the system. With this objective in mind the 1951 Legislature provided that an interim joint committee should "enter upon a review of the state highway system with particular consideration to the usefulness of all highways that are a part of the state system, any need for changes in the state system by additions or deletions and the relationships between the state system and county roads and city streets, but any such study shall not have as its purpose the increase of the total present mileage of either primary or secondary high- ways.” (Sec. 46, Chapter 269, Laws of 1951) In order to secure a factual basis for its recommendations, the Joint Fact-Finding Committee on Highways, Streets and Bridges requested the State Council for Highway Research to investigate the proper classifica- tion of Washington highways, through the agency of the State College and the University of Washington. The Nature of State Interest When a man needs a driveway into his backyard it is his decision when and how it shall be built, and he foots the bill. When a community feels a similar need for roads to serve the various elements of the community, the people decide what they want and how to get it. They face quite different problems when they seek access to localities remote from their own community. First, not all individual residents are interested in going to the same places. Second, the magnitude of the job of providing inter-regional roads is beyond local resources and local control. Fortunately these diverse individual interests are shared by other individuals in other com- munities throughout the state; and the wide- spread existence of a common interest (in these and other matters) has resulted in the establishment of state governments, whose function it is to permit expression of state interest, and to provide agencies to do what is required by the interests of the state. º POPULATION DISTRIBUTION WASHINGTON:1950 &º --- LEGEND THE sºol_s used on THIS MAP ARE THREE-DIMErºsional- THE MALMBER OF PEOPLE REPRESENTED BY Each sºmeo- is PROPORT or AL to Ts woul-E. N. GEOMETRIC FORMS OF THIS TYPE, Mo. LME MARIES AS THE CUBE OF THE DIAMETER THE Fºx Low MG Examºl Es LLUSTRATE THE SCALE USED Orº THIS MAP º º 25,000 - lood & low-ºxo~. - 5xx. & 500,000 º --- INTERSTATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM ------------- ------ ---------- ------- ------------ ------------- ----------- -------- Besides their common desire to get from place to place, the residents of the state share a common interest in the greater prosperity of the state. They all benefit as a group when any one segment becomes more productive. As better highways lower the cost of trans- portation to agriculture, industry, and Com- merce, everyone ultimately benefits in his individual standard of living. It is important to distinguish between these direct and indirect benefits to the individual citizen. If his direct personal use of some one section of road is shared with fellow motorists from all parts of the state, their collective interest in that piece of road is synonymous with state interest, because no smaller politi- cal unit contains all these road users. On the other hand, a section of road used almost exclusively by residents of a smaller political subdivision of the state would invoke no state interest in this same sense. It would still involve state interest, however, to the extent that the whole state benefited indirectly from such local traffic through economic contri- butions to commerce, industry or agriculture. 1. DIRECT BENEFIT. Only the state can represent the direct interest of its citizens in interregional travel. 2. INDIRECT BENEFITS. There is a statewide interest in any road which contributes to the economic health of the state. This concept of state interest does not recognize any fundamental difference between primary and secondary state highways. A distinction between primaries and second- aries is made in the legislative classification of highways (1937 c 207 1; RRS 6402-1), and in the highway numbering system; but there is no corresponding distinction in ad- ministrative procedure or in design standards. Thus there seems no purpose in distinguishing between primary and secondary highways in the evaluation of state interest in roads. tº TRAFFIC FLOW MAP Fig. 2 c ol, u m e º a ----------- - - ----------- - state highways PRIMARY & SECONDARY \ - - -E-G-M.D. - - -º-º-º-º-º-º: STATE OF WASHINGTON -- - - ----- *-*-*-**** DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAYS º - - tºº- WA-Bugge, Director -º-º: --- - - 1951 – sº-º-º-º-º-y ----------- - - - ----- - - O R E. ºna tºu-seat- º: county Highways, 1941 ºf state of washington ºf . Highway Administration Recognition that there exists a state-wide public stake in some roads does not automa- tically mean that those roads should be con- structed and maintained by a state agency. Conceivably, they could be administered by a privately-owned public utility, or through the coordination of local road administra- tions. It is a fact, however, that through the years American experience with roads has led in every instance to the adoption of a state highway system. There are many reasons for this historical fact: 1. LOCATION. The major values of an integrated state highway system are realized on direct through routes. These can best be selected by central- ized authority. 2. DESIGN. The building of good roads demands high technical competence, the teamwork of many specialists, and first-rate laboratory facilities. If road-building were a simple art, there would have been fewer road failures. The best sort of road building requires greater technical resources than most local political subdivisions have been able to pay for. The variety of func- tions exercised by the state highway department is well illustrated by Table I on page 7. 3. ADMINISTRATION. Design and maintenance depend upon the sizes and numbers of vehicles using the roads. Also, to be fair to the high- way user, there must be uniform rules of the road; these rules are most read- ily framed and enforced by a central authority. Obviously then, some roads do excite state- wide interest and the state administration of an integrated highway system composed of such roads is in the public interest. Roads should be administered at the level of greatest efficiency; they should be paid for by all the beneficiaries. It becomes evident, then, that the first step in the classification of highways into inte- grated systems will have been taken with the development of a method for measuring the state interest in roads. U- i * * * 22*S • | º | - CLARK i _^_^ 2 F £2 .— | r **-...--— — — !' t—. | | | } | | * *-* * * * * * *- . SKAGIT 2, i | *-* * *- - - - \. | | \. - - | - OKANOGAN 2- | l, “N ; PEND "S-. 2\\ 7~ W | FERR ! oščič . `, ( le ſº Y Y [- cHEAN' - STEVENs A | ſº - ~~~~ - | * * * *-** -e, , - . –SNQHQMISH. “A f | Jº V ſ f - SPOKANE - | Yºr —ſ i tº | r | WENATCHEE Douglas | - *\s, ſº | Y uº. lººk.--—- | sº- + - * * * * *-* * | -->. KING | *- \. w S. | \,- * * * * * *- e. GRANT | | f * - ...! l-Ha. ADAMS FRANKLIN ./ WHITMAN GARFIELD ¥r YAKIMA 2- | ſº i – *——————. 3 | , --~ T T-wº- ,” icouvea in i - i ---" – | | | | . ..