Growing out of the action of the county court a short time ago, perhaps, when it ordered the unmentionable condition of the main county thoroughfare out of Ashland northward toward Talent improved with crushed rock, has come an agitation for the continuance of the improvement northward through the county until the main highway across Jackson County shall be, if not a Roman road, different from anything Oregonians have been accustomed to be satisfied with in the past.
    The project for the crushed rock improvement of the road leading into Ashland from the north is held in abeyance temporarily and perhaps until spring, owing to the unexpected antics of the weather man, who with his freak actions has played havoc with many an out-of-door plan this fall. The county court had arranged for securing a large amount of crushed rock from the Warren Company's plant below Eagle Mills, used in the recent paving operations in Ashland. It was to be gotten out after certain work in Medford was completed, and Roadmaster True had his plans set to go at the work of placing the rock, when all plans of the Warren Company were knocked into a cocked hat by the weather man. It is reported that they have suspended work on their paving contract at Medford until spring, which it is expected carries with it a suspension of the much-needed road improvement project for a like period, unless the county crusher outfit should be called into requisition after the unfavorable weather conditions now prevailing are past.
    Meantime the road into Ashland from the north is as fierce as ever, and, in fact, all but impassable, having been greatly aggravated by the heavy hauling of last summer and fall by the paving company's outfits to and from the rock crushing plant.
    Jackson County has made more progress in road building in the last few years than ever before in her history, notably in the administration of County Judge Dunn, whose improvement policy is being largely followed under the present regime, but there a room for great improvements yet. Everybody believes in good roads. Why not have them as far as the main county thoroughfare is concerned, at least? The county commissioners are soon to fix the apportionment of taxes for the coming year and make up the budget of probable expenses. A good round levy for road purposes will meet with less objection on the part of the taxpayers and the public than any other feature of the budget.
Ashland Tidings, December 6, 1909, page 1




    A movement was started this morning to have the proposed asphalt macadam road to Central Point changed from its present location to parallel the railroad track. It is pointed out that this would be a straightaway continuation of Central Avenue and would be over a half mile shorter than the present road which contains several angles. If the road was next to the railroad track it would be without a curve or an angle of any kind and would indeed be a boulevard.
    J. S. Howard is fathering the movement. In outlining his plans, he prepared the following statement.
    To the editor: The county court has contracted to expend $12,000 a mile to make an asphalt macadam road to Central Point. (Good.) Now if the county is to spend that amount why not get the best results possible for the money?  Why not extend North Central Avenue to straight through parallel with the railroad to the south end of First Street in Central Point?
    The following facts are in favor of the change of the road: First, the distance by the present road from East Main Street, Medford to the south end of First Street, Central Point is 22,300 feet or 4.22 miles. The distance from East Main and Central Avenue, Medford, to the south end of First Street, Central Point, by a line parallel with the railroad is 19,500 feet or approximately 3.7 miles, a difference of nearly one-half mile. Now, in good weather there are about 500 vehicles each day passing over the road to Central Point and if the road was laid out parallel to the railroad it would mean a saving of 250 miles of travel each day and save construction and maintenance of the extra road. Second, from the north end of Central Avenue as laid out through the Ish-Gore addition to the city of Medford, to the south end of First Street, Central Point, the distance is 9800 feet or 1.86 miles. This is all the new road to be laid out, and you have only three property owners to deal with. A road sixty feet wide would take an area of 13.40 acres, worth at the most $500 an acre, which would make the cost of the road $6,700 if it had to be all condemned. Now at $12,000 per mile, the saving of a half mile in distance would offset the cost of condemning new road.
    The above facts show that we can get a road to Central Point parallel with the railroad and as straight as an arrow, save over a half mile in distance and have one of the most magnificent drives in the valley, and the ground would be less difficult for construction.
    If any move is made it must be made soon before construction starts. The Commercial Club should take the matter up at once, securing the cooperation of the Central Point club. The automobile club should make a hustle. The farmers clear to the north end of the country would be benefited.
Medford Mail Tribune, June 14, 1911, page 1

