Letter to Thomas H. MacDonald regarding toll roads

THE NEW HAMPSHIRE SUNDAY NEWS 48 Hanover Street Manchester April 8, 1947

Federal Bureau of Roads

Washington, D. C. Dear Sirs: I am managing editor of The New Hampshire Sunday News in Manchester, New Hampshire. I am seeking information relative to toll roads. As you may or may not know, the State is considering a bill for a toll road across the seacoast area connecting with the Maine toll road running between Kittery and Portland. You probably have seen the article in last week's Saturday Evening Post which asserts that the nation can get adequate roads only through a system of toll roads or through some assessment on road users. I wonder if you have any material which would help us to arrive at a correct judgment in this matter, and also if you could have somebody in your Bureau answer, on or off the record, some of the principal assertions in the Post article. Anything that you could furnish us that would clarify the record of these toll roads would be of great use to us in this matter. I don't know whether you would be willing to comment on this or not, but you might give us some indication as to whether I am on the right track or not. This comparatively recent push behind toll roads has seemed to me to indicate some strong organized pressure possibly from powerful financial interests who underwrite the financing of the bonds. Is there any foundation for my assumption that this is a factor in the picture?