—LYAKMA ALLA | ASOTIN cºurs ſl | Tºmºr- WALLA W. 2– | | BENTON | | VANCOUVER *- ADMINISTRATIVE DISTRICTS DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAYS 30 40 STATE ECONOMIC AREAS U.S. BUREAU OF CENSUS 1950 ſ º •e s º: : : •. ; D : • * * * e^e e s ºc i - i ‘7b - ! i l i iſ —- 1–1 --— - - - - - LEGEND [3] NONMETROPOLITAN Fig. 6 Table l Washington State Highway Commission Department of Highways Bridges Design and supervision of construction of all major structures Repair and painting of major bridges Control of oversize load permits Construction Construction of projects except major structures such as bridges Establishment of construction policies Payment of bills to outside agencies in- volved in construction Landscaping Maintencince Maintenance of all state highways Preservation of highway rights of way Acquisition and maintenance of all motor vehicles and equipment of highway department Materials and Research Inspection and testing of materials (as- phalt, concrete, soils, etc.) Advisory on materials to cities and counties upon request Office Comptroller Office service Coordination of all sections and districts Mail Secretary, State Highway Commission Planning Planning, organization and direction of highway planning survey work Review of traffic, financial, statistical and economic surveys and research Progress and final reports Determination of priority of projects Representation with other governmental units Pldns qnd Contracts Location and design Preparation and plans Advertising for bids Contract documents Right of Way Acquisition of all state highway rights of way, borrow pits, etc. Rental of rights of way properties Franchise for pole lines, pipe lines, etc. State Aid In charge of county and city relations with state and federal government Advisory to cities and counties on road and street problems Aid to cities and counties on a cost basis, facilities and specialized services of the Highway Department Trclffic Design and location of traffic control features Issuance of permits for overlegal loads Advisory to cities on local traffic problems Work Control Estimates of available expenditures Compilation of biennial budgets, work programs and federal aid highway pro- grams, weekly calendars, financial and statistical reports S3100， Abae）， ------S0-vO） Elv1S-NON Saevaehºl H 31，1S 9 N11S1x3 ON 39371 ------- ----- … … ……… .……………… …d. m-1s w.o.r.l.v.： 1-1 ss.： …，0， Nolºni Hswm go alvis 031001S SOVO ） ·---··· | ， | \, ſ |2：2*：）* | |- ----·ſ' \ | nuosv) ||Wławniºſae ſºº （Yºſ \\· ----\\………••••••„M· →ſ， → .Y }，NO LN38 \trialah ſo ſº！！！） ~）« l /，· ------ Hsiwo HoNs £®^^ Nv00，0ſ---------------- ANALYZING THE PROBLEM Getting the Facts The most useful “tool” for maintaining an integrated and practical system of state high- ways would be provided by the creation of a yardstick for measuring those qualities which properly belong to a state highway. Since roads become state highways in response to state interest, the problem becomes one of measuring state interest. From the discussion already presented in this report it appears that two major components must be measured: 1. The direct benefits of the present or potential use of highways by the people of the state for intercity or interregional transportation of people and goods 2. The indirect benefits of the present or the potential use of roads in the economic activity of the state. Preliminary to any rigorous analysis of these factors, a thorough investigation was made of all known sources of relevant infor- mation and opinion. This study was made at several levels: 1. By correspondence and by personal conference, most of the authorities on highway policy were consulted. This group included federal and state offi- cials, research foundations and insti- tutes, and specialists from various universities across the country. These national authorities were asked for their ideas on highway classification, and especially for any criticism of the proposed plan of procedure. Construc- tive suggestions were adopted; no basic criticism of the research program was encountered. 2. Research staff members made personal visits to every county engineer in the state. These consultations served to collect local opinion on the relation of county roads to state highways, and to compile a list of local roads for analysis. 3. In the course of the investigation both the research methods and the availa- ble data were described for public consideration at: a. The Fifth Northwest Conference on Road Building, held in Seattle February 13-15, 1952; and b. A series of open meetings through- out the state in April, June and July 1952, conducted by the Joint Fact-Finding Committee on High- ways, Streets and Bridges. As a result of these hearings many addi- tional roads and some additional topics were incorporated in the research program. The considerable sampling of informed opin- ion acquired in this comprehensive fashion was of great help in selecting salient factors for study. On the following pages are described in turn those various factors which are generally considered to generate state interest in roads. Intercity Travel Certainly the chief justification for having interregional highways is that the people want to use them. At first glance it might seem that a simple count of the cars at a given point on a road would be a good meas- ure of the popular desire to use that road. However, various investigations have shown that most of the motorists tabulated in such a traffic count would not be using the road as an intercity highway but as a local road or street. A highway system based solely on traffic count would possess few of the charac- teristics which have been shown to justify the existence of state administration. This shortcoming could be overcome by inter- viewing all motorists during the traffic count, and eliminating the count of those on local trips. Unfortunately, such an Origin and des- tination survey is impractical for the present classification study of the entire state road system since to serve a valid purpose it would have to be completed within a time far too short for a job of such magnitude. A practical substitute for complete origin and destination data is available in the study of more fundamental statistics. No one can reliably predict whether John Doe will drive from Seattle to Spokane four times during 1953, but statistical study will disclose how many Seattleites are likely to make such a trip. If this were not so, railroads and tele- phone companies would find it difficult to forecast their future needs. The average Seattleite is likely to have more reason for visiting Spokane than Walla Walla because Spokane is larger; he is more likely to drive to Spokane than to Austin, Texas, because Spokane is nearer. The desire for inter-city transportation increases with the sizes of the two towns, and decreases as they become farther apart. To find a mathematical expression for the preceding sentence requires a weighing of the relative influences of distance and size which eludes theoretical analysis. In such cases one INTERCITY TRAVEL DESIRE STATE-WIDE FLOW MAP -10- must check various trial formulas against observed facts. In examining traffic counts at various points along a road between two towns there will be some point at which the number of vehicles reaches a minimum. It may be assumed that in rural areas the mini- mum traffic count represents, primarily, through traffic. A record of the various efforts to find a mathematical expression of inter- city travel desire which will check with observed minimum traffic counts can be found in Volume II of this report. One formula gave an excellent agreement with traffic counts: F.