Evening star., 1939-10-12
Little Change Seen
In Roads Except
In and Near Cities
(. W. james Describes
Building Of System
In Forum Address

In Forum Address
Z. w. James, chief of the Division
Of Highway Transport. Public Roads
Administration, spoke on Past and
Future Road Building last night In
the National Radio Forum, arranged
by The Star and broadcast over q
Nationwide network of the National
Broadcasting co. The text Of his
address follows:
The silver anniversary of the Or
ganization of the American Associa-
ton of State Highway Ofiicials is an
opportune time to emphasize to the
public the fact that the Is years just
ended has been period Of pioneer
ing in highway construction. The
National Government and the States
have been pushing a far-fiung sys-
tenn of improved highways into re-
gions where no adequate roads ex-
listed to meet a demand for trans
portation facilities that was con-
stantly increasing and had never
yet been met. It was the greatest
construction program in the worlds
highway history.
The American Association Of
State Highway Ofhcials was organ
lied in 1914, while the post road
law passed two years before was
still running its administrative
course. This post road law was a
kind of trial balloon to indicate
what direction should be taken by
cooperative road building in which
the United States Government
might be interested. Operations
under this law had already demon
strated that cooperation by the Ma
tional Government should depend
on contracts with the States, and
on State funds rather than on
counties or other local political
units. It was made clear that the
selection of roads for improvement
should be somehow circumscribed If
the results were to be cumulative
and of increasing national benefit.
To accomplish this end. interested
States, officials and the Public
Roads Administration studied the
possibilities of direct State and
Government cooperation, and the
first Federal Aid Act of 1916 was
the result.
Pioneer System.
At that time, eleven States had
no adequate State highway depart
ments, but this law and its amend
ments required their organization,
and in time limited the selection
of roads first to be improved to a
system comprising not to exceed
z per cent of the public road
mileage of the country. The select
ed routes were to be cO-ordinated
and continuous at State lines, thus
assuring the gradual completion OF
q national system of improved roads
reaching into all parts of the coun-
try that had been settled during the
period OF pioneer development. This
is our pioneer system OF national
roads. Today, it comprises 227,000
miles and is surfaced throughout
almost its entire extent.
This system has been 20 years in
building. It has many miles OF
road adequate to meet probable
traffic demands for many years. But
during these 20 years, the use Of
motor vehicles has increased enorm-
ously, and by a process of selection,
directed by consideration OF optis
mum service, a system of primary
routes has been developed to ac-
commodate the travelling public and
the TRANSPORTATION of goods. Where
we had seven and one-half million
vehicles travelling approximately
"a billion vehicle-miles, we now have
80 million vehicles travelling approx
imately 260 billion vehicle-miles.
Consequently, there are many
miles of improved road in the
densely populated areas of the
Eastern States and Of the North Cen
tral and Pacific Coast States which
are no longer of sufficient capacity
or of adequate design to meet the
demands of current traffic or to
provide for the possibilities Of the
Immediate future. These made
quacies of design will have to be
corrected.
Many persons have the mistaken
idea that these requirements mean
the future building of a vast mile
age of wide, boulevard like roads all
over the country,
AS a matter of fact, in IL repre-
sentative States there are only f.
TOO miles of rural road requiring
more than two travel lanes to &C
commodate the present traffic This
Is only about six-tenths of l per
cent of the total road mileage. AL
ready there are approximately 1900
miles Of such road. For the entire
United States system of about
$4,000 miles Of inter-regional road
appears to meet every requirement
that can be foreseen at the present
time, and will comprise substantially
all the highways which by location,
convenience and economy in serv-
ice represent the naturally selected
routes for inter-regional or long
distance travel. This system would
represent less than l per cent of
the total rural highway mileage Of
the country, and would serve prob
ably 12.5 per cent of the total travel
on rural highways. OF this rural
system, about 7,700 miles would be
designed for more than two lanes
and in addition there would be ap-
proximately $500 miles of urban
streets that would receive similar
treatment.
Conservative Undertaking.
The inter-regional system of high
ways is conservative and reason
able undertaking, and based as it
Is on the first and only Nation
wide study of highway conditions
might well constitute major part
of the national highway program
during the next quarter century.
But this undertaking would by no