Editing Road transport (section)

==History==
{{main|History of road transport}}

===Early roads===
[[Image:Metopa Columna lui Traian Constructie drum.jpg|thumb|right|Road construction, depicted on [[Trajan's Column]].]]
The first methods of road transport were [[horse]]s, [[ox]]en or even humans carrying goods over [[Soil|dirt tracks]] that often followed [[Game (food)|game]] [[trail]]. The [[Persian Empire|Persians]] later built a network of [[Royal Road]]s across their empire.

With the advent of the [[Roman Empire]], there was a need for armies to be able to travel quickly from one region to another, and the roads that existed were often muddy, which greatly delayed the movement of [[Roman army|large masses of troops]]. To resolve this issue, the Romans built solid and lasting roads. The [[Roman road]]s used deep roadbeds of crushed stone as an underlying layer to ensure that they kept dry, as the water would flow out from the crushed stone, instead of becoming mud in clay soils. The Islamic [[Caliphate]] later built [[Tarmacadam|tar-paved]] roads in [[Baghdad]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.americanautomove.com/information/road-transportation-a-history-and-how-we-use-it-today/|title=Road Transportation – A History and How We Use it Today|date=30 August 2012|publisher=American Auto Move|access-date=12 September 2012|archive-date=9 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130909103136/http://www.americanautomove.com/information/road-transportation-a-history-and-how-we-use-it-today/|url-status=live}}</ref>

===New road networks===

As states developed and became richer, especially with the [[Renaissance]], new roads and bridges began to be built, often based on Roman designs. Although there were attempts to rediscover Roman methods, there was little useful innovation in road building before the 18th century.

[[File:Highgate wide.jpg|thumb|The [[Great North Road (Great Britain)|Great North Road]] near High gate on the approach to London before [[turnpiking]].  The highway was deeply rutted and spread onto adjoining land.]]

Starting in the early 18th century, the [[British Parliament]] began to pass a series of [[Act of Parliament|acts]] that gave the local justices powers to erect toll-gates on the roads, in exchange for professional upkeep.<ref name=webb157 >Webb. English Local Government. pp. 157-159</ref><ref>Statute [[15 Cha. 2]]. c. 1.</ref> The toll-gate erected at Wade's Mill became the first effective toll-gate in England. The first scheme that had trustees who were not justices was established through a turnpike act{{which|date=January 2024}} in 1707, for a section of the London-[[Chester, England|Chester]] road between Foothill and [[Stony Stafford]]. The basic principle was that the trustees would manage resources from the several parishes through which the highway passed, augment this with tolls from users from outside the parishes and apply the whole to the maintenance of the main highway. This became the pattern for the turnpiking of a growing number of highways, sought by those who wished to improve flow of commerce through their part of a county.<ref name=webb157 />

In 18th century [[West Africa]], road transport throughout the [[Ashanti Empire]] was maintained via a [[Roads of the Ashanti Empire|network of well-kept roads]] that connected the Ashanti capital with territories within its jurisdiction and influence.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7_qNAgAAQBAJ&dq=Asante+great+roads&pg=PA73|last1=Thornton|first1=John Kelly|author-link=John Thornton (historian)|year=1999|title=Warfare in Atlantic Africa, 1500-1800|page=73|publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=9781135365844|access-date=2023-02-22|archive-date=2023-04-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230411081922/https://books.google.com/books?id=7_qNAgAAQBAJ&dq=Asante+great+roads&pg=PA73|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Eisenstadt|first1=Shmuel Noah.|author-link1=Shmuel Eisenstadt|last2=Abitbol|first2=Michael|last3=Chazan|first3=Naomi| author-link3= Naomi Chazan| title= The Early State in African Perspective: Culture, Power, and Division of Labor|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=ec8J7IJ6lIsC&dq=Asante+Empire+eight+roads&pg=PA86|year=1988|publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]]|pages=86|isbn= 9004083553}}</ref> After significant road construction undertaken by the kingdom of [[Dahomey]], [[toll road]]s were established with the function of collecting yearly taxes based on the goods carried by the people of Dahomey and their occupation.<ref name="Herskovits (Vol. I)">{{cite book|last=Herskovits|first=Melville J.|title=Dahomey: An Ancient West African Kingdom|year=1967|publisher=Northwestern University Press|location=Evanston, IL|edition=Volume I}}</ref> The Royal Road was built in the late 18th century by King [[Kpengla]] which stretched from [[Abomey]] through [[Cana, Benin|Cana]] up to [[Ouidah]].<ref>{{cite journal | last=Alpern|first= Stanley B. | title=Dahomey's Royal Road | journal=History in Africa| volume=26 | pages=11–24| year=1999 | jstor=3172135| doi=10.2307/3172135 |s2cid= 161238713 }}</ref>

