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UTAH PRESS ASSOCIATION Emery in Emery County, Hanksville in Wayne County and Randolph in Rich County. No roads, however, were built into the western desert. Reflecting the conviction that tourism would become a major industry of southern Utah, Garfield County in 1915 levied 10 mills for road-building. The funds were earmarked for improvement of the route from Panguitch to Kanab, a link in that day's objective of creating a highway from the north rim of Grand Canyon to Yellowstone Park. In Grand County, not only roads but the need for a bridge over the Grand River brought into focus the editorial emphasis of the Moab Times-Independent. The bridge, when completed, spanned not the Grand, but the Colorado, as that river had subsequently been renamed. By 1917-18, with the nation involved in World War One, the state boasted 3,000 miles of highways and the final 12 miles of the Ogden-Salt Lake road were scheduled for paving. As the decade of the 20s began, 125 miles of Utah highways were paved, future routes were being determined and the state's newspapers were trumpeting the need for roads in their respective circulation areas. A decision to build more all-weather gravel roads and de-emphasize paved ones meant more total miles could be constructed. Gravelled highways could be built for $5,000 per mile at that time; paved ones cost $30,000 or more. Typical of the controversy of that era was a Nephi Times-News expression when neighboring Millard County sought to re-route Utah's north-south highway through Lyndyll, the Tintic valley and Silver City: "What are the businessmen and citizens in general of East Juab County going to do? Are we going to lay down and see this section of the state highway to California taken from us and handed bodily over to someone else? In other words, have we gone to sleep in East Juab County? How about spending a little road money between Nephi and Pay son on the route where the travel the past year from Los Angeles, Sanpete County and Sevier County has been the heaviest on record?" So road-building proceeded with emphasis on gravel con- 284 |