-VFſ. Equation (1) where F, is a factor measuring the desire for highway transportation between two com- munities, P, and P2 are the populations of the two communities, and D is the distance be- tween them. This equation gave the excellent correlation co-efficient of 0.9 with the low points in average annual daily traffic counts On seven representative cross-state roads in Washington. The agreement with the avail- able origin and destination data was even better. State interest in traffic is a function of the length of trip, as previously explained. To introduce this consideration the value of Fa was weighted in proportion to the distance between towns, and the resulting population factor representing state interest in inter-city transportation becomes: Population Factor=F= º Equation(2) A detailed explanation of how this equa- tion is applied to all population centers of 1000 or more inhabitants is reserved for the second volume. Although tedious, the Com- putations are far less time consuming than any other known procedure to arrive at Com- parable results. The population factor has the important advantage that it is not influenced by the physical condition of the road surface nor by its ability to carry the traffic. Indeed, it can be applied to measure the need for a road that does not exist. It tends to disregard purely local traffic. It measures not only per- sonal transportation but also the commercial traffic generated by population—truck traffic associated with distribution as contrasted with production of goods. Finally, it is based upon data readily available for both existing routes and for any additional highway that may be proposed in the future. The geographical distribution of travel desire throughout the state is shown in Figure 8, where the magnitude of the Popu- lation Factor for various routes is indicated by the width of band. Figure 9 lists numerical values of the Population Factor for specific roads in one of the economic areas of the state. The numbers in circles are used for road iden- tification. The subdivision of the state into economic areas by the US Bureau of the Cen- sus, for the express purpose of facilitating all types of statistical and economic studies, provided geographical units of convenient size for use in this project. (Fig. 6) The second volume of this report contains 74 maps like Figure 9. These maps depict various factors contributing to state interest in roads for each of the state's thirteen economic areas. - 2 Y \, X-Y - r . A. S. 2 – - l --" 26 2C §e - S } G) _G=S ºf GRANſ, CCJLE E 2 / 2. ... As TN. º, . ^N. JA º/VRN,N. A. \ - * #ºº. sº G. *s i s } ! 23 POPULAT! O N FACTO-, (100's) - Ǻ } INTERCITY TRAVEL DESIRE N tº 47 . ~ 1950 DATA *@ Q)65 ," / CENSUS BUREAU ECONOMIC AREA 70 ( ſ '32-3 cº, Gº'. Fror -. Azcº's 3rd Lincoln Counties) ! * LEGEND ) {4 gº { - PRiMAR STATE H GHWAYS 47 jº ARY * > i Gj92 // N — 5:CONDARY STATE HIGHWAYS / 2 - 2 J ^. , * ſ tº gº ºs º e º sº gº e ºreº & Jr.—to Riza D STATE HIGHWAYS ^. ºfasco’ * * * * = . THER ROAOS * * - - 3 lo 29 (3) G ROAD | DENT | F1 CAT ON M LES – l l - The State Needs Farm Roads State interest is involved in providing roads for farm use, not for the special benefit of one group of citizens, but because agricultural development adds to the prosperity of all people in the state. It is natural to think of the agricultural use of roads in terms of tons of farm product, or in terms of ton-miles of crop haul. While this concept could be a de- fensible viewpoint in considering such tech- nical problems as road design, in the problem of classification the economic nature of state interest makes it more reasonable to take the value of farm products as a measure of the importance of the agricultural road use. Not only the farm to market movement, but all the daily personal and commercial road use forming part of the crop production effort is reflected in the monetary value of the final product. It is necessary that the measure of agri- cultural use of roads be independent of the annual fluctuation in crop values. A yard- stick should be a fairly stable thing. Natural- ly, state and federal agricultural agencies have studied the relative productivity of the various farm areas of the state. From their reports it was possible to set a figure on the relative agricultural value of land served by any specific piece of road in the state. Such a factor, multiplied by the area tributary to a given section of road, becomes an appropriate measure of the agricultural importance of the selected section of road, and is called the "Agricultural Usage Factor''. All roads included in this study have been evaluated in this fashion. On the accompany- ing state map (Figure 11) the size of the Agricultural Usage Factor for the various highways is shown by the width of the band. In Volume II of this report actual numerical values of the Agricultural Usage Factor for all highways are shown on regional maps. In addition, the second volume of this report shows the procedure and lists necessary data to check the accuracy of the reported values, and to compute the Agricultural Usage value for any other road that may in the future be under consideration for addition to the state system. A state-wide survey of this sort should be expected to correctly express fundamental re- lationships, rather than provide precision in detail. Engineers use different instruments to measure a section of land than to measure a ball bearing. The point to emphasize is that the basic information is derived from well- informed and impartial official sources; that the methods used are calculated to bring farm usage into proper perspective with other economic types of highway use; and that the resulting picture is fundamentally clear and undistorted. AGRICULTURAL USAGE HIGHWAYS O - 1950 oat A CENSUS BUREAU ECONOMIC AREA 6. (Kittitas, Yokimo, Klickitat, and Benton Countles] r - to o Io 20 /~ N. M! LES \ * N->. LEGEND / \ 3S. mm. PRIMARY STATE HIGHWAYS \ O 65 ºr -G). \@ • a - * SECONDARY STATE HIGHWAYS °Yºğ. kºg # :Sºs.- ... ººº-ºoººº tº eas -- AUTHORIZED STATE Hi(SHWAYS ºº::$º º *ś §: :* **. * *** Y (KY: sº ºš A § * - º º ºs OTHER ROADS ~) #.fºº # 6 § - - - U "ºr, & §*S*-.. sº º * # 2! ( ) 4 3. .* *%. : - F: N / N *çºğalºne º @ GD Road Dentificatio J o NA O ãºg=s. * 23 AGRICULTURAL USAGE FA CTOR ſ () Wó, # (Gºa. * ... ... - 2 Y: &T —º- *g, # * contalauring AREA soundaries Ç §§ - *G) \, O - ( (L) | : N ( * ( *.l§ #.s 3: SUNNYSID# GRANyiew gºw sº A. §: Fig. 10 -1 2- AGRICULTURAL USAGE HIGHWAYS STATE-WIDE FLOW MAP Highways Feed Industries No one questions the importance of indus- trial activity in the total economy of the state, but industries are very sporadic in their use of highway transportation. Water, rail, and even airport facilities are often the domi- nant factors in the supply of raw material and in the non-local distribution of manufactures. In Washington the most important industry, forest products, is unusual in its dependence upon highway lines of supply. In 1950, this single industry provided 44 per cent of the manufacturing payroll (metals and chemicals, 33 per cent; food products, 14 per cent; others, 9 per cent) and 48 per cent of the total value of manufactured goods. Logging is the first step in this activity, and it is significant that well over half of the cost of log production is a transportation charge. It is logical here as in the previously considered Agricultural Usage Factor, that measurement be made in terms of product value. However, in the case of logging the distinction is unimportant since here the crop is all of the same general nature and value so that measurements in terms of dollars and in board feet would yield the same relative values. Thus it is possible to use without modification the results of a comprehensive survey of the log haul made in 1948 by Gordon D. Marckworth, Dean of Forestry at the University of Washington and Bernard Orell, State Forester. On the basis of information gleaned from federal, state, and private or- ganizations they estimated the average annual logging movement over Washington roads for the next ten years. Their report considers those roads utilized in logging on a contin- uous or intermittent basis, discounting "one shot'’ operations, and is expressed in millions of board feet per year for each section of road involved in permanent logging use. The mag- nitude of this predicted log movement is called the Logging Factor, and is given in numerical detail in the second volume, shown here by the width of band on the accompany- ing state map (Figure 12). - 13- LOG TRUCKING / STATE-WIDE FLOW MAP "Jºž yº-yº” * - % ź %22% % % º @ºã à (c) sº º % 2O- @ º % * @% 2% LEGEND -- 2 Ø ya. *ó- 3: % % •= PRIMARY STATE HIGHWAYS ... gº £% % %% * * 22 %22% £2 & 3 tº . £% Ø * º - \ % ... [...? “ , - *A ; :- ::s & :---E. àS • *. Cº. à% % %sº Gºº Gºººººººoº.