The quality of early turnpike roads was varied.<ref>''Parliamentary Papers'', 1840, Vol 256 xxvii.</ref> Although turnpiking did result in some improvement to each highway, the technologies used to deal with geological features, drainage, and the effects of weather were all in their infancy. [[Road construction]] improved slowly, initially through the efforts of individual surveyors such as [[John Metcalf (civil engineer)|John Metcalf]] in [[Yorkshire]] in the 1760s.<ref>[http://www.schoolshistory.org.uk/IndustrialRevolution/transport/roads.htm The Turnpike Trust] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140525232850/http://www.schoolshistory.org.uk/IndustrialRevolution/transport/roads.htm |date=2014-05-25 }} Schools History.org, Accessed July 2011</ref> British turnpike builders began to realize the importance of selecting clean stones for surfacing while excluding vegetable material and clay, resulting in more durable roads.{{sfn|Lay|1992|p=72}}<ref>{{cite web|last=Oxford|first=Robert|title=How old is that route?|publisher=[[Institution of Civil Engineers]]|date=3 September 2003|url=http://www.ice.org.uk/downloads//BS-History_of_Routes.pdf|access-date=2007-01-19|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927213746/http://www.ice.org.uk/downloads//BS-History_of_Routes.pdf|archive-date=27 September 2007}}</ref>

===Industrial civil engineering===
[[File:ThomasTelford.jpg|thumb|right|[[Thomas Telford]], the "Colossus of the Roads" in early 19th century Britain.]] 
By the late 18th and early 19th centuries, new methods of highway construction had been pioneered by the work of three British engineers, [[John Metcalf (civil engineer)|John Metcalf]], [[Thomas Telford]] and [[John Loudon McAdam]], and by the French road engineer [[Pierre-Marie-Jérôme Trésaguet]].

The first professional road builder to emerge during the [[Industrial Revolution]] was [[John Metcalf (civil engineer)|John Metcalf]], who constructed about {{convert|180|mi|km}} of [[turnpike trust|turnpike road]], mainly in the north of England, from 1765. He believed a good road should have good foundations, be well drained and have a smooth [[convex geometry|convex]] surface to allow [[Rain|rainwater]] to drain quickly into ditches at the side. He understood the importance of good drainage, knowing it was rain that caused most problems on the roads.

[[Pierre-Marie-Jérôme Trésaguet]] established the first [[scientific method|scientific approach]] to [[road building]] in France at the same time. He wrote a memorandum on his method in 1775, which became general practice in France. It involved a layer of large rocks, covered by a layer of smaller gravel.  The lower layer improved on Roman practice in that it was based on the understanding that the purpose of this layer (the sub-base or [[base course]]) is to transfer the weight of the road and its traffic to the ground, while protecting the ground from deformation by spreading the weight evenly. Therefore, the sub-base did not have to be a self-supporting structure. The upper running surface provided a smooth surface for vehicles while protecting the large stones of the sub-base.

The surveyor and engineer [[Thomas Telford]] also made substantial advances in the engineering of new roads and the construction of bridges. His method of road building involved the digging of a large trench in which a foundation of heavy rock was set. He also designed his roads so that they sloped downwards from the centre, allowing drainage to take place, a major improvement on the work of Trésaguet. The surface of his roads consisted of broken stone. He also improved on methods for the building of roads by improving the selection of stone based on thickness, taking into account traffic, alignment and slopes. During his later years, Telford was responsible for rebuilding sections of the [[Watling Street|London to Holyhead road]], a task completed by his assistant of ten years, [[John Benjamin Macneill|John MacNeill]].<ref>{{cite web|first=Mary|last=Bellis|title=Thomas Telford|work=About: inventors|publisher=About, Inc, [[New York Times]]|year=2007|url=http://inventors.about.com/od/tstartinventors/a/Thomas_Telford.htm|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120630042714/http://inventors.about.com/od/tstartinventors/a/Thomas_Telford.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 30, 2012|access-date=2007-01-19}}</ref>