    To the Editor: Permit me to add a little to the subject of a straight road to Central Point. Since my communication a day or two ago I find that a great interest in the matter has developed. While in a general way we all knew that the county court contemplated improving the road between Medford and Central Point, we never thought that they proposed improving it in the splendid and substantial manner contemplated in their present action. Otherwise the matter of placing the costly improvements on the shortest and best route would have received more serious consideration.
    If a railroad or private corporation had the matter of such expensive improvements under advisement they would investigate every feature of the situation and would thoroughly explore every part of the country traversed to find the shortest and best route before making such permanent improvements. If one-half mile can be saved it will mean a saving of 250 miles per day, counting all the travel passing over the route, which at 5 cents per mile would cost the public $12.50 a day or $4500 per year, or 6 percent on $75,000. These things would all be considered in railway construction. Another item: Central Avenue is already paved for over one-half mile nearer than any other thoroughfare.
    There has never been any revision of the present county road since the early emigration passed through the valley before its settlement in 1846. The requirements of the emigrant travel were wood, water and grass, and these requirements were met by keeping as near Bear Creek as possible. Hence the location of the present county road, unchanged or over 60 years, except where the improvement of donation land claims pushed it out of its general course and made many unseemly angles.
    The "old mossbacks" have been severely criticized by the late, more progressive, element, so now if they are willing to practice what they preach, let them get out and hustle for modern improvements and straight and good roads. I saw the county judge last evening and he said the contract was not fully signed up as yet and that he would hold the matter in abeyance for a few days if our people wished to act. Now you progressive fellows from the effete East, get a hustle on you and show us old mossbacks what you can do.
Medford Mail Tribune, June 16, 1911, page 4


Special to the Union.
    KLAMATH FALLS (Ore.), July 19.--County Judge William S. Worden as vice-president of the Central Oregon Development league and E. R. Reames as president of the Klamath chamber of commerce have given their moral support to the movement now on foot by the people of .Medford and Jackson County to have Governor West call a special session of the legislature. They have telegraphed their desires in the matter to Secretary Sawhill of the Bend club, whose organization also favors the special session.
    The purpose of the special session is to take up road improvement matters. Among the matters that would come up at such a session is the introduction of a bill authorizing counties to incur indebtedness for permanent road work, after the approval of such a course by a majority of the voters of the county.
Sacramento Daily Union, July 20, 1911, page 7


    Oregonians and Californians to the number of fifty extended greetings across the state boundary line at Coles Station, in the heart of Siskiyou, this afternoon, the occasion being an official visit of the members of the California State Highway Commission on an automobile tour of inspection viewing the route of the proposed state highway.
    On the invitation of the Siskiyou County good roads advocates a party of representative citizens of Ashland and Medford, including the mayors of each city and members of the county court, met a like party of Siskiyou County citizens and the members of the California State Commission. A banquet was spread under the trees on the lawn at the Coles Hotel.
    The Jackson County officials promised the Californians to begin the building of a permanent highway across the Siskiyous from the California line through Rogue River Valley to the county boundary on the north not later than June of next year. This announcement was received with cheers by the Californians.
Del Norte Record, Crescent City, October 28, 1911, page 2


    Jackson County will vote next Tuesday on the issuance of $500,000 of road bonds for the construction of Oregon's first link in the Pacific Highway. Thus Jackson County voters have the opportunity to set the pace in Oregon's race with progress.
    If the bonds are authorized, 48 miles of paved highway will he constructed in the immediate future. This stretch of good road will connect with the California state highway on the south; pass through Medford, Ashland and Central Point, thus adding five miles to the total mileage; cross the Siskiyou Mountains at easy grades, and terminate at the Josephine County line. But this terminus can be only temporary, for once Jackson County sets the example, Josephine and other counties will fall in line. Good roads are built by money, but they are multiplied by good example.
    The Jackson bonds should carry by a large majority. Two years ago that county, by a majority of four to one, voted $1,500,000 in bonds, but the proposed issue was invalidated because there was no enabling act. The legislature removed this handicap, and now Jackson is again to the front. Good roads mean something more than talk in Jackson--they mean actually improved highways, greater prosperity for the farmer, larger growth for the cities and villages, more wealth in the county.
    It is noteworthy that Jackson County has combined sound financing with other progressive ideas. The bonds are to be serials; $100,000 will be paid at the end of 10 years, and the remaining $400,000 will be retired in equal installments at five-year intervals. Thus the bonds will all be paid during the life of the improvement, interest will be saved, and no excessive burden will fall upon taxpayers at the end of 30 years.
    The present highway over the Siskiyou Mountains has a 33 percent grade in places; grades on the new highway will not exceed six percent. The new road will pass [omission?] population, and through each township except two. Jackson County was given 25,000 population by the census enumerators; the new highway will serve 19,000 of the people who live either directly on or close to it.
    In the past much money has been wasted on roads. That day is passing. Jackson County's new highway will be constructed under direction of the state highway engineer. Jackson taxpayers will get value received for the bonds they vote, and the dividends returned by good roads are tremendous. They exceed bank stock dividends.
    It may he that residents living off the new highway will vote against the bonds. If they do they will vote against their own interests. Jackson County has been spending an average of $100,000 a year in taxes on roads, and the greater part of the money has gone on the highway it is now proposed to permanently improve. Remove that money sink and annual taxes can go toward improvement of outlying roads. The money will go there, for one good road will demand other good roads. That has been the experience everywhere.
    Jackson County is to be congratulated on her ambition to become Oregon's southern gateway. The 53 miles of improved highway should be completed before the San Francisco exposition opens. Visitors from all parts of the world should be given visual demonstration that Oregon is a progressive state--and there could be no better demonstration than 53 miles of first-class highway in Jackson County.
Oregon Journal, Portland, September 2, 1913, page 8