•e AUTHORIZED STATE HIGHWAYS Sº * - - - - OTHER ROADS º º *º MILLION FT HAULED PER YR Log Ø - .* END of FAUL is-3 KHLSO FAcroR -Ty ū º., ÉNgôN.'s & © gº *- A. - 3 SECONDARY STATE HIGHWAYS tºº Fºº FOREST OF SAW. TIMBER SPECIE SI NONCOMMERCIAL FORESTS NONFOREST LAND OR RECENT 8 NONRESTOCKED CUTOVERS 8. ºp % NATIONAL FOR L (3) G3 ROAD | DENT I FI CAT I ON PORTS # 3 ºn '. _%iº º 3. tº % Eyſſºt Tº ſº.% s\/SNOHOMišH%& a º º 27 /2 || ..” Monhoe rºº e” W 22 *——-—- LA - - SAWMILLS iiN AREA LOG IRucking CENSUS BUREAU ECONOMIC AREA 2. (Whatcom, Skogit, Snohomish, San Juon ond Island Counties) PULPMILLS IN AREA’ PLywooD AND VENEER PLANTS | N AREA : SHINGLEMILLs in AREA OTHER LOG CARRYING ROADS -14- Tapping Our Mineral Resources The mining and processing of minerals is important among the industrial activities of some Washington counties, and will probably be of much greater importance in the future. In 1948, aluminum production had a value of $67 million, other metallic minerals $11 million, and industrial minerals $39 million. Although the total of these figures amounts to approximately one-fifth of the value of either farm products or forest products, it is sufficiently large to be of vital interest to the state, and there is no comparable activity in which the prospect of potential growth de- serves greater attention. Roads play a vital but varying role in the development of mineral resources. In many cases their greatest value lies in opening up a promising area. The past twenty years have seen Construction of about sixty mine-to- market roads, mostly short, at a cost of about One million dollars. Such projects are na- turally speculative, and often do not lead to any profitable development. Metallic production is usually shipped by rail or water. Sand and gravel deposits are so well dispersed about the state that this pro- duction is usually consumed locally. Thus non-metallic mineral production does not involve great state interest either through interregional highway use or through the generation of state wealth by interstate com- merce. On the other hand, smelting and roll- ing plants, like their counterparts in other industries, generate additional population in the urban areas where they are located, and the importance of this activity from the standpoint of highway usage is properly measured in the Population Factor previously discussed. An element of state interest which does require further recognition is to be found in the non-urban industrial activity which is involved in the exploitation of our natural mineral resources. This fact led to the choice s `-s— { 5. \ s exº~. O f*. ſ \ | ſv(' 3 \ 2- … º ‘J’~~~ \ 2-Tº- MINE SERVICE HIGHWAYS STATE-WIDE FLOW MAP \| -- _- .*.* ...~ - .* *~ *-*. -* * --~~~ –’ ,-- .* ,- _^---~~~ - -**~~ *- .* (8) @ 56 ! >). n Z - V” 2 N. LEGEND PRIMARY STAfé Highways's _r ~~ SECONDARY STATE HIGHWAYS AUTHORIZED STATE HIGHWAYS other Roads 1950 DATA (3) (3) Road identification IO O IO 2O (8) MI N E OR QUARRY MILES 23 MINING FacroR Fig. 15 of a Mining Factor based upon mine and quarry payrolls. The importance of develop- ing our natural resources as a measure of state interest led to a decision to weigh actual pay- rolls in proportion to estimated future growth in accordance with the best judgment of the various state and federal mining officials who were consulted. The data and computations involved in the Mining Factor are shown in detail in the second volume. The overall picture for the state is shown here on the accompanying map (Figure 14). Commerce on the Highways Most trucking use of roads has already been considered on the preceding pages. Much trucking represents direct personal service and supply. It is reflected in the Population Factor, which also measures the industrial and commercial activity supporting urban populations. The Agricultural Usage Factor represents rural traffic, whether car or truck. The Logging Factor and Mining Factor cover the major non-urban industrial activities. e E- • &ººº*º| MINE SERVICE HIGHWAYS CENSUS BUREAU ECONOMIC AREA 5b (Ferry, Stevens ond Pend Oreille Counties) There remains an important link in the chain of distribution—long distance commercial hauling, which deserves special consideration On tWO COlliltS . r 1. The amount of common carrier high- way use varies between geographical regions with the amount of rail and water competition. 2. In any one region the use of specific routes is more selective than for other types of highway traffic. Inter-city trucking follows certain main lines of travel in a rather arbitrary pattern. The picture of motor freight transportation in the state involves both the routes traveled and the density of freight movement over those routes. The Public Service Commission provided a list of trucking permits which served to determine the roads used by these truckers. For data on quantities of freight it was necessary to turn to the operators them- selves. The cooperation of this group in the considerable task of compiling private data on the annual tonnage transported over every section of highway used by them deserves more than a casual acknowledgment. As the result of their help, volume two of this report includes the geographical distribution of an estimated 75% of the ton-miles involved in motor freight transportation. The state-wide spread of this activity is shown here on a flow map, Figure 16. The Motor Freight Factor is shown in terms of actual daily tonnage for each road on the regional map of Figure 17. Since the available data represents less than 100% coverage it is certain that a number of individual roads have been slighted. This is not an important defect with respect to either of the two main objectives of this report. The coverage is sufficient to determine the proper weight to be assigned to regulated motor freight operation in compiling a composite measure of state interest. When a specific road receives future consideration for addition to the state system the truck movement for that road can be obtained from local knowledge in greater detail than is possible in this more comprehensive survey. -1 6- Fig. 16 MOTOR FREIGHT TRANSPORTATION 1950 DATA CENSUS BUREAU METROPOLITAN AREA "B" (Pierce Countv IO 20 MILES … Y. — -\. N---' N Mount Rainier National Park Fig. 17 MOTOR FREIGHT TRANSPORTATION STATE-WIDE FLOW MAP TACOMA #s LEGEND N- N- - PRIMARY STATE HIGHWAYS SECONDARY STATE HIGHWAYS tº C. e. e. e-Q & eº •eese AUTHORIZED STATE HIGHWAYS * * * * = OTHER ROADS (3) (23) ROAD | DENTIFICATION TONS HAULED PER DAY - 17- Recreational Roads The recreational use of roads is of both direct and indirect interest to residents of the state. They are directly interested in roads that take them to parks, beaches and moun- tain areas. They indirectly benefit from the increase in business when good roads give entry to thousands of tourists from other states. Tourist business is itself no trivial item. The 1950 expenditure in Washington by out-of-state tourists is estimated to have been $123 million, making '' tourism” one of the four largest income producers in the state, and certainly the one most dependent upon good roads. No