tenance. Similar actions in the central and western States followed, only slowly, however, where towns were farther apart and service to farms generally more important than trunkline roads.
Again, as noted in earlier chapters, pressure developing from farm groups, city “pleasure” vehicle owners and, almost strangely, the League of American Wheelman led the Congress in 1916 to authorize funds for the improvement of rural post roads.
Two outstanding features of the 1916 Federal Aid Road Act were the basis of apportionment of Federal funds and the requirement that the States must have or establish a State highway department adequately equipped to receive and administer the funds. The apportionment formula prevented any “pork barrel” distribution of funds by the Federal agency (but not necessarily at State level). The requirement of a State agency through which funds would be applied to road improvement was with the intent of bringing about the progressive development of a connected system of roads. These provisions were included as a result of the experience of the Office of Road Inquiry and several of the States that had already designated State highway systems. At that time, however, the Congress was not ready to accept as a requirement that all States must have State highway systems.
The importance of the system concept still ranked high in the thinking of the Office of Public Roads, however, and in reaching toward this concept, the Secretary of Agriculture required all States to submit programs of improvements proposed over the 5 years of the original authorization of Federal-aid funds for highways and also to file with the Office of Public Roads a “tentative” system on which the improvements would be made. So to this small degree, planning was already in evidence.
The trucks rolled on, but the scarcity of materials and men for maintenance made it an impossible task for these two men to accomplish much more than to clear the culvert of debris.
Hardly had the program gotten underway when came World War I. To read at this time a recitation of the effect of the war on the highway program is to recall how well these same words could have been used in describing the effect of World War II on the highway program of that period. In a speech before the American Society of Civil Engineers, Mr. MacDonald said:[N 1]
The Federal-aid work had scarcely begun, however, when the world war intervened and practically put a stop to all operations; and the war did a number of other things to the existing improved roads which, however disastrous they may have appeared at the time, have turned out to blessings in disguise. At the outset the construction and maintenance of highways were declared to constitute a non-essential industry. As a consequence new construction, except as required for the immediate service of the army, was greatly curtailed. Maintenance also was greatly hampered by the difficulty of obtaining the necessary materials and the scarcity and high wages of labor. At the same time there was released upon roads generally inadequate to stand it an unprecedented traffic of heavy motor trucks. To this experience and the heavy damage which followed we owe the development of most of the sound principles and policies which now govern the improvement of highways.
- ↑ This quotation and much of the material for the early history of highway planning are drawn primarily from papers of Chief MacDonald and Mr. H. S. Fairbank.
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