  Construction of the Pacific Highway has been officially commenced. The ceremonies of Friday afternoon were epoch marking. They signaled the commencement of the first hard-surfaced link, outside the confines of the cities, of the great Pacific Highway. In fact, they inaugurated work on one of the first, if not the first, hard-surfaced road in the national highway system.
    The group of men who gathered around Samuel Hill when he turned the first shovel full of dirt was a notable one. Mr. Hill, a man of international fame as a road builder, as well as a former railroad head of ability, had journeyed from his home in the state of Washington to take the leading part in the work. With him stood Oswald West, the chief official of this great commonwealth. Major Bowlby, the state highway engineer, who will have charge of the building of the highway, was also present, as was J. S. Howard the father of Medford, the veteran engineer who first demonstrated the possibility of a highway over the Siskiyous which would be both efficient and scenic. Gathered around the historic group were Judge Tou Velle and the members of the country court and other county officials, the mayor and city officials of Ashland and other citizens of Jackson County to the number of about 125. 
    The scene of the ceremonies was just above the junction of the California road with the Green Springs Mountain road to Klamath Falls. The party, which left Ashland about 1:30 in the afternoon, reached there about 2:30 and no time was lost in preliminaries.
    William Colvig, president of the Medford Commercial Club, acted as master of ceremonies, and after a few well-chosen remarks handed to Mr. Hill a shovel, the handle of which was finished in gold and the blade in silver. On the handle was the inscription, "Samuel Hill, Siskiyou Mountain Highway, November 28, 1913," while the blade carried the inscription, "State Highway commission, Oswald West, Governor; Ben W. Olcott, Secretary of State; Thomas B. Kay, State Treasurer; H. L. Bowlby, State Highway Engineer."  "F. L. Tou Velle, County Judge; W. C. Leever, County Commissioner; J. C. Smith, County Commissioner; Keasal & McDowell, Contractors."
    Mr. Hill accepted the shovel and before inserting it in the soil paid high tribute to Jackson County for taking the lead in good road building and informed them that the eyes of the nation were upon Oregon and especially upon the Rogue River Valley. If the people of Jackson County received full value for money expended, then the good work would go on throughout the state and throughout the nation. If they did not, then it would stop. He also highly complimented Governor West and others and paid a eulogistic tribute to the building of good roads, after which he turned a shove of earth toward the construction of the road.
    Following the address of Mr. Hill there were loud calls for Governor West, who responded briefly. Governor West declared also that the success of the good roads movement depended largely upon whether or not the people got one dollar's worth of road for every dollar expended and expressed the opinion that under the "tireless" Judge Tou Velle it would get full measure for its investment. He then alluded to the efforts being made by disgruntled contractors to besmirch the character of Judge Tou Velle and others and stated that he had directed the prosecuting attorney to take the matter up. Governor West declared that he had known for three months that efforts had been made to "get next" the Jackson County court, and that the parties had pursued the same tactics in other places to force officials to buy their wares. He declared no firm need come to the state highway commission and seek business unless their hands were clean, as they would not get it.
    J. S. Howard called the attention of Governor West to the fact that in the past when a melon was cut by the state of Oregon the slice handed to Southern Oregon was so thin that you could read the Lord's prayer through it, and expressed hope that the $250,000 voted for good roads would be more equitably divided. He was assured that it would.
    Bert R. Greer assured the county court of the belief of the citizens of Ashland in their integrity and pledged the support of the community in all good works, after which the party returned to Ashland.
Ashland Tidings, December 1, 1913, page 1


