A highway should be built from Wilmette along the western shore of Lake Michigan to Milwaukee; and even where this road runs through intermediate towns it should be located as close as possible to the edge of the water. Such a highway should be kept somewhat back of the sand beaches and a little above them, a retaining wall being built to separate the road from the beach. The planting should be of trees and evergreens hardy enough to stand the exposure. A few miles north of Waukegan is a sand waste on which grows a dwarf juniper, the effect of which on the sand banks is that of moss of dark rich color. This could be used effectively along the shore. A similar treatment might be adopted for the edge of the water much of the way around Lake Michigan. It needs no argument to show that direct highways leading from the outlying towns to Chicago as the center are a necessity for both; and it is also apparent that suburban towns should be connected with one another in the best manner. Isolated communities lack those social and commercial advantages which arise from easy communication one with another. A diagram has therefore been drawn for the use of the public bodies in their study of the relations of a particular town with other towns, and to suggest the locations and routes that may be followed. This diagram is not put forward as a complete study of the roads, but as a general scheme, the large details of which can be relied on and safely followed. The solid black lines are routes already open and in use as public highways; the dotted lines indicate proposed connection links not yet in existence. It is believed that the building of these roads will not be difficult or unduly expensive for any given township, as very little land will have to be acquired. The existing highways will suffice for the present, and the burden of the improvement will fall lightly on each township.[17] Pending the creation of a metropolitan commission for the treatment of the entire area, the public authorities or the improvement associations of each town should confer with their neighbors and agree on the routes of connecting highways; also upon the width and arrangement of roadways, sidewalks, planting-spaces and drainage, and the varieties of trees and shrubs to be used for shade and ornament.