tourist has to come to Wash- ington, and he certainly won't return if he doesn't enjoy his trip. Holiday magazine called Washington "the most beautiful part of the United States,’’ and this very abundance of scenic and recrea- tional attractions cannot be exploited with- out good roads. This raises a most difficult problem in road classification. There are liter- ally thousands of potential recreational sites, and to open up any new areas by construction of a new state road inevitably channels the flow of tourists to one region instead of to another which may be equally desirable. While such discriminatory action is war- ranted in particular cases, it requires a more detailed study than can be incorporated into any general procedure for road classification. Moreover, since the road building resources of the state are not remotely equal to the task of building all possible recreational roads, local interest must predominate in any dis- criminatory selection of routes; state-wide interest requires only that somehow and some- where adequate provision be made to attract tourists and to accommodate the recreational desires of our own residents. Under ordinary circumstances, therefore, it seems unavoid- able that responsibility for the initial pro- motion of any new recreational area shall fall upon the locality which will be directly benefited, and that the responsibility of the state must be confined to providing adequate roads for recreational travel when and where such travel develops as the result of local initiative. With these considerations in mind, a Rec- reation Factor has been computed for all sections of highway under investigation. This factor is based upon the number of visitors to state and national parks and to national forests. In order to discount local travel the factor was weighed in favor of those motorists coming longer distances. In the case of the ocean beaches the lack of park attendance records made it necessary to esti- mate the number of summer visitors from the variation between winter and summer traffic counts. Computations of the Recreation Factor for roads serving recreational areas are re- corded in Volume Two. The overall picture is shown here on the accompanying state map. (Figure 19) RECREATIONAL TRAVEL - - º |O2*- º (A) C 8 CENSUS BUREAU ECONOMIC AREA 4. (A) \ (Thurston, Lewis, Cowſitz, Clark ond Skomonio Counties i_\º OLYMPIA | 58 3. PS-(64 • - - - º - / Salmon Creek State Park (5) | C N Millersylvanić Stoté ºpſ 8 )43 - Park . (68,942) @ \ |C) o 10 20 Hº:3. Tº T - Tº ſ—— —ſº -º-º: 4 - - - a gº- - - Žºr: | *N gº)--~ - *(E)\}cENTRALIA º aſº is HEHALIS 7 % 44 )49 %2% i (). %. ...?) ºſ 2 ſº - Old %.º Park? & % 4% P-TE %22ES$2.4 %2.82% 2. ſº Folls Stöfe), lºa ëſ)2 ! j4 gº % ſ”; (332.5" (Eº SA • - wamp, N. Jockson Stołe Park JYº (OBE Sſ L 3,575,690 and 203, 53 l respectively. Pork (62,142 --º-º-º: 3. --rº Lewis Gnd, Clark Stafe sº ) Ž 22 | r BornečT State Park % 222222222% º - Pork ; % 2%/2 % ...' … 263) ºr Seaquest Stote Por %. % % % 2 ./ % % ‘’’.4% B )|13 ſº % % ...’.… . (A) {* º % ºº …” LONGVIE w- % % CN * .” & - NOTE º w - | % Counts are for 1950. In 1951 Y * | * there was a 53% increase in \% ºf § attendance for Mt. Rainier and ſ § a 67% increase in State Park % attendance. Total 1950 counts 㺠2%% for Snoqualmie and Gifford % Gs)3% Pinchot National Forests are % tº *>< - %zz 2 STEVENSON__ 3G). e={ J } 4. O 3 Bedcon Rock Stołe Pork Yºr (40,026) 5 s 30), (3) G3 ROAD IDENT | FICAT I ON LEGEND = PRIMARY STATE HIGHWAYS SECONDARY STATE HIGHWAYS ee sº tº tº a tº a stºº ete AUTHORIZED STATE HIGHWAYS NATIONAL PARK AREA OTHER ROADS Z! NATIONAL FOREST LAND Fig. 18 23 RECREAT 1 O NAL USAGE FACTOR (IOOO's) | - 18- RECREATIONAL TRAVEL STATE-WIDE FLOW MAP Fig. 19 A Yardstick It is a pleasant surprise that the six com- ponents of state highway interest discussed On the preceding pages are enough to include all important factors that have come to light in exhaustive research, in many private con- ferences, in much correspondence, and in twenty public hearings. The important task remaining is to combine these six components into one figure that will properly express the eligibility of any section of road for admis- sion to an integrated system of state highways. Since each of the six factors has only relative value, the problem is one of determining the proper weight or scale to be assigned to each factor. Ideally, this decision would call for the exercise of superhuman judgment by any one individual. In such cases the human al- ternative is to use the combined judgment of a great many qualified individuals. Fortu- nately, the existing network of main routes, in the aggregate, is the product of hundreds of decisions by experienced and qualified engineers based mainly upon topography and travel desire lines. It was not any known dissatisfaction with the overall pattern of state highways that led to the present study. On the contrary this overall pattern has won approval from many county, state and nationally recognized authorities. The practical answer to the present problem is to be found by so weighting each of the rationally derived factors that their weighted totals will identify a system of highways conforming in general to the present system. This process gives a yardstick of state interest which has been rationally derived and which in its general pattern conforms to the total highway engineering experience of the state. Before combining the various factors into a composite index it is first necessary to reduce the various numbers to a percentile basis. Otherwise the process of combination would involve adding together such diverse units as - 19- board feet, dollars and tons. To express in percent a factor for any specific road section, the local value of the factor should be divided by its “mean maximum value”, (the average of the highest values of that factor to be found on any 100 miles of state highway). After a series of trial combinations a satis- factory formula evolved. Its application to the roads under investigation resulted in 91% conformity with the present system. In Figure 20 it will be noted that the Index of State Interest is largest on the established main routes of trayel and is low on roads which would be considered of local interest by most engineers. This Index was obtained by multiplying each of the six component factors by its respective weight: Direct Interest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40% (a) Population factor. . . . . . 25% (b) Agricultural factor. . . . . 10% (c) Recreational factor. . . . . 5% Indirect Interest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60% (a) Population factor. . . . . . 16% (b) Agricultural factor. . . . . 11% (c) Logging factor. . . . . . . . . 11% (d) Mining factor . . . . . . . . . 5% (e) Recreational factor . . . . . 8% (f) Trucking factor. . . . . . . . 