    The writer, with probably a majority of the rest of the citizens of the valley, has often wondered why it was that the highway leading down the valley ever made the detour around over the hill north from the Billings [railroad] crossing instead of continuing in an almost straight line down alongside the higher ground to the sulphur springs as is proposed by the highway engineers. A Tidings representative happened to get to talking with Welborn Beeson of Talent a few days ago on the matter and he gave a very interesting bit of history.
    Welborn Beeson, Sr., the father of the present gentleman of that name and of Emmett Beeson, was a surveyor in Jackson County in the early days. He was engaged as engineer in laying out the old county road and his survey was very nearly that of the present Pacific Highway survey except that it went above the springs near the bank instead of below them, and then nearly followed the present railroad grade into Main Street. The road was laid out on that line, and the construction of the road was stopped by an injunction gotten out by the then owners of the Eagle Mill, which it would have left to one side of the main road.
    Mr. Beeson is strong in his advocacy of the line as proposed by the highway engineers and believes that it should be used if the right of way can be secured at any reasonable price. Mr. Beeson characterizes the Billings crossing as very dangerous. Carl Beeson, his younger brother, was injured there a number of years ago when the wagon he was driving was struck by a train, and there have been many narrow escapes.
Ashland Tidings, December 8, 1913, page 1


Special to the Union.
    YREKA (Siskiyou Co.). Dec. 7.--J. P. Churchill and Solon Williams of the Yreka chamber of commerce have been at the northern section of Siskiyou getting rights of way for the California state highway. They report that the people generally are enthusiastic, and are granting rights of way free of charge to the county. The citizens generally throughout the county are jubilant over the fact that construction will commence immediately on the first unit of the highway, beginning at the Oregon line.
    The contractors on the Jackson County, Oregon, highway have shipped a carload of scrapers and tools to Hilt, and propose to commence work at once in the Siskiyou Mountains.
Sacramento Daily Union, December 8, 1913, page 6


    SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 13.--After spending three months in preaching the good roads doctrine in Southern Oregon and Northern California, Geo. E. Boos, secretary of the Pacific Coast (Tri-States) Good Roads Association, who was elected at Eureka last August, has opened California headquarters at 821-823 Balboa Building. Boos expressed great satisfaction at the number of good, hard-surface roads that are being built throughout his territory.
    "The contract for grading thirteen miles of the Pacific Highway over the Siskiyou Mountains, connecting California and Oregon," he said, "was let for $108,000, to be completed May 1, 1914.
    "The total mileage for the Jackson County highway, fifty-two miles, for which there was voted half a million dollars in bonds, will be completed by December 15, 1914. The grades over the Siskiyou Mountains will be reduced from 30 percent, to not more than 6 percent.
    "The Northern California counties are taking hold well, as are those of Southern Oregon. Shasta County will this month vote $400,000 for roads; Humboldt is considering a million-dollar bond issue; Siskiyou County is right now spending a $50,000 fund for roads and rights of way and will shortly vote a bond issue of a similar sum; Josephine County, Oregon, is petitioning for a $200,000 bond issue; Douglas County is preparing for a bond election, and it is so all along the line.
    "Many districts are building and promoting laterals and links to the main highways. Considering all the various movements, I predict that in 1914 and 1915 more scientific road building will be done on the Pacific Coast than has ever been thought of in the past ten years.
    "I am in San Francisco to boost, for if our association's efforts will be encouraged, I do not see why we should not do even better in Central and Southern California than we have done in the north. We want to strengthen our association with a membership of at least 5,000 by July, 1914." 
Humboldt Times, Eureka, California, December 14, 1913, page 1


