Page continued his predecessors’ policy of furnishing speakers for the annual conventions of the larger good roads associations, but he also saw a need for a larger, permanent umbrella-type organization to encompass the entire Good Roads Movement. In 1910 at Page’s invitation, the officials of some 30 State and interstate organizations, including highway departments, railroads, good roads associations, and others, met in Washington and formed the American Association for Highway Improvement, electing Page as its first president, along with a prestigious board of directors.
This Association sponsored the First American Road Congress at Richmond, Virginia, in 1911 which passed strong resolutions recommending:[1]
- That Congress extend financial aid to the States to encourage them to build and maintain good roads.
- That no appropriation for road construction should ever be made without proper provision for maintenance afterward.
- That all States provide for State supervision of main highways through a State highway department, and that liberal financial assistance be given through State aid in the building and maintenance of such roads.
- That the work of construction and maintenance of all public highways of any locality or State should be under the direction of experienced highway engineers.
- That all the States enact laws providing for the employment of prison labor for the improvement of public highways.
- That, for safety of the public, all vehicles be required to display a lighted lamp at night, visible at least 200 feet ahead, and a red light visible from the rear.
- That the use of the muffler cut-out and the unnecessary use of horns and bells be forbidden in thickly settled sections.
- That slow-moving traffic be required to drive to the right so that faster vehicles may pass.
- That uniform speed regulations be adopted by all States, and the local authorities in cities, villages, and towns be prohibited from fixing local speed regulations.
- That officials responsible for bridges be required to inspect them periodically and post safe weight limits.
- That all roads be systematically placarded by sign boards giving directions and distances to towns and cities.
A plank bridge in South Carolina a half mile long and too narrow for two teams of horses to pass.
These resolutions were a complete and unambiguous statement of the principles that were to guide the American highway movement for the next 5 years.
In 1912 the Association shortened its name to American Highway Association and joined with the American Automobile Association to sponsor the Second
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- ↑ American Association for Highway Improvement, Papers, Addresses, and Resolutions Before the American Road Congress (Richmond, Va., Nov. 1911) (Waverly Press, Baltimore, 1912) pp. 187–190.
