That is the right spirit.  The memory of a very fine road or street is often marred by a few yards of atrocious paving; for instance, Indianapolis boulevard, Chicago's notorious and abominable entrance from the southwest.¹

 There appears to be some reason to believe the state highway commission will complete the Dunes Highway from the East Gary road² terminus to the western end of Aetna, which would bring it to a connection with the broad part of the East Fifth avenue road.

 However, from Aetna to the junction of Sixth avenue, Fifth avenue is a Gary street and must be improved by the city, township or county.³  The present paving is a succession of waves and holes and requires rather extensive repairs.⁴

 In time the street should be repaved or resurfaced but repairs ought to be made this summer so that the Gary end of this famous highway will not mar the pleasure of a fine ride when the new road is opened.

---

¹southeast
²The East Gary Road today is Hobart Road.  Building the viaduct over this road was one of the big hold-ups to finishing the Dunes Highway, as you'll read later.  The terminus is where it becomes Miller Avenue (at the old Miller town hall.)
³How different things were back in those days.
⁴How similar things were back in those days.

 The General Construction company, which has the contract for the Gary-Baileytown section, began pouring concrete Monday and will proceed without interruption.  The big tractor grader employed in making the roadway has crossed the county line into Porter county and is eating its way through the swamps and sand hills at the rate of 200 or 300 feet every 24 hours.

 The smaller grader is at work just east of Miller in grading the connection with the Miller and East Gary road, a distance of about 1450 feet.  As soon as that portion of the work is completed the grader will be removed to Baileytown and will work this way to meet the 40-ton grader at work on the Gary end of the right of way.

 The construction company began laying concrete at a point two miles east of the Miller end of the highway and is working this way.  When it makes connection with the Miller and East Gary road the concrete gang will go back and work east toward Baileytown.

 The Chicago Heights Coal company, which holds the contract for the Baileytown and Michigan City section, has laid nearly six miles of concrete this side of Michigan City and has about five miles still to lay before reaching Baileytown where the two contractors will meet.

 The paved roadway will be 20 feet wide and the reinforced concrete pavement will be eight inches thick in the center and seven inches thick at the edges of the road with a 10 foot berm, or parkway, on each side.

 The above statement was made by Major Mark L. Ireland of the quartermaster corps of the United States army who is here making an inspection of Dunes Highway and Lincoln Highway, both of which roads are regarded as of especial importance to the government in emergency cases.

 Major Ireland, with two other officers of the quartermaster general's department, has been detailed in research work on road building in the United States and has been engaged in that work for several months.  Major Ireland was sent here particularly to inspect the site for the proposed "Ideal Section" of Lincoln Highway and make a study of the plans for its construction.

 In company with A. S. Hess, chairman of the Good Roads and Automobile bureau of the Gary Commercial club, Major Ireland Tuesday afternoon made a tour of Dunes Highway east of the city and was then driven out to the site of the "Ideal Section" of Lincoln Highway in the western part of the county.

 Major Ireland was deeply interested in the plans of Dunes Highway, a copy of which was shown him at the Gary Commercial club where the army officer took luncheon with Postmaster Hess before starting on the tour of inspection.  He expressed the opinion after looking at the plans and listening to the explanation of how the swamp work is being done, that the roadway will bear the traffic for which it is intended and that it is a remarkable example of modern road-building.

 Before he was detailed on his present service, Major Ireland was attached to the research department of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which is engaged in a scientific study of modern highway construction and is co-operating with the government in that research.

 Each of the three army officials detailed by the quartermaster general in highway investigation is accompanied by two civilian engineers, making nine men engaged in the business in different parts of the country.

 After the principal highways of the country shall have been inspected the officers will make a detailed report which the war department will use in making a map of American highways that can be used in cases of emergency.

 Major Ireland said he had been reading with deep interest the newspaper and magazine articles on the construction of the famous Dunes Highway between Gary and Michigan City and expressed his pleasure at being able to make a personal inspection of the road that for several miles passes through swamps which several years ago would have defied the efforts of engineers to build a passable road through them.

 There are already two big tractor graders in operation, but a third one will be needed in order to complete the contract by December 1, Mr. Sensibar said.

 The concrete force laid 321 linear feet of concrete pavement Tuesday and will soon be laying between 400 and 500 feet per day, Mr. Sensibar said.

 Grading on the Miller end of the highway will be completed in about 10 days.  The contract calls for the completion of the entire work by December 1 and the work is being done day and night.

 An order to remove all advertising signs, bulletins and posters, from state highways was issued by the state highway commission about a year ago, to take effect July 1.  The commission desired, it was said, that no injustice should be done any one by an order for immediate removal.

 Signs giving distance or direction to free camp sites, parks, cities, or natural features are not to be removed, Mr. Hinkle said, unless they bear the name of some individual, corporation, society or association claiming credit for erecting them.

 The removal order includes paper and metal signs nailed to trees, telephone poles or fences, within the right-of-way of state highways.  Costly signs were not removed by the highway department, Mr. Hinkle said, until after August 10 and until further opportunity had been given the owners to remove them.  After the signs were removed, they were left along the roadside for another week to give owners a chance to collect them.

 The order of the commission now will be enforced to the letter, without further lenity, Mr. Hinkle said.

 Highway department crews also are at work mowing weeds along state highways, Mr. Hinkle said.  The aim of the maintenance division, he said, is to provide for the utmost safety to the motoring public by giving unobstructed views along state highways.  Motoring often has been hazardous because of obstructions of view at curves and road intersections, due to advertising signs and rank growth of weeds.

 The Chicago Heights Coal company which has the contract for the Baileytown-Michigan City section of the new highway was forced to lay off its concrete laying force Friday on accounty of lack of sand and gravel, while the General Construction company, which is building the Gary end of the highway has also suspended concrete work partly on account of the scarcity of sand and gravel and partly to allow the grading force to get ahead with its roadway construction.

 Scores of carloads of sand and gravel are said to be on the sidings at Joliet and other points on the E. J. & E. railroad where the rail strikers will not permit them to be moved.

 Concrete laying on the Dunes highway probably will remain at a standstill until the railroad strike on the E. J. & E. can be settled.

e-mail	Dunes Hwy. press	Dunes Hwy.	H.S.O.D.	roads	old newspaper articles on-line

Return to top of page.

This page is at https://members.tripod.com/~Ogden_Dunes/duneshwy/dh8.html.

Posted 13th August, 1999. Reposted 13th April, 2004, after being knocked off-line four years ago.