    To the Editor: Apropos of the interesting newspaper discussions concerning the location of the Pacific Highway southerly from Ashland, I will venture a word.
    First. I have full confidence in the good judgment and public spirit of our county engineer in locating this great highway with eyes single to the accomplishment of efficiency, directness and the greatest good to the greatest number, keeping steadily in view the welfare of the taxpayers in whose interest this great project is undertaken.
    The small section of road embraced in the discussion involves but about four miles in all; each of the three lines presented being about the same in length, the shortest having less than a quarter of a mile advantage.
    I am leaving out the proposition of Mr. Davis as being wholly impracticable under the circumstances. His proposition is to continue the line of the Ashland Boulevard in its straight course southeasterly to a junction with the old Oregon and California stage road and bring the Pacific Highway over it. This would be more direct but would involve a great expense for right of way through the finest farms in the upper end of the valley, to purchase which would require a large sum of money and the construction of an entirely new road for several miles. The people who own these lands have their homes, etc., down on the line of the "stage road" which is the present route of travel with easy grades and good roadbed which can be readily and at reasonable expense made into the highest efficiency for the new highway.
    Neither do I agree with Mr. Davis' view of the scenic value of the route he proposes. It would be better for that purpose to run through the center of this beautiful "upper valley," with the beautiful farms on both sides and a better view of the Siskiyou Mountains by reason of being farther away from them.
    The first proposition in to leave the "stage road" at the Homes place, where the road is already constructed and is good, and enter the Boulevard at its eastern terminus. This would bring the highway over the whole length of the Boulevard and would be a very attractive route. Two objections to this route are made, and not without force. The first is that from the point where you leave the "stage road" the direction is southwesterly until you reach the Boulevard and then almost northwest into the city with a strong upgrade for the first mile and a quarter, then downgrade the rest of the way; and second, the crossing of the railroad is over the track and on this heavy grade one way up and downgrade the other with a curved track on one side and trees on the other.
    The second route is to leave the "stage road" just below Mr. George Owens' place and turn west along the section line between sections 11 and 14 and sections 10 and 15. This line is perfectly straight and comes into the Boulevard at Ashland Street. This route is already established as a public highway and open for travel a part of the way and cleared for the roadbed the rest of the way. On this route the road will pass under the railroad track--where it crosses a draw--with a very easy grade. This route will meet the Boulevard pavement near the point where it enters the city. It will also pass through the new cemetery, with the city cemetery on one side and the Odd Fellows' beautiful site on the other and about one-fourth of a mile from the Normal School buildings. From the point where the line leaves the old stage road there will be a rise from the creek bottom to the bench lands at a grade of 5 or 6 percent for less than one-fourth of a mile and from that into the city it is almost level; no appreciable difference in it saving only a few draws to be crossed, the heaviest of which are already filled and in use. This is the most direct, most feasible and least expensive of all the routes, besides accommodating more people, being directly accessible for those who travel the Dead Indian Road. This route lies through the center of the valley above Ashland and furnishes the easiest and most even grade, and whatever difference there is in distance will be found to be in favor of this route. A well-balanced poem could be written on the scenic features of this route; balanced because your view is on both sides with sufficient distance from the Siskiyou Mountains to give an impressive view of their grandeur.
    The third proposed route is to follow the old stage road to where it enters Ashland via East Main Street. Here again our crossing of the railroad is over the track. The second route above described enters the city limits at Walker Avenue, almost one-half mile east of the Main Street entrance. This third route continues down the old stage road practically in the creek bottom for about a mile below where the second route leaves it. This mile is low with that character of loam sediment over which good roadbeds are difficult to build, and at the end of this mile it climbs to the plateau above, having more of an elevation to overcome than at the second and with a much heavier grade unless a new right of way is secured and a new roadbed made, which if done will have to be cut through heavy sandstone.
    Doubtless interested readers of this know that the valley grows wider for some distance above this city. If a triangle were laid down so as to cover the territory embraced in and adjacent to that involved in these several routes, it will be seen that the one which I have designated as "second'' will run almost through the middle of it, and follows section lines, therefore a straight line. An examination of the land over which it lies shows it to be the most perfect material for a roadbed and is practically level.
Ashland Tidings, January 1, 1914, page 1

    There were days when the roads of the West were all bad, and under the circumstances nothing else was to be expected, but those days have passed away and the people are now demanding the best in the way of roads. Communities responding to this demand will be repaid a hundredfold in population, progress and prosperity, while those who fail to respond will remain stagnant as heretofore.
    Fortunately the good roads fever is spreading in the state. We owe Jackson County a debt of gratitude for her leadership in the great movement and for her untiring efforts to inoculate every man, woman and child within our borders with the good roads bug.
    At present all eyes are upon Jackson County. If the money she is raising through the sale of her bonds is spent in a businesslike manner and a dollar's worth of high-class road is obtained for every dollar expended it will prove of inestimable value to the good roads movement throughout the state. But if, on the other hand, the money is wasted it will prove a disastrous blow not only to Jackson County, but to the whole state.
    Jackson County is to be congratulated upon having a competent county court to supervise the work, and with the usual Rogue River spirit to back it up, success is bound to crown your efforts.
Gold Hill News, January 10, 1914, page 1


