Editing Road (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of road transport}}
{{Further|Gravel road|Trail}}
[[File:Appian_Way.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Appian Way]], an important [[Roman road]]]]
[[File:Funkturm Berlin View 14.jpg|thumb|right|Part of the [[AVUS]] road in [[Berlin]], the first automobile-only road.<ref>www.stadtmuseum.de/en/article/the-avus</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-T4se2UPAU | title=German Autobahn: How the "Avus" Racetrack Became the Blueprint for the Autobahn | website=[[YouTube]] | date=23 September 2021 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Avus-highway | title=Avus highway &#124; German expressway &#124; Britannica }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.german-autobahn.eu/index.asp?page=history | title=Autobahn History - German-Autobahn.eu }}</ref>]]
[[File:Autostrada between Varese and Como.jpg|thumb|right|The Italian ''[[Autostrada dei Laghi]]'' ("Lakes Highway" 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 assertion that the first pathways were the [[trail]]s made by animals has not been universally accepted; in many cases animals do not follow constant paths.<ref name="Ways_of_the_World">{{cite book | last= Lay | first= Maxwell G | title= Ways of the World: A History of the World's Roads and of the Vehicles that Used Them | publisher= Rutgers University Press | year= 1992 |url=https://archive.org/details/waysofworldhisto00laym | url-access= registration | quote= Ways of the world Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick. | isbn= 978-0-8135-2691-1 }}</ref> Some believe that some roads originated from following animal trails.<ref>{{cite journal |first1= D. |last1= Helbing |first2= P. |last2= Molnär |first3= I.J. | last3= Farkas |first4= K. |last4= Bolay | title= Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design 2001, volume 28 (Self-organizing pedestrian movement) |journal= Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design |volume= 28 |issue= 3 | page= 376 |url=http://pedsim.elte.hu/pdf/envplanb.pdf | doi= 10.1068/b2697 |year= 2001 |s2cid= 16276539 }}</ref><ref name="wheathampstead">{{cite web | title= Marshalls Heath Nature Reserve | work= History | publisher= wheathampstead.net | date= 24 February 2003 |url=http://www.wheathampstead.net/mh/history.htm | access-date= 2007-04-28 }}</ref> The [[Icknield Way]] may exemplify this type of road origination, where human and animal both selected the same natural line.<ref name="Icknield">{{cite web | title= The Icknield Way Path | publisher= Icknield Way Association | year= 2004 |url=http://www.icknieldwaypath.co.uk/ | access-date= 2007-04-29 }}</ref> By about 10,000 BC human travelers used rough roads/pathways.<ref name="Ways_of_the_World"/>
* The world's oldest known paved road was constructed in Egypt some time between 2600 and 2200 BC.<ref>
{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/05/08/world/world-s-oldest-paved-road-found-in-egypt.html | author= John Noble Wildord | title= World's Oldest Paved Road Found in Egypt |newspaper= [[The New York Times]] | date= 1994-05-08 | access-date= 2012-02-11}}
</ref>
* [[Corduroy road]]s (log roads) are found dating to 4000 BC in [[Glastonbury, England|Glastonbury]], England.<ref name="Ways_of_the_World"/>
* The [[Sweet Track]], a [[timber trackway|timber track]] causeway in England, is one of the oldest engineered roads discovered and the oldest timber trackway discovered in Northern Europe. Built in winter 3807 BC or spring 3806 BC, (tree-ring dating – [[dendrochronology]] – enabled very precise dating). It was claimed to be the oldest road in the world<ref name="Current_Archaeology_172">{{cite web | title= The Somerset Levels (the oldest timber trackway discovered in Northern Europe) | work= Current Archaeology 172 | publisher= Current Archaeology |date= February 2001 |url=http://www.archaeology.co.uk/ca/issues/ca172/ca172.htm | access-date= 2007-03-25 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311003620/http://www.archaeology.co.uk/ca/issues/ca172/ca172.htm <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> | archive-date= 2007-03-11}}</ref><ref name="Highways:_The_Location"/> until the 2009 discovery of a 6,000-year-old trackway in [[Plumstead]], London.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://archaeology.about.com/b/2009/08/15/oldest-trackway-found-in-plumstea.htm |title= Oldest Trackway found in Plumstead |publisher= Archaeology.about.com |date= 2009-08-15 |access-date= 2013-08-14 |archive-date= 2013-05-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130521135844/http://archaeology.about.com/b/2009/08/15/oldest-trackway-found-in-plumstea.htm |url-status= dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-08/ucl-let081209.php |title= London's earliest timber structure found during Belmarsh prison dig |publisher= Eurekalert.org |date= 2009-08-12 |access-date= 2013-08-14}}</ref>
