The Struggle for a Passable Road
A survey of the Humptulips road reveals treacherous conditions, sparking a debate over the best way to connect the county.
The story, cleaned up
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Engineer Burrows has returned from the survey of the Humptulips road, and says the old road is a tough one. For miles the mud is from one to two feet deep; it is impossible now to cart over 1000 pounds of freight with the best of teams. He estimates it will cost $1000 per mile to build a road that will be passable, and recommends planking for most of the distance. At least one of the commissioners thinks favorably of the plan to purchase a portable steam sawmill to saw timbers and planking as they go on this and other necessary roads in the county. With such an outfit, plank roads could be constructed for about $1000 a mile.
“For miles the mud is from one to two feet deep.”
The perennial struggle to maintain infrastructure against the Pacific Northwest's wet climate and heavy timber traffic defined local politics in 1892, much as it does for modern regional transit and road funding.
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