The Good
Roads Movement, facsimile publications from Making of America, a digital
library of primary sources in 19th- and early 20th-century American social
history [Cornell home page: http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/moa;
University of Michigan home page: http://moa.umdl.umich.edu].
"The Good Roads Movement and the California Bureau of Highways,"
by Charles Freeman Johnson, in Overland Monthly and Out West Magazine,
1896. Includes a discussion of the Good Roads campaign nationwide.
Part I, Sept. 1896, pp. 247-261.
http://www.hti.umich.edu/cgi/m/moajrnl/moajrnl-idx?notisid= AHJ1472-1395OVER-43
Part II, Oct. 1896, pp. 442-455.
http://www.hti.umich.edu/cgi/m/moajrnl/moajrnl-idx?notisid= AHJ1472-1395OVER-80
A review of The Gospel of Good Roads, 1891
http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/moa/moa-cgi?notisid=ABS1821-0023-563
A review and summary of Isaac Potter's 1891 The Gospel of Good Roads:
A Letter from an American Farmer, in Manufacturer and Builder, October 1891.
"Ancient and Modern Highways," by Charles Livy Whittle, The New
England Magazine, February 1898, pp. 749-766.
http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/moa/moa-cgi?notisid= AFJ3026-0023-108
An illustrated history of roads including an overview of the Good Roads
campaign.
"Divided Highways: The Interstates and the Transformation of American
Life," PBS, 1997.
http://www.pbs.org/weta/dividedhighways
A history of road building in America is included in this extensive
website accompanying the 1997 PBS documentary "Divided Highways," including
the full transcript of the film, excerpts from the companion book, video
clips, a teacher's guide, and related weblinks.
History of the U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FWHA By Day)
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/byday/intro.htm
An extensive day-by-time timeline that incorporates a substantial history
of American road development in the 20th century. To search the timeline
for specific names and innovations, use the FWHA site search page at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/search.html.
The Macadamized Road: An 1881 Description
http://members.nbci.com/mspong/indx_mn.html
(search for "macadamized road" on this page)
Directions for macadamizing a road in the 1881 Household Cyclopedia
of General Information, from the online version created by Matthew Spong
(and awarded a top six-star rating by the University of Wisconsin Scout
Report project).
The Road Drag
http://www.gladwell.com/1999_12_06_a_clicks.htm
A discussion of the King road drag (as a precursor to improved rural
roads) introduces this article on mail-order marketing by Malcolm Gladwell:
"Clicks and Mortar," The New Yorker, Dec. 6, 1999.
"Getting out of a rut: 20th century roads paved the way for modern
autos."
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/1999/century/episodes/01/currents
Brief, well-illustrated section from the CNN online special, "The Twentieth
Century."
Regional Transportation History Sites
http://www.pacificnet.net/~faigin/CA-HWYS/links-regional.html
Extensive list of transportation history sites organized by state,
region, and country; on "California Highways," the personal site of Daniel
Faigin.
History of the Pennsylvania Turnpike
http://www.pahighways.com/TollHwys/PATurnpike.html
Abundantly illustrated history of "America's first superhighway." On "Pennsylvania Highways," the personal site of road-map collector Jeff Kitsko.
Histories of specific highways
Among the many histories of specific highways on the Web which relate
to the themes in this essay, (and which are well presented and illustrated),
are:
"Coast to Coast on U.S. Highway 50: A Brief History of America's Backbone
(aka 'The Loneliest Road in America') and How It Came To Pass in Central
Colorado," Colorado Central Magazine, January 1999. http://www.route50.com/history.htm
"The Lincoln Highway [first U.S. coast-to-coast]: A Brief History." http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~jlin/lincoln/history/part1.html
By James Lin, a graduate student at the University of California at Berkeley.
Also includes news articles from 1913 on the construction of the highway.
"Highway 94 History," California.
http://www.hwy94.com/Welcome.htm Good example of amateur highway history, by members of the Highway 94 Club.
Public Roads, published by the Federal Highway Administration, which
primarily covers current highway research and technology and occasionally
includes articles on environmental issues and highway history.
--Home page at http://www.tfhrc.gov/pubrds/pubrds.htm
--Archives home page at http://www.tfhrc.gov/pubrds/prarch.htm
Online articles that relate to highway history and environmental issues
include:
The Earth Issue [11 articles on highways and the environment], Spring 1995.
Table of Contents: http://www.tfhrc.gov/pubrds/spring95/p95sp.htm
"Milestones for U.S. Highway Transportation and the Federal Highway
Administration [Timeline: 1892-1995]," Spring 1996.
http://www.tfhrc.gov/pubrds/spring96/p96sp44.htm
On the first issue of Public Roads in May 1918, May/June, 2000.
http://www.tfhrc.gov/pubrds/mayjun00/volume1.htm
"Rewarding Environmental Excellence," Autumn 1995. http://www.tfhrc.gov/pubrds/fall95/p95a38.htm
"Wetland Mitigation: An Early Effort," November/December 1997.
http://www.tfhrc.gov/pubrds/pr97-12/p51.htm
"A Revolution in Winter [Road] Maintenance," Winter 1996.