    Work on paving the Central Point-Medford road will begin within the next few days and be completed within sixty days from time of beginning. The pavement will be four inches of reinforced concrete with granitoid surface, sixteen feet in width. The work will be done by the county under direction and supervision of the state highway engineers. The base rock and the sand will be furnished by the Medford Concrete Construction Company. The granite for surfacing will be quarried by the county at Ray Gold.
    State Highway Engineer H. L. Bowlby met with the county court Wednesday and ratified contracts for cement and rock. He states that the reinforcement, which prevents expansion cracks, will cost about 10 cents per yard extra, and that the cost of the road will not exceed $1 per square yard, or about $9000 per mile, as against $1.25 per square yard for two-inch Warrenite.
    "The road will be a permanent one," says Major Bowlby, "and nowhere in Oregon are climatic conditions more favorable for cement construction. The cement highway that we will build will be a fine one, for there will be no cheating on quantities. There will be no contractor's profits. The cost will be minimum, and cement roads will enable all the money to remain in Jackson County, when the Gold Hill cement plant is in operation."
    R. E. Edwards of the firm of Edwards & Lazell spent Tuesday visiting the Gold Hill plant and the various rock quarries, where he passed upon the materials and got samples for testing.
    The county court and highway engineer now plan to pave only eight feet in width over the Siskiyous, with eight feet graded on each side. This will cut down the cost and leave money enough to complete the grade through the county.
    County Judge Tou Velle left Thursday for Chicago, where he meets the bond buyers to settle a few points in dispute, and sign the bonds and get the money. He will be gone ten days.
Gold Hill News, February 14, 1914, page 1


   Medford, Or., Feb. 14.--County Judge Frank L. Tou Velle has gone to Chicago, where he will turn over to the bond buyers the $500,000 road bonds voted last fall by Jackson County for the improvement of the Pacific Highway, from the California border to the Josephine County line. The bonds we purchased by a syndicate composed of Wells & Dickey company of Minneapolis; C. W. McNear & Co., Chicago; Weil, Roth & Co. of Cincinnati, and R. M. Grant & Co., of New York. They paid a premium of $8.90 per $1000. The bonds are the first ever issued in Oregon and have been approved by the New York attorneys of the bond buyers. The money will be turned over to Judge Tou Velle on receipt of the bonds.
   Contract for the grading of a new highway over the Siskiyou Mountains, 13 miles in length, 24 feet in width, with maximum 6 percent grade, and [a] cement viaduct over the railroad, has been let to J. W. Sweeney of Portland, a well-known railroad contractor, at an estimated cost of $120,000. Mr. Sweeney is working a large force of 400 men as soon as weather permits.
   Bids for paving the Central Point-Medford macadamized road, four miles long, 16 feet wide, were rejected as excessive in price, and the county will pave this portion of the highway itself, laying four inches of concrete with two inches granitoid surface. If the work can be done at the estimated figure, it is probable the county will build cement road the entire distance, as it will be much cheaper than figures bid on asphaltic pavement. Paving will begin this week and be completed within 60 days from date of beginning.
   The Pacific Highway in Jackson County will be graded 24 feet wide, paved 16 feet, have a maximum grade of 6 percent, no sharp turns and no railroad crossings. If made of concrete, as seems probable, all materials will be manufactured at home, the cement by the new Portland-Beaver cement plant at Gold Hill, the culverts by the Medford Concrete Construction Company, and the rock from local quarries.
   Engineering and construction are under the supervision of H. L. Bowlby, state highway engineer, and Frank A. Kittredge is resident engineer. He was formerly employed in a similar capacity by the highway engineers of both Washington and California, having charge of the Cloverdale work in the latter state.
Oregon Journal, Portland, February 15, 1914, page B8


