America entered twentieth century flexing its muscles, bursting with energy, and ready for most vigorous leader its (or perhaps any country's) history, President Theodore Roosevelt. At same time, at least outside cities and often even within them, it was a land mired mud. For first three decades of this century and even beyond, idea of rapid transportation by automobile throughout United States was hardly less visionary than a similar idea about national transit by monorail or levitated trains would be today.1 But automobiles were developing rapidly. It was road development that was lagging behind. There had been different kinds of hard surfaces, but according to most authorities not until 1909 when Detroit pioneered way by paving a mile of its Woodward Avenue, had there been a serious use of concrete (Making Michigan Move). The first attempt at a trans-- continental route did not come until 1913, well into twentieth century, when construction began on Lincoln Highway (Hokanson). The intention had been to create a route from New York City to San Francisco, but it was not fully realized during era of named highways. When U.S. 30 was designated, new numbered route west of Philadelphia superseded much of old named one, but not until creation of Interstate 80 was there a roadway that completely fulfilled hopes of Lincoln Highway's promoters. In 1919, an enormous military convoy had crossed country-largely on Lincoln Highway-and had taken sixty-two days to cover 3,310 miles. Among group was a young army major, Dwight Eisenhower. Along way, fell through and rebuilt no fewer than one hundred bridges, and roads became progressively worse as they made their way west (Hokanson 83-85). The bridges may have been adequate for automobiles, which were lighter than many of military vehicles, but it was immediately apparent that they needed improvement-which military provided. had long been almost exclusively a local matter, as they were when automobile burst upon scene. A Roads movement had begun to eliminate many barriers to state activity, but progress was slow. It was not until 1905, for example, that Michigan amended its constitution to eliminate a prohibition against its money for internal improvements, and specifically against using it for building roads (Mason 7, 13). The Good movement actually began before automobile, having been encouraged by League of American Wheel men, a popular organization for bicycle tourists that had been founded 1880. Within a decade of its founding it had become the world's largest athletic association (Hornung 256). But it was increasing popularity of automobile that eventually brought dramatic improvement America's roads. Auto had immediately sprung up to accommodate new vehicles, but for some years they accommodated them only best of weather-and even then none too well. Still, it was only a matter of time. The automobile surged into American culture with a force that nothing yet has been able to withstand. By 1920s, there were hundreds of named roads, or trails. Adventuresome motorists who dared to undertake cross-country trips-and at time they had to be adventuresome to do so-could choose from as many as nine transcontinental highways that were in some way deserving of title (Hokanson 95). The American Automobile Association continued to recognize a large number of these as late as 1959 (AAA). The northernmost, most extensive, and one with most varied landscape emerged from vision of a group of civic leaders Duluth, Minnesota. It was Theodore Roosevelt International Highway, which involved both new construction and incorporation of existing roads and auto trails into what both promoters and users described as world's most scenic roadway. …
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Oct 7, 2009
Richard Lee Turits 
Open Access