http://www.tfhrc.gov/pubrds/winter96/p96w2.htm
"The Use of Recycled Materials in Highway Construction," Autumn 1994.
http://www.tfhrc.gov/pubrds/fall94/p94au32.htm
"Attention Motorists . . . The Bats Have Landed on our Bridge!" [protection of an urban colony of bats roosting in a bridge in Austin, Texas], Winter 1996.
http://www.tfhrc.gov/pubrds/winter96/p96w12.htm
". . . From Dense Ignorance And Otherwise": A (Not Entirely Serious)Look at America's 100 (Plus) Years' War with Europe [in highway technology],"
November/December 1997.
http://www.tfhrc.gov/pubrds/pr97-12/p2.htm
"Federal Aid Road Act of 1916: Building the Foundation," Summer 1996.
http://www.tfhrc.gov/pubrds/summer96/p96su2.htm
"From 1916 to 1939: The Federal-State Partnership at Work," Summer 1996.
http://www.tfhrc.gov/pubrds/summer96/p96su7.htm
"Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956: Creating the Interstate System," Summer
1996.
http://www.tfhrc.gov/pubrds/summer96/p96su10.htm
"Engineering Marvels" (19 segments of the interstate system), Summer
1996.
http://www.tfhrc.gov/pubrds/summer96/p96su28.htm
"Three States Claim First Interstate Highway," Summer 1996.
http://www.tfhrc.gov/pubrds/summer96/p96su18.htm
"Artists Look at Roads," Summer 1996.
http://www.tfhrc.gov/pubrds/summer96/p96su22.htm
"Poetry of the Open Road," Summer 1996.
http://www.tfhrc.gov/pubrds/summer96/p96su20.htm
The History of American Transportation: Paintings by Carl Rakeman
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/rakeman/index.htm
Online exhibition of 14 of the 119 paintings produced by Carl Rakeman
for the Bureau of Public Roads from the 1920s through the 1940s. Among
the paintings is "The First American Macadam Road" [date of road: 1823]
at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/rakeman/1823.htm
"The Ecological Effects of Roads," special section in Conservation
Biology, February 2000
Online edition from Blackwell Science, Inc., publisher.
Go to http://www.blacksci.co.uk/~cgilib/bsinc.bin?journal=biology and click
"February 2000."
Listing of the eight articles in this special section on roads in the February 2000 issue
of Conservation Biology.
http://conbio.rice.edu/scb/journal/2-00toc.shtml#start
Highlights of the articles as summarized in "Science Briefs" (April/May
2000) from the
Biodiversity Project, Madison, Wisconsin.
http://civic.bev.net/cca73/articles-letters-opinions/ecoimpacts.htm
"The Ecological Effects of Roads," by Reed Noss http://www.eco-action.org/dt/roads.html
Article (found on numerous activist websites) by conservation biologist
and activist Reed Noss, a member of the Board of Governors of the Society
for Conservation Biology.
Roads and Public Lands: resources on both sides
of the controversial road management policies of the U.S. Forest Service.
A web search on "'U.S. Forest Service' AND roads" will deliver numerous
additional sites.
The U.S.D.A. Forest Service Road Management Website
http://www.fs.fed.us/news/roads
Go to "Complete list of Q&As" for a
summary of the old and revised road management policies of the U.S. Forest
Service, the center of a growing debate over federal protection of public
lands.
Roads on Public Lands: Resources
http://www.fguardians.org/roads.html
List of websites and resources from agencies opposing the U.S. Forest Service's
road policies in public lands. From Forest Guardians, an environmental
organization in New Mexico.
Animals, Highways, and Roadkill
"Critter Crossings:
Linking Habitats and Reducing Roadkill," Federal Highway Administration,
2000.
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/wildlifecrossings/
Online version of the Federal Highway Admn. publication of the same name. Contents include
"Wildlife and Highways: An Overview," "A Computer Model for Exploring Highway-Wildlife
Relationships," "Bear Underpasses," "Tortoise Underpasses," "Badger Tunnels,"
"Salamander Tunnels," "Programs to Remove Fish," "Passage Barriers," and
more.
"Wildlife in the Fast Lane," Zoogoer, September/October 1999. http://www.fonz.org/zoogoer/zg1999/so99roads.htm
First-rate and accessible summary of the hazards to wildlife presented
by roads, vehicles, noise, lights, etc.; presents the controversy over
roads in U.S. public lands and wilderness. From Friends of the National
Zoo [D.C.].
"Roadkill: Driving Animals to Their Graves," Animal Issues,
Fall 1998.
http://www.api4animals.org/doc.asp?ID=680
Article reviewing research studies, state roadkill data, national roadkill surveys, etc.,
and recommending measures to reduce roadkill, some of which involve innovations
in road design. From the Animal Protection Institute.
"Avoiding Roadkill:
Plantings May Be a Death Trap," Associated Press, June 20, 2000. http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/science/DailyNews/roadkill000620.html
Article on the problem of state DOT road plantings having the unintended
effect of luring deer to dangerous roadsides. On the site of ABC News.
Return to "The Use of the Land" Links to Online
Resources
Return to
the essay, Roads, Highways, and Ecosystems
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