    David S. Ricker in the Portland Oregonian writes from Yreka, Cal., in part as follows:
    When Jackson County in Oregon decided to build a good road to the California boundary line, as the story goes here, Siskiyou woke up. They decided to call Jackson's bet. They have done so. Then they passed the buck to Shasta County, south of them, the one broken link and the last county to agree to the state's project. Shasta awoke and at once voted a bond issue.
    On May 1 work will be begun on the first unit of the Siskiyou section from the boundary line to Hornbrook. June 1 work will be started on the second unit
reaching from Hornbrook to Yreka, and after the roadway is completed the Pacific Highway signs will be moved from that disgraceful stretch of mire that leads to Montague and set up alongside the 20-foot-wide, cement-surfaced avenue that will crawl through the splendid canyon of the Siskiyou and meet the hard-surfaced road of Jackson County on the mountaintop a mile north of Cole.
    But the work of the state highway is not all that is starting Yreka's heart to beating again. Noel E. Graves, county road engineer, describes with more than ordinary enthusiasm the great road loop that is being planned by the state highway commission. This loop forms a figure 8, with San Francisco as the center between the two lobes. One lobe will circle south to Los Angeles, sweep through Santa Barbara, and return to San Francisco by way of Fresno and Merced.
    But it is the upper half of the 8 that has started Yreka's pulse. It embraces the California coast highway, which climbs up the coast miles inland, sweeps over the ocean at Eureka, and then follows the Redwood and Klamath rivers east to Yreka and the Pacific Highway which comes up through the center of the state, passes through Sacramento, Weed, Sisson and Dunsmuir, and meets the coast half of the circle at Yreka, thus making this time-felt city the meeting place of California's two great state-length highways. And the plan will be a tremendous boon to lower Oregon, too. It means that all travel over both highways will have to pass over Jackson County's splendid road into Oregon.
    It is indeed fortunate that the state highway commission in its wisdom saw fit to shift the Pacific Highway from its present course and make it pass through this quaint historic town--the seat of the county that has produced more gold than any other county in the world, and which is still producing gold to such an extent that the constant bank deposits in Yreka average $1,000,000,
Gold Hill News, March 14, 1914, page 1


     State Highway Engineer H. L. Bowlby arrived in Medford Monday to spend several days on the Pacific Highway work. He finds 100 men at work an the Siskiyou grade and 50 men on the Central Point section. More men are wanted on both. The county pays a minimum of $2.25 for an eight-hour day on the Central Point paving work.
    The paving gang are now at work on the curve this side of Central Point. This curve is being paved six inches in thickness and is reinforced with steel rods. This is because the fill is recent and has not had time to settle.
    From the curve south the work is expected to go much faster.
Medford Mail Tribune, April 6, 1914, page 2


    Noel E. Graves, Siskiyou County highway engineer, accompanied by Division Engineer T. A. Bedford of the California Highway Commission, left for Southern Oregon last week to look over and study the Jackson County unit of the Oregon state highway. They inspected the grades on the Siskiyous now being constructed, and found this portion of the work being handled in a systematic and skillful manner. The road over the Siskiyous will be 24 feet in width and will be surfaced with concrete for a with of 16 feet, with shoulders of crushed rock or gravel. The maximum grade is six percent and the minimum radius of blind curves is 100 feet, while on open curves it is 200 feet. The average cost of grading this section of the road is about $10,000 per mile.
    They also inspected the concrete-surfaced section of the highway now being laid between Medford and Central Point, accompanied by the engineer in charge, and Mr. Graves states that this work also is of a high-class and very permanent nature, but in his opinion is quite expensive in comparison with the California work of like character.
    The concrete surfacing of 16 feet in width and five inches in thickness is being laid in two courses with a very interesting and efficient equipment of machinery and a force of skilled mechanics under the able management and supervision of Assistant State Engineer Kittridge, who has charge of the entire Jackson County work under Major Bowlby, state engineer of Oregon.
    The concrete surfacing, as above stated, consists of two courses, having a total thickness of five inches The lower course, or base, consists of two parts cement, two and half sand or fines, and five parts coarse crushed rock, while the upper or finishing course consists of two parts cement to two parts sand and fine crushed rock and a small portion of lime. The materials are distributed for a mile or two ahead of the work along the sides of the road by traction engine and dump cars. The mixing and distributing of the concrete on the finished road is done by one machine which is run upon a track. This is followed by a forming and rolling machine, also run on a track, which forms and rolls each course of concrete as it is delivered by the mixer.
    The wearing surface is then troweled by hand by expert workmen, after which it is covered with sand and thoroughly seasoned for several days. About 300 linear feet of surface 16 feet in width is laid per day of eight hours, and the average cost per mile runs from $10,000 to $12,000.
    Mr. Kittridge informed Mr. Graves that the grading of the road to the California line would be completed by November, by which time the California Highway Commission expect to have the California highway completed from the line to Hornbrook.
Medford Mail Tribune, June 13, 1914, page 2

"Jackson County Building its Unit of Pacific Highway in Permanent Form," Oregon Journal, Portland, July 5, 1914, page D3