9% The Index of State Interest is the yardstick with which the Legislature can measure the eligibility of any section of road for consid- eration. The values of the Index are obtained by inserting data of public record into ration- ally derived formulas. Thus the Index for any road will be the same regardless of who is chosen to perform the computations. The yardstick will not become outdated, because the Index for any road section will change with the supporting data: popula- tion, industry, commerce, agriculture, recreation. The yardstick is not tied to a static high- way system. As needs require and finances permit, the size of the state system can be changed without the least alteration in the Index values themselves. Use of the yardstick does not put roads on or off the highway system; it measures only their eligibility for consideration. An eligible road should be added only if it is econonom- ically feasible to construct and maintain, if expansion of the system is financially possible, and if the road will provide better service under state administration. The whole concept of highway classifica- tion is tied to the adjudication of adminis- trative responsibility. Once that has been established, there remains the equal or greater problem of financing, as well as many other questions that are bound to come up in the administration of any enterprise of this size. Proper classification does not solve all high- way problems, but by placing first things first it contributes to the orderly solution of many problems. -21- AN ANSWER TO THE PROBLEM The Essential Characteristics of a State Highway So far the burden of this research effort has been on the construction of a yardstick to measure the amount of state-wide interest in any specific section of road. The existence of state-wide interest implies a state responsi- bility to serve that interest. For most through routes the responsibility of the state is better discharged by state administration of the road than by delegation of authority to other political subdivisions. However, there may be short sections of road of state-wide impor- tance which can be more economically main- tained by local agencies. Moreover, even a highly desirable addition to the state high- way system must have economic justification. The exorbitant cost of overcoming a moun- tain or water barrier may necessitate the postponement or abandonment of an other- wise attractive project. Of course, the mere existence of a valid yardstick of state interest provides no assur- ance that the best possible location has been given consideration in every case. Therefore, it is expedient to establish some generally recognized minimum requirements for state highways, in addition to a demonstration of state interest, which will assure that the yardstick is being used on the most appro- priate routes. Thus, besides being important to the people of the state, a state highway must satisfy the following requirements: 1. It shall begin and end at important terminals or junctions. 2. It shall carry enough through traffic to make state administration a sub- stantial advantage. Where state inter- est is aroused only by economic bene- fits from local industry it may be that the general welfare will be better served by local road administration. 3. It shall be the most feasible route for the traffic it is intended to serve. 4. It shall be economically justified by the traffic it serves. A road that satisfies these minimum re- quirements and also has a satisfactory value for its Index of State Interest should be part of an integrated system of state highways. The acceptance of this axiom leaves two questions unanswered: 1. What is a "passing grade’’ for the Index of State Interest? 2. What are the financial consequences of adopting this criterion? Using the Yardstick What should be the lowest acceptable value for the State Interest Index? There is no in- fallible answer to such a question, but there are two possible bases from which to con- struct a practical answer. Both procedures start with a specified size of the state system, because the "passing grade'' of state interest is inseparably tied to the size of the state system. The term "passing grade'' is used to designate the minimum value of the State Interest Index which is to be found on any road in the State Highway System. As a first possibility we accept the present size of the state system. Actually there can be no great change in the size of the system without corresponding changes in the high- way tax structure, or in the allocation of funds, or in both. In that case the "passing grade” becomes that Index value which is exceeded on a total mileage of road equal to the present number of miles on the state sys- tem. To determine this passing grade a graph has been constructed(Figure 21) which shows how many miles of road have a State Interest Index greater than any specified value. The 6516 miles on the present system establishes -22- the "passing grade'' at a State Interest value of 20. On the basis of this discussion it appears desirable to replace560miles of “low interest'' roads with an equivalent mileage of high interest roads. This reform should not be put into effect without equitable changes in the allocation of highway revenues between affected counties and the state. As the state develops, it may become desir- able to increase the size of the highway sys- tem. This would make it necessary to re- examine the cut-off point sometime in the future. Again, any major change in the size of the system should involve financial adjust- ment as well. How can the proposed yardstick be used? Presumably, any proposal for extension of the existing highway system would be sub- mitted to the appropriate legislative com- mittee for an analysis similar to that shown by the questionnaire on page 24. A proposal which appeared satisfactory on the basis of this analysis would then be examined with respect to its administrative and economic feasibility. These documents would then pro- vide an equitable and factual basis for legis- lative action. As the component factors in the yardstick are all based upon factual data, most of it a matter of public record, the yardstick would be subject to periodic correction as economic changes warranted. The cut-off point would be kept in adjustment with the ability of the state to support a system of efficient size. Following this procedure would result in legislation in the public interest to the full extent that public interest can be measured by scientific methods. | | WEIGHTED STATE INDEX ACCUMULATIVE MILEAGE CURVE 3O \ à | 3 tºº. | º | s: | Oſ) § | 2001: | O ū TOTAL M I LEAGE 3: | ...” STUDIED \ | T | PRESENT STATE H|GHWAY SYSTEM MILEAGE |O s | NS | S —A 2"PASSING GRADE" | — — — — — — —-e- — — — — — R----—— — — — — O | O * 4. 5 7 3 5- ACCUMULATIVE MILEAGE (THOUSANDS) Fig. 21 -23- From in I. II. Suggested Study Form for Analysis of Highways tC) Minimum Requirements: (Discuss on sep- ate sheet.) A. B. C. Does this road terminate at towns or important junctions? How does this road serve the needs of the state as a whole? Why would this road be better admin- istered by the State? Can the annual cost of this road be justified? (Estimate annual cost of maintenance and fixed charges; annual tax revenue from fuel consumed on road; annual saving in vehicle operating costs com- pared to alternate route) State Interest: (It should be recognized that all of the computations to be reported on this or a similar sheet would require detailed analyses as described in Volume II.) A. Population Factor 1. Originating on the proposed road 2. Pro-rated from existing alternate routes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3. Total . . . . . . . . . . . 4. Item A-3 expressed as percent of "mean max. value'" . . . . . . . . . . .% 5. Weighted Population Factor. Mul- tiply Item A-4 by 0.41. . . . . . . . . . Agricultural Factor 1. Area of farm land served by road . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . sq. miles 2. Productivity (Value). . . . . . . . . . . Agricultural Factor. . . . . . . . . . . . . 4. Item B-3 expressed as percent of "mean max. value'" . . . . . . . . . . .% 5. Weighted Agricultural Factor. Multiply Item B-4 by 0.21. . . . . . . 3 Counties. via. Length miles C. Recreation Factor 1. Generated from parks, etc., located on road. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2. Pro-rated from existing alternate 3. Total. