The county had purchased a narrow fifteen-mile strip of land beside the river. They tore down old buildings, cleared out junk yards, then laid the pavement and planted grass, shrubs, and trees along each side of the road to make a park. The Bronx River Parkway was one of the first "limited access" roads, a highway that motorists could enter or leave at only a few places. Other cities soon built similar parkways, and back in Michigan, Wayne County constructed a new sixteen-mile limited access highway from Detroit to Pontiac. This was not a parkway, however, but a road that went through both business and residential areas and was open to all types of traffic. The trucks proved so noisy and annoying to people living close to the road, that highway planners realized it was not the answer for city traffic.
During the early 1930s, California adopted legislation providing for construction of freeways-limited access roads with no tolls but with trees and grass planted on both sides of the pavement, as well as fencing to prevent people and animals from crossing the roadway. Since that time many miles of wider and wider freeways have been built in California. Down in Texas the state highway department urged all road planners to save trees when widening or straightening roads and also to add plantings to make highways more attractive. At the same time rest stations and picnic areas were constructed.
While Californians were planning freeways and other states were building new highways, Pennsylvania residents suddenly learned that their state was going to build a turnpike, and just as in the days of the Lancaster Turnpike, charge tolls! Because the Lincoln Highway had grades of as much as 9.7 percent (100 feet of road rising 9.7 feet) to get over the Alleghenies, most trucks took a longer route through New York or Maryland.
The Pennsylvania Highway Commission formed a private company to build a new 160-mile express highway across the state. There would be two double lanes of road, one for eastbound and the other for west-bound traffic, with tollbooths set up at each exit. There would be no cross roads, red lights, stops, or steep grades, while wide curves would permit traffic to go as fast as ninety miles per hour. The few entrances and exits would be built in the form of clover-leafs for increased safety. Furthermore, by following the right of way of the South Penn Railroad, started after the Civil War but never finished, the railroad bed and its seven half-completed tunnels would save time and money.
The turnpike was completed in twenty months, a record for such construction. Motorists could make better time than the railroad, truckers used it year-round, and at last the historic land barrier between the Atlantic seaboard and the Middle West had been broken.
UNCLE SAM'S SUPERHIGHWAY SYSTEM
The largest public construction project of all time was put into motion in 1944 when Congress passed legislation to provide a National System of Interstate and Defense Highways. It called for 41,000 (since lengthened to more than 45,000) miles of high-speed roads at a cost of $27 billion (also increased considerably). Of every dollar spent Uncle Sam would pay 90 cents and the state 10 cents. Most of the money was to be raised by taxes on gasoline, tires, and auto hardware. When finished the system would link all cities in the United States with populations over 50,000.
As with any project this size, there are bound to be problems, opposition, criticism, and delays. Not all Americans favored super-highways. People in large cities feared the noise, and many did not want to give up scarce open space for a four- or six-lane roadway. In many municipalities and towns, low-income people were displaced when their property was taken for the interstate. Historical neighbor-hoods were sacrificed. Farmers whose land was divided often lost the use of property thus made inaccessible. Parklands, wildlife, and scenic points became threatened, and noise and air pollution were common complaints.
Nevertheless, on the favorable side, superhighways have made life better for many. Interstates have pushed up property values of land lying near them, and adjacent businesses have benefited. Most people agree that as our population keeps growing, more roads are needed as well as more mass transit (buses and trains) to reduce traffic pressure in cities. Even more urgent is the need to maintain properly our huge road system as pavement constantly needs replacing, dangerous cracks and potholes develop, bridges become unsafe, and many curves need to be reduced, to say nothing of the desirability to relocate some roads.
During 1993, the most recent year for which statistics were available as this book went to press, the federal government and the states spent $86,539,000 on highway construction and repairs. All road and highway mileage totaled 3,904,721, of which 45,530 miles were interstate system and the balance laid elsewhere. Despite what the public may think about road conditions, 17 percent of all streets, roads, and highways were judged very good, 19 percent good, 53 percent fair to mediocre, and 11 percent poor.
Although more and larger highways may not be the best answer to today's transportation problems, even in its not quite finished state, our nation's superhighway system, augmented by excellent state, county, and city/town roads, serves us well. Not only do we have the world's finest network of safe highways but also never-ending opportunities for those seeking careers in this vital and exciting nationwide highway construction industry.
CAREER OPPORTUNITIES
As you can see, road and highway construction and maintenance requires a wide range of skilled and unskilled workers. Much of the preparatory work involves material-moving-equipment operators who use different types of machinery to move earth, rock, trees, and other objects that lie in the path of a planned highway. According to the Occupational Outlook Handbook "Excavation and loading machine operators run and tend machinery equipped with scoops, shovels, or buckets to excavate earth at construction sites and to load and move loose materials."
"Grader, dozer, and scraper operators remove, distribute, level, and grade earth with vehicles equipped with blades. In addition to the familiar bulldozers, they operate trench excavators, road graders, and similar equipment. Although many work in the construction industry, grader, dozer, and scraper operators also work for state and local governments mainly in maintenance and repair work."
Almost all jobs in highway construction and maintenance are performed outdoors in sun and rain, heat and cold. In northern climates maintenance may include snowplowing, which is not always a nine-to- five jobs, nor without its discomforts and hazards.
If interested in this type of work, we suggest you visit the nearest office of the state or town highway department. You will find someone who will tell you about job and/or career opportunities with the government as well as local construction companies that have state or town construction or paving contracts.