    Last July the county court of Jackson County authorized a preliminary survey to be made over the Siskiyou Mountains by J. S. Howard. Later the county court, by formal action, requested the State Highway Engineer, H. L. Bowlby, to take complete charge of all work proposed to be done under the bond issue. On September 9th of that year, the people voted in favor of bonding Jackson County for $500,000 by an overwhelming majority. This was the first instance in which an election had been held for a similar purpose under the terms of the new law authorizing the several counties to bond themselves for road work. The proposition, which was submitted by the county court upon popular petition, was carried by a majority of three to one.
    Beginning at the California-Oregon state line, the Pacific Highway follows along the hillside, at an elevation of about 350 feet above the valley and continues is climb on a 6 percent grade for about one mile. Then follows a mile of road with just sufficient grade for good drainage. Near the end of this stretch of road is a spring which runs the year around and will be brought into a concrete trough at the upper edge of the road for use of teams and autos.
    For the next one and one-half miles the road follows the steep hillside on a 6 percent grade. The curves are all easy and the country open, thus making it a safe route in spite of the steep hillside. At the end of this grade is a bench which is nearly the same elevation as the summit at the pass. The road travels along this shelf with light grades and long easy curves for two miles.
    From this point the tourist is able to look southward and see Mt. Shasta and Shasta Valley in California.
    At the left he looks down into the depths of the valley almost at his feet and more than a thousand feet below. Here and there the bottom of the valley is dotted with farm houses surrounded by green fields and trees. The sparsely wooded slope at the valley's floor affords good
pasturage for cattle and sheep, thus adding to the rural aspects. From the tourist point of view this is an ideal stretch of road, for he has the two extremes of scenery in view at once--the grandeur of the rocks and cliffs immediately above and below him, and at his feet, a quarter of a mile below, the peaceful valley and the pastoral scene. Across the valley may be seen the long ribbon of steel of the Southern Pacific railway when the sun is reflected as the road winds in and out around the hills in an effort to get to the floor of the valley with as easy a grade as possible.
    Along this stretch of road is another spring of water so cold that it makes one's teeth hurt and of sufficient quantity to keep a little stream running during the hottest weather. All at once the pass is reached and crossed and one looks down into beautiful Rogue River Valley--over miles of wooded mountains and cliffs, the floor of the valley beyond with Mt. McLoughlin in the distance.
    The highway follows the ridge for a short distance with a view of both of the valleys--one into Oregon and the other in California--visible. Then it drops and runs down along the hillside toward the railway station of Siskiyou at the north entrance of the long S.P. tunnel. Throughout the distance from the summit to the foot of the hill the grade is between a four and a six percent most of the way. There are no curves with a radius shorter than 300 feet and when the whole curve is not in sight the sharpest curves have a radius of 200 feet.
    On the route it will be necessary to cross the railroad twice--once at Dollarhide crossing and again at Steinman. In both of these cases the highway will pass over the railway on concrete bridges. At Steinman a novel, but very necessary piece of construction is seen, where the road not only passes over the railway but turns three-quarters of a circle and passes under itself. This was done to save the expense of making a fill farther down which would have used thousands of yards of material.
    Two miles more of grade and the floor of the valley is reached and the highway winds amid farm scenes which were seen from the summit 3000 feet above. It leads past mineral springs, famous from the earliest days.
    The road passes through Ashland, a beautiful city at the edge of the foothills of the Siskiyou Mountains, well paved and pleasingly situated. At the north city limits the road avoids the new dangerous railroad crossing by passing under the railroad.
    A half mile farther toward Medford the road passes between two hot springs which are steaming hot all winter long. It is expected that a sanatorium will soon be built here, tests showing the water to have wonderful health properties.
    Between Ashland [and] Medford the road passes through the most thickly settled part of Rogue River Valley and when paved with concrete or bituminous material will make travel and freighting very easy and pleasant between cities. The tourist will feel himself in the land of wonders, for he has traveled in only a short time from the rugged mountaintop to the beautiful valley of apple and pear orchards.
    About a mile of pavement in the city of Medford, the metropolis of Southern Oregon, will be utilized. Between Medford and Central Point the road has had all sharp corners rounded off. The pavement laid is concrete with granitoid surface.
    After leaving Central Point the road again approaches the foothills [and] passes through the pass. Over the Blackwell Hills there is a stretch of road from which the river, valley land, and orchard form a wonderful panoramic view.
    Farther on the road crosses Rogue River, passes through Gold Hill and thence on down along the river's edge to the town of Rogue River, thence along Rogue River to the Josephine County line.
    It has been the effort of the engineers to so locate the Pacific Highway so as not only to make the most permanent road with the least money but also to take advantage and show off to the tourist travel of the world much of the diversified and wonderful scenery of Rogue River Valley.
Medford Mail Tribune, July 27, 1914, page 8