Roads and Road Construction in the United States

The Federal Government has no official relations with city, county, and local officials.

Administration of State Highways.

Control over the State roads is vested in the State highway departments. The highway department determines the order in which the roads of the State system are to be improved, prepares the plans for the improvement, supervises the construction, and pays for it with State funds entirely under its own control, and, after completion, maintains the roads also with State funds under its own control. The Federal-aid system coincides with the more extensive State systems and, therefore, a considerable portion of State highway improvement is done with Federal aid.

In 14 States the State highway department has full control over the construction and maintenance of all or most of the local roads. Until about 1930 the work of State highway departments ex tended only to city limits. There has been a strong trend toward State improvement of extensions of main routes into and through cities and in 1938 every State highway department made ex penditures on such sections of highway.

The Development of State Highway Departments.—In 1891 New Jersey passed a law providing for a certain measure of State participation in road building. With one exception, it was the first instance in which any State had undertaken to partici pate directly in the construction of roads. The exception is Ken tucky, which had a State highway department and a well defined State road policy from 1821 to 1837, and had completed some miles of roads.

Following New Jersey's example, laws providing for establish ment of State highway departments and for granting of State aid were passed in Massachusetts in 1892, in California and Connec ticut in 1895, and in Maryland, New York and Vermont in 1898.

Between 1900 and 1915, 38 other States had established high way departments and empowered them with some degree of au thority. Several of these previously established departments were materially strengthened and similar agencies were created in the three remaining States when, in 1916, the Federal-aid road act required the establishment of adequate State agencies as a condi tion of the granting of Federal aid. The establishment of adequate State highway departments by the 48 States was the most impor tant immediate effect of the Federal-aid law. The first adminis trative act of the Bureau of Public Roads under the Federal-aid law was to request all States to submit a five-year programme map showing the system of roads upon which the State highway departments would request Federal aid. The rapid and consistent

improvement of the main highways of the United States is due to concentration of authority in the State highway departments, to the engineering control thus established and especially to the correlating influence of the Federal Government. The several State systems were substantially welded into a national network by the designation in 1921 of the Federal-aid highway system.

The purpose of the New Jersey law was to establish a State department, employing skilled engineers, which would act in an advisory capacity to county officials, for improvement of road construction. The highway department developed plans and speci fications, inspected and supervised the construction, but contracts were let by the counties and the roads were to remain county roads subject to maintenance by the county. As an inducement for counties to seek State aid, funds were appropriated by the State legislature to pay one-third the cost of road construction.

With minor modifications, the New Jersey principle of State aid was subsequently adopted by many other States. In some States joint participation of the State and county in construction of the most important roads was made mandatory. Other varia tions differentiated the systems as adopted by the several States.

Organization of State Highway Departments.

In most of the States, the highway departments are called State highway commissions, consisting of three to five members, appointed by the Governor, with the consent of the Senate in some States, for a period of from two to six years. In the majority of States, the executive officer of the commission is the State highway engineer, appointed by the commission. In some States the Governor serves as chairman of the commission. In some, the highwiy departments are bureaus or divisions of highways which are part of the De partment of Public Works. The executive officer may have the title of State Highway Engineer, Director of Highways or Com missioner of Highways. In other States the chief executive of the highway department is a State highway commissioner, appointed by the Governor, except in one State—Michigan—where he is elected by popular vote.