Present State of Federal Aid.
—The Bureau of Public Roads gives out the information that 11,930 miles of road have been constructed during the year 1921 by the States in conjunction with Federal Aid, at a total cost of $231,963,682, toward which the government allotted $94,057,089. There were under way during the year 31,228 miles, which was about one-half the road work carried on in the United States during the year. It is safe to assume, then, that through the stimulus of Government Aid, direct and indirect, more than 20,000 miles were built during 1921, and that more than 40,000 more miles are under way.
The effects of Federal Aid is just now beginning to be felt; a few years more will see the United States so well supplied with good roads that the national appropriations for Federal Aid may be reduced materially.
It is estimated that the $190,000,000 available for allotment, $65,000,000 for the year ending 1923, $75,000,000 for the year 1924, and $50,000,000 remaining from previous appropriations, will result in the construction of more than 25,000 miles of road, which added to the 46,000 miles that are expected to result from previous federal appropriations, makes a total of 71,000 miles, or nearly 40 per cent of the estimated 180,000 miles of good roads in the System of Federal Aid roads now being outlined.
The U. S. Bureau of Public Roads gives out the figures up to December 31, 1921, as follows:
| Federal Aid Apportioned, 1917 to 1922 inc., | $339,875,000 |
| Projects under Construction: | |
| Total Estimated Cost | 275,652,104 |
| Federal Aid | 117,049,690 |
| Miles | 15,834 |
| Projects on which Construction is Completed: | |
| Total Estimated Cost | 221,739,710 |
| Federal Aid | 95,054,184 |
| Miles | 12,907 |