priating Federal funds for the development of highways. The main issue was how such funds should be administered, and there were three viewpoints: (1) Those who favored total Federal funding and control—a system of national highways built, owned and operated by the Federal Government (which again brought up the constitutional issue); (2) those who favored that the Federal money be turned over to the States or directly to some 3,000 counties in the country to spend as they saw fit (at the time there were still 17 States which had no State agencies with highway responsibilities; and (3) those who favored a cooperative Federal–State relationship, with the States retaining jurisdiction over the highways and having responsibility for carrying out the work under general Federal approval.
The concept of a cooperative Federal–State program was finally adopted in the enactment of the Federal Aid Road Act of 1916.
The Evolution of the Federal-Aid Program
The 4-page Federal Aid Road Act of 1916 was a simple document entitled “An Act To provide that the United States shall aid the States in the construction of rural post roads, and for other purposes.” From this basic concept of building rural post roads, as the Nation has grown and prospered, so too the concept of roadbuilding has grown in terms of responsibilities to the economy, social and cultural needs, protection of the environment and national resources, and even to international relations.
The State highway officials had already joined together in 1914 to form the American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO) to provide mutual cooperation and assistance to the Federal Government on legislative, economic and technical subjects relating to highways. First on the organization’s agenda was to direct the executive committee to draft a bill authorizing Federal participation in the construction of highways. Logan Waller Page, the Director of the Office of Public Roads and Rural Engineering, worked directly with AASHO on the draft, drawing considerably, no doubt, on the experience gained during the construction of the rural post roads a few years before. The cooperative spirit was already evident when the Federal Aid Road Act was signed into law on July 11, 1916.
The Federal Aid Road Act of 1916
The basic philosophies of the Federal–State relationship in the administration of the Federal-aid program were established by the 1916 Act, and they have remained intact to the present time. These included:
- Participation of any State in the program is permissive, not mandatory.
- If a State elects to participate, it must satisfy the requirements and comply with the provisions of the legislation and its implementing rules and regulations.
- The authority and responsibility for initiation of proposed projects, their character, and method of construction is reserved to the States; Federal participation is dependent upon project approval by the Federal authority.
- The State highway department, or its equivalent, with proper legal authority to carry out its functions shall represent the State in its administration of the program in cooperation with the Federal Government (as distinguished from the individual local governmental subdivisions).
- While not specifically stated in the legislation, the absence of any provisions to the contrary made it abundantly clear that the States retain full and absolute ownership of the roads constructed or improved with participation of Federal-aid funds. The States also retain responsibility for their use and operation, with the proviso that they must be free from tolls of all kinds.
This philosophy was to be sustained in the 1973 Federal-Aid Highway Act which restated the intent of Congress as follows:
The authorization of the appropriation of Federal funds or their availability for expenditure under this chapter shall in no way infringe on the sovereign rights of the States to determine which projects shall be federally financed. The provisions of this chapter provide for a federally assisted State program.
The 1916 Act appropriated the following sum for Federal participation in the construction of rural post roads:
| Fiscal Year | Amount |
| 1917 | $ 5 million |
| 1918 | 10 million |
| 1919 | 15 million |
| 1920 | 20 million |
| 1921 | 25 million |
In addition, the Act appropriated $10 million for construction of roads and trails within or partly within national forests for the fiscal years 1917 through 1926 at the rate of $1 million per year. This action established the basic policy for providing for the development of main roads serving federally owned lands, reservations or areas. Regrettably, the Act permitted a wide dispersion of Federal funds, with the result that there was no assurance that a connected system of major roads would ever be achieved.
The Act also established principles upon which following legislation would build. These were:
- Multiyear authorizations
- Leadtime apportionment of funds
- Apportionment by a fixed formula
- Extended availability of funds for expenditure (1 year after the year for which funds were appropriated)
- Definition of type of roads for which funds could be used
- A limitation on funds that could be used by the States for engineering and contingencies
- Permanent responsibility was placed with the States for adequate maintenance of completed projects (the penalty being that the State had 4 months to repair the road or lose all further road project approvals in the State until the road was repaired)
Minnesota State highway 61 along the rocky shoreline of Lake Superior. The view from the highway allows the traveler to experience the beauty of the lake and the Superior National Forest.
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