With the passage of the Elwell Road Law, the state began to help the counties finance road construction by paying 1-half the cost providing the highway built met state specifications. The roads were maintained by the county. Under this law roads numbered 5, 9 and 24 were built. Number 5 began at International Falls and went west to the junction and then south to Northome and the Itasca County line. Number 9 began at the border city and south to the St. Louis County line and number 24 began at the Pelland Junction and west along the Rainy River to the Beltrami County line now Lake of the Woods.
The Babcock Amendment to the constitution provided for a state highway department to be administered by a Commissioner of Highways appointed by the governor, designated certain roads as state highways, stipulated that all state highways be constructed and maintained through the State Highway Department, that all motor vehicles be licensed by the state at a fee set by the legislature and only used for highway purposes. The state legislature passed a law providing for tax on all gasoline sold for use in motor vehicles. The state tax on gasoline will be 17 cents per gallon after January 1, 1984. Of the monies now collected from the motor vehicle license fee and the tax on gasoline, 69% goes to the state, 29% to the counties and 9% to cities having a population of over 5,000.
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