My recollection of the roads here from a very young age were that:  A.  They were built by the US BPR (Bureau of Public Roads) and B.  The ones done by State DOT are a VAST improvement on the ones in (A).  But it was what the feds had to work with, in the middle of the "colonies"....Last time I was at the State DOT compound near Northway Junction there were still filing cabinets that had BPR logos on them....the workers had no idea who that was.