[[Image:Rakeman – First American Macadam Road.jpg|thumb|Construction of the first macadamized road in the United States (1823). In the foreground, workers are breaking stones "so as not to exceed 6 ounces in weight or to pass a two-inch ring".<ref name=rakemanPainting>[https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/rakeman/1823.htm "1823 - First American Macadam Road"]  ''(Painting - [[Carl Rakeman]])'' US Department of Transportation - Federal Highway Administration (Accessed 2008-10-10)</ref>]]
It was another Scottish engineer, [[John Loudon McAdam]], who designed the first modern roads. He developed an inexpensive paving material of soil and stone aggregate (known as [[macadam]]). His road building method was simpler than Telford's, yet more effective at protecting roadways: he discovered that massive foundations of rock upon rock were unnecessary, and asserted that native soil alone would support the road and traffic upon it, as long as it was covered by a road crust that would protect the soil underneath from water and wear.<ref name=ColossusofRoads>{{citation|author=Craig, David|title=The Colossus of Roads|work=Palimpsest|publisher=Strum.co.uk|url=http://www.strum.co.uk/palimps/macadam.htm|access-date=18 June 2010|archive-date=14 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201114110349/http://www.strum.co.uk/palimps/macadam.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

Also unlike Telford and other road builders, McAdam laid his roads as level as possible. His {{convert|30|ft|m|0|adj=mid|-wide}} road required only a rise of three inches from the edges to the center. Cambering and elevation of the road above the water table enabled rainwater to run off into ditches on either side.<ref name=McAdam1824p38>McAdam (1824), p.38</ref> Size of stones was central to the McAdam's road building theory. The lower {{convert|200|mm|in|0|adj=on}} road thickness was restricted to stones no larger than {{convert|75|mm|in}}. The upper {{convert|50|mm|in|0|adj=on}} layer of stones was limited to {{convert|20|mm|in|0}} size and stones were checked by supervisors who carried scales. A workman could check the stone size himself by seeing if the stone would fit into his mouth. The importance of the 20&nbsp;mm stone size was that the stones needed to be much smaller than the 100&nbsp;mm width of the iron [[carriage]] [[tyres]] that traveled on the road. Macadam roads were being built widely in the United States and Australia in the 1820s and in Europe in the 1830s and 1840s.{{sfn|Lay|1992|p=83}}

===20th century===
[[File:All of early 20th century transport is here… (12202409055).jpg|thumb|Modes of road transport in Dublin, 1929]]

Macadam roads were adequate for use by horses and carriages or coaches, but they were very dusty and subject to erosion with heavy rain. The [[Good Roads Movement]] occurred in the United States between the late 1870s and the 1920s. Advocates for improved roads led by bicyclists turned local agitation into a national political movement.

Outside cities, roads were dirt or gravel; mud in the winter and dust in the summer. Early organizers cited Europe where [[road construction]] and maintenance was supported by national and local governments. In its early years, the main goal of the movement was education for road building in [[Rural America|rural areas]] between cities and to help rural populations gain the social and economic benefits enjoyed by cities where citizens benefited from railroads, trolleys and paved streets. Even more than traditional vehicles, the newly invented bicycles could benefit from good country roads. Later on, they did not hold up to higher-speed motor vehicle use. Methods to stabilise [[Macadam|macadam roads]] with tar date back to at least 1834 when John Henry Cassell, operating from ''Cassell's Patent Lava Stone Works'' in [[Millwall]], patented "Pitch Macadam".<ref>[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=46514 From: 'Northern Millwall: Tooke Town', Survey of London: volumes 43 and 44: Poplar, Blackwall and Isle of Dogs (1994), pp. 423-433] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116132610/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=46514 |date=2014-01-16 }} Date accessed: 24 May 2009</ref>
This method involved spreading tar on the [[subgrade]], placing a typical macadam layer, and finally sealing the macadam with a mixture of tar and sand. Tar-grouted macadam was in use well before 1900 and involved scarifying the surface of an existing macadam pavement, spreading tar, and re-compacting. Although the use of tar in road construction was known in the 19th century, it was little used and was not introduced on a large scale until the motorcar arrived on the scene in the early 20th century.