* In 500 BC, [[Darius I the Great]] started an extensive road system for the [[Achaemenid Empire]] (Persia), including the [[Royal Road]], which was one of the finest highways of its time,<ref name="RoyalRoad">{{cite web | last= Lendering | first= Jona | title= Royal Road | work= History of Iran | publisher= Iran Chamber of Society |url=http://www.iranchamber.com/history/achaemenids/royal_road.php | access-date= 2007-04-09 }}</ref> connecting [[Sardis]] (the westernmost major city of the empire) to [[Susa]]. The road remained in use after Roman times. These road systems reached as far east as [[Bactria]] and [[India]].<ref>{{cite book | first= John | last= Boederman |title= The Cambridge Ancient History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nNDpPqeDjo0C&pg=PA178|year= 1997|publisher= Cambridge University Press|isbn= 978-0-521-22804-6|page= 178}}</ref>
* In ancient times, transport by river was far easier and faster than transport by road,<ref name="Highways:_The_Location"/> especially considering the cost of road construction and the difference in carrying capacity between [[cart]]s and river [[barge]]s. A hybrid of road transport and ship transport beginning in about 1740 is the [[horse-drawn boat]] in which the horse follows a cleared path along the river bank.<ref name="horseboating">{{cite web | title= Horseboating | publisher= The Horseboating Society |url=http://www.horseboating.org.uk/ | access-date= 2007-04-09 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180429105356/http://www.horseboating.org.uk/ | archive-date= 2018-04-29 | url-status= dead }}</ref><ref name="HorseDrawnBoats">{{cite web | title= Horses and Canals 1760–1960 The people & the horses | work= Horse Drawn Boats | publisher= Canal Junction Ltd |url=http://www.canaljunction.com/craft/horsedrawn1.htm | access-date= 2007-04-09 }}</ref>
* From about 312 BC, the [[Roman Empire]] built straight<ref name="Discovering_Roman_Technology"/> strong stone [[Roman road]]s throughout Europe and North Africa, in support of its military campaigns. At its peak the Roman Empire was connected by 29 major roads moving out from [[Ancient Rome|Rome]] and covering 78,000 kilometers or 52,964 [[Roman mile]]s of paved roads.<ref name="Highways:_The_Location">{{cite book |last= O'Flaherty |first= Coleman A. |title= Highways: The Location, Design, Construction & Maintenance of Road Pavements |publisher= Elsevier |year= 2002 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ren4sWQ3jKkC&q=ancient+Egyptians+stone+paved+road++Great+Pyramid+in+about+3000+BC&pg=PA1 |isbn= 978-0-7506-5090-8 }}</ref>
* In the 8th century AD, many roads were built throughout the [[Caliphate|Arab Empire]]. The most sophisticated roads were those in [[Baghdad]], which were paved with [[tar]]. Tar was derived from petroleum, accessed from [[oil field]]s in the region, through the chemical process of [[destructive distillation]].<ref name=Ajram>{{cite book|author= Kasem Ajram|title=The Miracle of Islam Science|edition=2nd|publisher=Knowledge House Publishers|year=1992|isbn=978-0-911119-43-5}}</ref>
* The [[Highways Act 1555]] in Britain transferred responsibility for maintaining roads from government to local parishes.<ref name="Highways:_The_Location"/> This resulted in a poor and variable state of roads. To remedy this, the first of the [[turnpike trust]]s was established around 1706, to build good roads and collect tolls from passing vehicles. Eventually there were approximately 1,100 trusts in Britain and some {{convert|36,800|km|mi|abbr=on}} of engineered roads.<ref name="Highways:_The_Location"/> The [[Rebecca Riots]] in Carmarthenshire and [[Rhayader]] from 1839 to 1844 contributed to a [[Royal Commission]] that led to the demise of the system in 1844,<ref name="Victorian_Powys">
{{cite web
 |title= The Rebecca Riots
 |work= Rebecca and her daughters come to Rhayader
 |publisher= Victorian Powys for Schools |date= March 2002
 |url=http://history.powys.org.uk/school1/rhayader/rebcmenu.shtml
 |access-date= 2007-04-28
}}
</ref> which coincided with the [[History of rail transport in Great Britain to 1830|development of the UK railway system]].
* In the late-19th century roading engineers began to cater for cyclists by building separate lanes alongside roadways.
* From the beginning of the 20th century, roads were increasingly built for tourism and also to create jobs. A typical example of the stimulation of tourism is the Great Dolomite Road, while the creation of the panoramic coastal road Strada Costiera between [[Duino]] and [[Barcola]], [[Italy]], in 1928 was very much focused on creating jobs.<ref>Theodor Christomannos: Die Dolomitenstraße Bozen – Cortina – Toblach. Chiari: Ed. Nordpress 1998, {{ISBN|88-85382-37-1}}</ref><ref>Roberto Covaz e Annalisa Turel, La Costiera triestina - storia e misteri di una strada, Edizioni Mgs Press, Trieste, 2006, {{ISBN|88-89219-23-8}}.</ref>
* The ''[[Autostrada dei Laghi]]''  ("Lakes Motorway") in Italy, the first [[controlled-access highway]] built in the world,<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> 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.