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4. Item C-3 expressed as percent of "mean max. value'" . . . . . . . . . . . % 5. Weighted Recreational Factor. Multiply Item C-4 by 0.13. . . . . . . . Logging Factor 1. Annual log haul, from continuous operations. . . . . . . . . . . . MMBMA 2. Item D-1 expressed as percent of "mean max. value'" . . . . . . . . . . . % 3. Weighted Logging Factor. Multi- ply Item D-3 by 0.11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mining Factor 1. Annual payroll, in hundreds of dollars, of mines and quarries lo- cated on road. . . . . . . . . . . . $. . . . . 2. Multiply Item E-1 by the develop- ment factor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3. Item E-2 expressed as percent of "mean max. value'" . . . . . . . . . . . % 4. Weighted Mining Factor. Multiply Item E-3 by 0.05. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Motor Freight Factor . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1. Annual average tonnage by motor freight. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . tons 2. Express Item F-1 as percent of "mean max. value'" . . . . . . . . . . . % 3. Weighted Freight Factor. Multi- ply Item F-2 by 0.9. . . . . . . . . . . . . TOTAL INDEX OF STATE INTEREST -24- Some Further Considerations So far the development and application of a formula or yardstick has been discussed in terms of short individual roads and relatively short sections of long routes. Highways must of necessity be examined in short pieces. A state highway system, however, does not function as independent segments. Its very nature and characteristics require length and continuity. A brief discussion in terms of the state interest and minimum requirements of each road submitted by the various groups for study is included in Vol. II of this report. Most of this investigation has been an effort to distinguish between local and state responsibility for Washington roads. Early in the study it became evident that in some counties there existed an appreciable mileage of road in which the predominant interest was neither state nor local, but federal. No classification problem exists in the instance of federally administered roads on federal lands. With respect to other roads, federal usage is similar to industrial usage in several respects. State Interest is involved to the ex- tent that federal traffic contributes to the economic activity of the state as a whole. From the state benefit standpoint, the federal road use factor is relevant but not important. For example, 1951 counts of military vehicles on U. S. 99 adjacent to Fort Lewis show that military trucks only account for 0.2% to 4.1% of average annual daily traffic volume. As this is an extremely active location, the factor surely may be ignored in a state-wide study of state interest. At any rate, the pre- dominant service of this usage is for the nation and not for the state. The national interest is better served by county adminis- tration of locally used roads and state admin- istration of interregional roads than by the impractical expedient of federal administra- tion of local roads, regardless of the amount of federal usage that may be involved. So far the report has assumed that local interest predominates in roads lacking suffi- cient state interest to be included in the state system. In some cases the predominating interest may be federal rather than local, and such roads are sometimes under local admin- istration for greater convenience and effi- ciency. This failure to segregate federal inter- est could be responsible for inequity because of extraordinary maintenance required of a county by a concentration of federal vehicles. This condition prevails only in the vicinity of important and active defense installations. However, the subject of road financing is not properly a part of this report. -25- WHAT OTHERS SAY From Report of a Study of the Highway Lawſ, Organization, and Procedures of Colorado, The Committee on Highway Organization and Administration, Highway Research Board, National Research Council, July 1948: 1. ". . the basic theory of a State high- way system and a State highway de- partment, is that certain roads are of preponderantly State rather than local interest and importance and should therefore, be administered at the State level.” p. 15 From Pennſylvania Highwayſ, Today and Tomor- row, Report of Highway Planning Com- mission, November 1, 1950: 1. "Roads and streets should be classi- fied into groups or systems, based on the nature of the service rendered; that is, the kind of use made of the road.'' p. 13, Chapter II. 2. "From the standpoint of economical and effective administration and de- velopment of the roads in Pennsyl- vania, a sound classification of roads according to use is essential." p. 20, Chapter II. 3. "People make traffic, and where there are few people there is little traffic.” p. 19, Chapter II. From Today and Tomorrow, an Engineering Analy- Jiſ of the Highway Transportation System in Miſſiſſippi, Automotive Safety Foun- dation, October, 1949: 1. "The proposed state highway system would connect all major population centers in the state with each other and with similar centers in adjoining states. It would serve every munici- pality of 1000 or more population by at least one state route, providing a through highway and in most cases two such highways through every county seat in the state.” p. 79, Chap- ter VII. . ''Divide the road and street network into systems according to the type of service they perform.” p. 84, Chapter VII. . "Eliminate so called 'stub ends' of roads leading off to dead ends in the system and some roads which dupli- cate service to certain areas." p. 79, Chapter VII. "A good road network should provide service to every area that warrants economic development." p. 81, Chap- ter VII. From Claſsification of Illinois Highwayſ, De- partment of Public Works and Buildings of Illinois, March 1951: 1. "Predominant use characteristics of a segment of road may be measured by the economic importance or traffic attraction of the trading centers or municipalities connected by it, due consideration being given also to traf- fic volumes and type of traffic." p. 2. . "The functional usage of a segment of highway may be measured by the eco- nomic importance or traffic attraction of the populated places connected by the highway." p. 43, Chapter III. . "The proportion that the traffic pass- ing from one (population) center to the other is of the total traffic on the road increases as the importance of the centers increases and as the distance between them decreases.’’ p. 49, Chapter III. . "Highway classification may be de- fined as the grouping or identification of those segments of highway that have similar functional usage and render comparable service.” p. 39, Chapter III. -26- and changes in the overall economy of the state, it is recommended that legal safeguards be adopted to avoid overexpansion of principal systems." p. 69, Chapter VII. From An Engineering Study of Ohio's Highwayſ, Roads and Streetſ, Automotive Safety Foundation, March 1951: 1. "Routes on a state highway system should be those of predominant state importance.” p. 59, Chapter VII. . ''Basic interest in the road concerned should be the controlling factor as to which agency of government it should be assigned." p. 59, Chapter VII. . ''The selection was made solely on the type of service performed by indi- vidual roads with no regard to present . ''The relocated sections of state high- ways in both urban and rural areas be automatically returned to local jruis- diction, the only exceptions should be those in which the old location con- tinues to serve considerable amounts of traffic of inter-county or state-wide interests.’’ p. 69, Chapter VII. legal classification." p. 65, Chapter From Planning and Financing Our Highwayſ, VII. g National Highway Users Conference, Inc., January 1949: 1. "The classification of highways be- 4. "Classification is the basic framework around which all laws, fiscal pro- grams, organization and administra- tion must be patterned." p. 59, Chap- ter VII. "Major classification changes should never be made without corresponding changes in the fiscal plan." p. 59, Chapter VII. "In the past many roads have been shifted from one system to another on the basis of deficiencies and the cost of improvenemt rather than from the standpoint of the type of service they rendered." p. 59, Chapter VII. . "If the present system were separated into two distinct systems of primary and secondary state importance and all roads of local character were re- turned to local jurisdiction, it would be possible to provide better plans of finance and management and more orderly development of the two sys- tems in accordance with their relative need and importance." p. 61, Chapter VII. . “While minor changes in the system classification plan may be necessary in the future to meet new development tween those of general use and those of local use should be determined in accordance with the nature and extent of the use as shown by state highway planning surveys and other traffic sur- veys and studies." p. 7 . ''The study should review the existing classification of road systems to insure that all roads are properly grouped in accordance with the traffic and bene- fits rendered. The administrative re- sponsibility for the several systems should correspond with these classi- fications." p. 8 From A Method of Road Claſſification, Michigan StateHighwayL)epartment, January 1950: 1. "Some years ago they came to the conclusion that the roads themselves and their functional uses were the proper sources for sound classification criteria." p. 1 . ". . . functional operation of places generates movement of traffic to them and that classification of roads is therefore determined by the functional importance of the places they princi- pally connect." p. 16 -27- 3. “Roads should be so located that they will serve existing and develop poten- tial uses of land." p. 17 4. “Spur routes supplementary to the basic network should be provided to points of significant traffic interest.” p. 17 5. “Topographical conditions must nec- essarily be considered in the location analysis of each roadway section. In general, large lakes require secondary roads around their shores and wide rivers require routes on both banks.” p. 17 From Interregional Highways, A Report of the National Interregional Highway Com- mittee Outlining and Recommending a National System of Interregional High- ways, House Document No. 379, Con- gress, January 1944: 1. "The cities and metropolitan areas of the country are known to include the sources and destinations of much the greater part of the heavy flow of traf- fic that moves over the Nation's high- ways." p. 3 ‘. . . nearly 90% of the traffic moving on main highways has either or both its origin and destination in cities . . .'' p. 40 From Highwayſ in Waſhington'ſ Future, Auto- motive Safety Foundation, September 1948: 1. "Reclassification . . . should be done after a study is made to determine the extent of state interest in all routes, particularly those now designated as secondary state highways." p. 43, Chapter VII. –28- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS A great many people have contributed to this study. The prospectus and the report were reviewed and edited by the membership of the Washington State Council For High- way Research. Discussions with county engi- neers all over the state have yielded many unidentified contributions which can have Only a general acknowledgment. Mr. Bugge and his assistants in the Department of High- ways have been most helpful; in particular, Mr. Glaze has freely supplied data from the files of the Planning Survey. The State Public Service Commission, the State Employment Security Department, the State Parks and Recreation Commission, and the Washington State Census Board have all been very helpful in providing pertinent information. Personnel of the Bureau of Public Roads have made constructive comments on various stages of the research in progress: the names of Mr. Fairbank, Mr. Holmes, Mr. Messer, Mr. Lynch, Mr. Sargent and Mr. Dixon should be mentioned here. Mr. Burggraf and Mr. Campbell of the Highway Research Board have shown encouraging interest in the adopted method of attacking the prob- lem. Mr. Matson, Director of the Yale Bur- eau of Traffic Research, called attention to the similarity between the "population factor'' and earlier work by G. K. Zipf. Mr. Roy Jorgensen, Engineering Counsel for the Highway Users Conference has given helpful guidance. The cooperation of the industry in the compilation of motor freight data has already been mentioned in the text. Mr. Lordan, Mr. Hartvigsen, Mr. Ness, Mr. Hicks and Mr. Chamberlain gave freely of their time in arranging for the collection of this information from the operating compa- nies. Maps and helpful suggestions were con- tributed by the Washington Automobile Association. The National Park and National Forest Service Agencies provided data on the number of visitors to their respective areas. The Highway Classification study is the enactment of a recommendation by the Auto- motive Safety Foundation, made in their 1948 report: Highways in Washington'ſ Future. The Foundation has shown a gratifying interest in this continuation of their work. Mr. G. Donald Kennedy kindly reviewed an interim progress report. Mr. Carl E. Fritts has gener- ously shared with the research staff his broad experience in highway classification. The Council is deeply grateful to the Automotive Safety Foundation and to Mr. Fritts for this considerable assistance. Research was conducted cooperatively at the State College of Washington and the University of Washington under G. A. Riede- sel, Research Engineer, and Robert G. Hennes, Professor of Civil Engineering, respectively. The State College project staff included: Richard Carll,Junior Research Economist James McLerran, Junior Research Engi- ſheer. At the University of Washington the field work was conducted by: Richard H. Meese, Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering Josiah E. Colcord, Jr., Instructor in Civil Engineering The project staff at the University was under the immediate supervision of Willa Mylroie, Assistant Research Engineer, and included the following part-time personnel: Gerard Pesman, Junior Research Engi- neer (Civil) Roy B. Sawhill, Junior Research Engi- neer (Traffic) Louis Volse, Junior Research Engineer (Civil) Wesley Myllenbeck, Cartographer (Geography) - Alan N. Corthell, Research Aide (Civil Engineering) -29- Harry R. Lee, Jr., Research Aide (Civil Engineering) Thomas H. Nielsen, Research Aide(Civil Engineering) Lloyd G. Ottoman, Research Aide(Civil Engineering) Clifford A. Peterson, Research Aide (Business Administration) Dean S. Scotton, Research Aide (Trans- portation) Besides those directly engaged on the proj- ect, at both cooperating institutions various members of the teaching staffs have been generous with their assistance. Special men- tion should be made of the Agricultural Economics staff and the Recreational Resource Project at State College, and of the Mathe- matics, Forestry, Journalism, Geography, Sociology, and Business Administration staffs at the University. The relief map used on the cover of the report was prepared by John Crosby, a gradu- ate student in the Department of Geography at the University. LiT H C G R A P H ED BY FAR WEST, 5 EATT -30- EIſlCI E_LVC oozowessoglose ! NWüßWić'ſſiſsijäAINā’”