Modern tarmac was patented by British civil engineer [[Edgar Purnell Hooley]], who noticed that spilled tar on the roadway kept the dust down and created a smooth surface.<ref name=Morton2002>{{citation |year=2002 |author=Ralph Morton|title=Construction UK: Introduction to the Industry| place=Oxford |publisher=Blackwell Science|page=51 |isbn=0-632-05852-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cW4CRawd1TgC&q=%22Edgar+Hooley%22&pg=PA51|access-date=22 June 2010}}. (Details of this story vary a bit, but the essence of is the same, as are the basic facts).</ref> He took out a patent in 1901 for tarmac.<ref name=Harrison2004>{{citation |year=2004 |author=Harrison, Ian |title=The Book of Inventions |place=Washington, DC |publisher=[[National Geographic Society]] |page=277 |isbn=978-0-7922-8296-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n4NGAAAAYAAJ&q=%22Tarmac+1902+Edgar+Purnell+Hooley+(England)+Patent+no:+GB+7796/1902+%26+US%22 |access-date=23 June 2010 |archive-date=9 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210909185050/https://books.google.com/books?id=n4NGAAAAYAAJ&q=%22Tarmac+1902+Edgar+Purnell+Hooley+(England)+Patent+no:+GB+7796/1902+%26+US%22 |url-status=live }}</ref> Hooley's 1901 patent involved mechanically mixing tar and aggregate prior to lay-down and then compacting the mixture with a [[steamroller]]. The tar was modified by adding small amounts of [[Portland cement]], [[resin]], and [[pitch (resin)|pitch]].<ref>Hooley, E. Purnell, {{US patent|765975}}, "Apparatus for the preparation of tar macadam", July 26, 1904</ref>
[[File:Autostrada between Varese and Como.jpg|thumb|right|The Italian ''[[Autostrada dei Laghi]]'' ("Lakes Motorway" in the 1950s; now parts of the [[Autostrada A8 (Italy)|Autostrada A8]] and the [[Autostrada A9 (Italy)|Autostrada A9]]), the first [[controlled-access highway]] ever built in the world<ref name="independent"/><ref name="motorwebmuseum"/>]]

The first version of modern [[controlled-access highway]]s evolved during the first half of the 20th century. The [[Long Island Motor Parkway]] on [[Long Island]], [[New York (state)|New York]], opened in 1908 as a private venture, was the world's first limited-access roadway. It included many modern features, including [[banked turn]]s, [[guard rail]]s and reinforced concrete [[Asphalt concrete|tarmac]].<ref name="NYT_LIMP">{{cite news |last = Patton |first = Phil |date = 9 October 2008 |title = A 100-Year-Old Dream: A Road Just for Cars |work = The New York Times <!-- |access-date = 16 September 2009--> }}</ref> Traffic could turn left between the parkway and connectors, crossing oncoming traffic, so it was not a controlled-access highway (or "freeway" as later defined by the federal government's [[Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices]]).

Modern controlled-access highways originated in the early 1920s in response to the rapidly increasing use of the [[automobile]], the demand for faster movement between cities and as a consequence of improvements in paving processes, techniques and materials. These original high-speed roads were referred to as "[[dual highway]]s" and have been modernized and are still in use today.

