When our nation was created, the question of highways at once became very important.  The states needed to be bound together, and the public lands must be settled.  The Constitution gave Congress the power “to establish post offices and post roads,” and “to regulate commerce ... among the several states”; but it was not clear how far these powers could be exercised for “internal improvements.”  Roads and canals were proposed in great numbers.  In 1806 Congress authorized the building of the Cumberland Road, which began at Cumberland, Md., and was finally completed as far west as Illinois.  Road building was, however, left chiefly to the states and to private enterprise.  The Cumberland Road finally passed under the control of the states through which it ran, and by them was given into the management of the counties.  Many “turnpikes” were built by private companies, which charged tolls for their use.

POOR ROADS IN THE UNITED STATES

The building of many canals and, later, the coming of railroads caused interest in public highways to decline, and their building was left almost wholly to local initiative, where it remained until very recently.  The result is that the United States has had the poorest roads in the civilized world.  Under local management the cost of public roads fell chiefly upon the farmers, cities escaping taxation for this purpose, except for their own streets.  A road running across a state might be well kept in some localities while allowed to run down in others.  A community was reluctant to spend money on a highway only to have the improvements destroyed by through traffic from neighboring communities who had no responsibility for maintaining the road.  Local communities could not afford to employ expert officials to plan and supervise road construction.

STATE CONTROL OF HIGHWAYS

Under these conditions the road situation became so bad that public sentiment was gradually aroused on the subject, and it was seen that a road was of more than merely local importance.  State control was agitated.  New Jersey was the first state to pass a law placing the highways within the state under state regulation.  This was in 1891.  Other states followed New Jersey’s example, until by 1914 forty-two states had state highway departments.  These differ greatly from one another in organization, powers, and efficiency.  Unfortunately, “political influence” has entered into road building and management in many states in such a way as to interfere with efficiency;—­that is, those in charge of roads have often been chosen for political reasons rather than for their fitness for the work, and large sums of money have been spent unwisely, if not dishonestly in some cases.

RECENT PROGRESS UNDER STATE CONTROL