Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1900-05-18
COT NTRY HIGHWAYS
GREAT REVIVAL OF ROAD IMPROVE
meNT IN AMERICA.
The spirit of Progress aud Develop
Urnt hich BuiIt the Railroads
Now Turns to Com mon Rosds-soIv-
ing Transportation Problem.

iha Transportation Problem.
The spirit of road building and i'm
l.uyclhcut has not been inactive in
tIiS country during the past century;
Hul. owing To physical difficulties and
iu~uruuuntahle Larriers. II has taken
"a different course from that OF other
nations. Road building we have had
uuw for nearly loo years, and in all
llIs time "a spirit of enterprise and ac
tNily has marked the work and
brought rrnown and credit upon the
builders. The nature of the country
demanded that different system Of
road huldiug from that prevailing In
Eu-laud aud France should be adopt
.d. and the net results of the closing
'rulury'~ lahors are greater hy half
thgn rhu~" obtained in any other cOun-
o., au the globe Not even making al
luNauocS for difference IN age, the
United States stands today as the
lrldm- road building country of the
world. What the European countries
have accomplished in 5UO years we
have brought Ia pass in less than 100.
We have the longest and best roads in
the world. 1t is no discredit TO us AS
nation when il is said IN reply that
they arv only in the form of railroads
and uut ordinary country roads. Fol
What other purpose are roads built
tl... that of easy communication and
uuu-pu -purDation: In country Of tn,
lru-.J and breadth OF the United
States steam roads were the only fea.
Slide ones that an Intelligent people
could huId until the land was bound
together hy rapid means Of communi
cation.
Early In the present century the
question Of building roads Of the or.
binary Kind was agitated. aud the par
Iy which believed in Il liberal construc.
tou ut the constitution favored n stu.
poudouN plan of getting the govern
mvut To- construct great national high
ways. That spirit of road improve
mnut started early in the present cen.
tury, has waved stronger and stronger
UU lo the present time. The need Of
opening the country by means Of long
roads was appreciated by every one
Early IN lNuG the great national high
way was begun. 1t was interrupted
and then abandoned for good cause
Eut after an interval OF more than %
years similar enterprises have been
undertaken in different parts OF the
country. The old system of road build
I'M was simply suspended because all
the private energy and capital were
needed To build railroads.
The railroads when introduced were
found To be great improvements over
the old highways SO far as opening up
th" country was concerned, and private
capital was invested by the millions
Tie net results Of this work are visible
today in the 10000 miles Of railroads
and about 10000 miles of sidingS and
luullc tracks. This is the reason why
American common roads have not ad.
Nlnrrd rs rapidly during the present
century as other physical improve.
mrulS Of the country.
Tile opening of the country by vast
railroad systems, however has about
rrlcIrd Il climax, and ten years ago
the work of constructing new lines
practically ceased except in few un.
settled parts of the country
l'ut with the decline in railroad
building the old spirit Of internal road
Improvement is revived, and the work,
discontinued ~ years ago, may now
hu said to be going on again with re.
h"Wed vtgor. In every part Of the
country new and improved common
roads are being constructed, railroad
lines are being connected with the sur
rounding farms and villages by fine
ma'adamiZcd roads, and bicycle paths
and pleasure boulevarus are springing
up As by magic. The brains, capital
and energy of the country that early
in the present century constructed the
immense lines of railroads are now be.
iug turned into road investments Of n
different nature. The transportation
problem will not be solved until every
habitable part of the country is In
direct communication with every other
part, and this can be accomplished
only by building common roads that
are paSSable at all seasons of the year
Vh" bicycle has been credited with
causing great deal of the modern
road Improvement spirit, but another
potent cause is that railroad building
had about reached its limit when the
macadam highways became popular
and the new area of the transportation
question was beginning. The coming
of the bicycle changed and fastened
upon the trend of public opinion and
focused attention upon the public
roads.
The future of our roads is assured
1t will not be Il great many years be
fore the United States will have some
of the finest and longest macadamZed
roads in the world. The national gov.
crnmcnt and the legislatures of near.
ly every state, pushed on Ivy the ever
increasing army Of road enthusiasts,
are making provisions for extending
and improving the road systems OF the
country. 1t is estimated that we have
already something over 1,3OA0O0 miles
of common roads in the country, a to.
tai mileage greater than that Of any
other single country. but the majority
of these roads are in poor condition
and have sprung into existence with.
out method or system.
Ten years ago the extremely bad
condition of the roads attracted public
attention, and since then improvements
upon them have been going on steadily
State commissions Of pypert road huild.