Italy was the first country in the world to build controlled-access highways reserved for fast traffic and for motor vehicles only.<ref name=independent>{{Cite news |first=Thea |last=Lenarduzzi |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/europe/the-worlds-first-motorway-piero-puricellis-masterpiece-is-the-focus-of-an-unlikely-pilgrimage-a6840816.html|title=The motorway that built Italy: Piero Puricelli's masterpiece|date=30 January 2016|newspaper=[[The Independent]]|access-date=12 May 2022}}</ref><ref name="motorwebmuseum">{{cite web|url=https://www.motorwebmuseum.it/en/places/varese/the-milano-laghi-by-piero-puricelli-the-first-motorway-in-the-world/|title=The "Milano-Laghi" by Piero Puricelli, the first motorway in the world|access-date=10 May 2022}}</ref> The ''[[Autostrada dei Laghi]]''  ("Lakes Motorway"), the first built in the world, connecting [[Milan]] to [[Lake Como]] and [[Lake Maggiore]], and now parts of the [[Autostrada A8 (Italy)|A8]] and [[Autostrada A9 (Italy)|A9]] motorways, was devised by [[Piero Puricelli]] and was inaugurated in 1924.<ref name="motorwebmuseum"/> This motorway, called ''[[autostrada]]'', contained only one lane in each direction and no interchanges. The Bronx River Parkway was the first road in North America to utilize a median strip to separate the opposing lanes, to be constructed through a park and where intersecting streets crossed over bridges.<ref>{{cite news |title = Built to Meander, Parkway Fights to Keep Measured Pace |work = [[The New York Times]] |date = 6 June 1995 |url = https://www.nytimes.com/1995/06/06/nyregion/built-to-meander-parkway-fights-to-keep-measured-pace.html |access-date = 13 April 2010 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130514214222/http://www.nytimes.com/1995/06/06/nyregion/built-to-meander-parkway-fights-to-keep-measured-pace.html |archive-date = 14 May 2013 |df = dmy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title = Bronx River Parkway on an Endangered List |first = Roberta |last = Hershenson |work = The New York Times |date = 18 June 1995 |url = https://www.nytimes.com/1995/06/18/nyregion/bronx-river-parkway-on-an-endangered-list.html |access-date = 13 April 2010 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130514195215/http://www.nytimes.com/1995/06/18/nyregion/bronx-river-parkway-on-an-endangered-list.html |archive-date = 14 May 2013 |df = dmy-all }}</ref> The [[Southern State Parkway]] opened in 1927, while the [[Long Island Motor Parkway]] was closed in 1937 and replaced by the [[Northern State Parkway]] (opened 1931) and the contiguous [[Grand Central Parkway]] (opened 1936). In Germany, construction of the [[Bundesautobahn 555|Bonn-Cologne Autobahn]] began in 1929 and was opened in 1932 by [[Konrad Adenauer]], then the mayor of [[Cologne]].

In Canada, the first precursor with semi-controlled access was [[The Middle Road]] between [[Hamilton, Ontario|Hamilton]] and [[Toronto]], which featured a median divider between opposing traffic flow, as well as the nation's first [[cloverleaf interchange]]. This highway developed into the [[Queen Elizabeth Way]], which featured a cloverleaf and trumpet interchange when it opened in 1937 and until the [[World War II|Second World War]] boasted the longest illuminated stretch of roadway built.<ref>{{cite book |title = From Footpaths to Freeways |last1 = Shragge |first1 = John |last2 = Bagnato |first2 = Sharon |name-list-style = amp |publisher = Ontario Ministry of Transportation and Communications, Historical Committee |year = 1984 |page = 55 |isbn = 978-0-7743-9388-1 }}</ref> A decade later, the first section of [[Ontario Highway 401|Highway 401]] was opened, based on earlier designs. It has since become North America's busiest highway.

The word ''freeway'' was first used in February 1930 by [[Edward Bassett|Edward M. Bassett]].<ref>{{cite book |first = Thomas L. |last = Karnes |title = Asphalt and Politics: A History of the American Highway System |url = https://archive.org/details/asphaltpoliticsh00karn |url-access = limited |location = Jefferson, NC |publisher = McFarland & Co |year = 2009 |page = [https://archive.org/details/asphaltpoliticsh00karn/page/n139 131] |isbn = 9780786442829 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first = Jeremy |last = Korr |chapter = Physical and Social Constructions of the Capital Beltway |title = The World Beyond the Windshield: Roads and Landscapes in the United States and Europe |editor1-first = Christof |editor1-last = Mauch |editor2-first = Thomas |editor2-last = Zeller |name-list-style = amp |location = Athens |publisher = Ohio University Press |year = 2008 |page = 195 |isbn = 9780821417676 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P2gtN_4_3HIC&pg=PA53}}</ref><ref name="bassett">{{cite journal |first = Edward M. |last = Bassett |title = The Freeway: A New Kind of Thoroughfare |journal = American City |volume = 42 |date = February 1930 |page = 95 }}</ref> Bassett argued that roads should be classified into three basic types: highways, [[parkway]]s, and freeways.<ref name="bassett" /> In Bassett's [[Zoning in the United States|zoning]] and [[property law]]-based system, [[abutter|abutting property owners]] have the rights of [[right to light|light]], [[air rights|air]] and access to highways but to not parkways and freeways; the latter two are distinguished in that the purpose of a parkway is recreation, while the purpose of a freeway is movement.<ref name="bassett" /> Thus as originally conceived, a freeway is a strip of public land devoted to movement to which abutting property owners do not have rights of light, air or access.<ref name="bassett" />