cess as a dust settler. . . . It is claimed by some that the application of crude oil will make a surface impervious to water and consequently free from frost and mud. If this be the case, oil will supersede gravel and stone in the improvement of country roads.”[1]
With the various types of surfaces becoming available at the turn of the century, there was much discussion as to the merit of each. Some of the criteria usually taken into consideration were smoothness of ride, durability, ease of repair, cost, etc. However, though very much in a minority, there were those who argued for and developed experiments on the health factors of various surfaces.
The Beginnings of Roadside Beautification
Other early concerns with environmental effects of highways were basically limited to beautification, and that apparently was not a high priority issue with roadbuilders. “The effort to promote the beautifying of the highways by planting of shade trees has not received the recognition and attention that it deserves,” noted a speaker at the turn of the century. “A well-shaded road makes the work of the heavily laden team easier, and greatly enhances the delight of the man who is traveling for pleasure,” he remarked, appealing to the wealthy to supply the funds to carry out “embellishment” of roadways. [2]
In 1909 the Office of Public Roads issued Farmers’ Bulletin No. 338 in which roadside development along macadam roads was discussed as follows:
No matter how smooth and well constructed the traveled road may be, if the roadsides are not cared for, the highway as a whole will not give a good impression. All rubbish should be removed ; the excavations should be filled and embankments smoothed and planted with grass wherever it will grow. Unsightly brush should be cut and grubbed out. Sometimes, however, the brush and small trees, if suitably trimmed, add to the attractiveness of the roadside.
All trees that are ornamental or which have value as shade trees should be preserved and protected, unless they grow so close together as to make a dense shade. . . . Care in the selection of the kinds of trees best suited to the locality is important.[3]
Gray birch trees were planted along this Massachusetts highway in 1928 to improve its appearance and to shade the highway.
By 1915 highway development had progressed to a degree that more environmental factors were being considered. Some of these factors were enumerated in OPR Farmers’ Bulletin No. 505. In an article entitled Benefits of Improved Roads, the following items of social advantages were listed: (1) Improvement of schools, (2) improvement of rural delivery service, (3) improvement of social conditions.
The esthetic value of roads well built and clean is sometimes reluctantly conceded or even denied by individuals. It is noticeable, however, that along improved roads there is a visible tendency for farmers to improve the appearance of their homes and their outbuildings. . . . The improved road not only has an esthetic value in itself, but it is potent in awakening the dwellers along its borders to a sense of esthetic values in farm buildings and home surroundings.
Social activities in rural communities need all the encouragement and stimulus that can reasonably be given. All social activities take time and energy, and the country-road condition therefore is a prime consideration to enable farmers and their families to afford time for social intercourse.[4]
Highway litter removal was of concern in Delaware as early as 1927.
Over the ensuing two decades, engineers periodically pointed to the esthetic advantages of tree planting. In 1920 a State highway commissioner called for the adoption in his State of the slogan “scenic betterment,” while at the same time warning against the destruction of roadside beauty by billboards.[5] In 1929, after describing in detail his State’s program, another official insisted that “the business of roadside beautification” be made permanent. “It can never be finished” he concluded.[6] In an article in 1930, titled “Uncle Sam Considers Roadsides,” Chief MacDonald stated:
Planting shade trees along highways is a necessary complement to surfacing of roadways, the Bureau believes. A number of States had started, with their own resources, improvement of roadsides before passage of the amendment of the Federal Highway Act, authorizing Federal participation in planting shade trees along highways in the Federal-aid system. Recognizing that the first duty of the State Highway Departments is to surface highways, the Bureau does not wish to force States to resort to Federal aid in tree-planting nor to lead States to begin tree-planting until they are ready for it. But it will use its influence to bring about adoption of suitable provisions in all States to enable this work to be done.
Correlated with roadside beautification is the problem of ridding the main traveled highways of the blatant commercial advertising signs. While the Bureau has no authority to correct what often proves a menace to safe driving, it has done what it could toward eliminating the billboards by developing popular sentiment against them. It is on the main traveled highways of the country that the billboards are concentrated.[7]
- ↑ Bureau of Public Roads Annual Report, 1900, p. 287.
- ↑ M. Dickinson, The Beautifying and Endowment of Highways, Good Roads Magazine, Vol. IV, No. 8, Aug. 1903, p. 324.
- ↑ A. Fletcher, Macadam Roads, Farmers’ Bulletin, 338 (U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. 1909) p. 21.
- ↑ Office of Public Roads, Benefits of Improved Roads, Farmers’ Bulletin 505 (U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. 1915) p. 20.
- ↑ J. Hazlewood, Making Highways Ornamental and Useful, Public Roads, Vol. 2, Nos. 21–22, Jan.–Feb. 1920, pp. 14–16.
- ↑ J. Taylor, Roadside Plan and Progress in Massachusetts, Public Roads, Vol. 10, No. 6, Aug. 1929, p. 109.
- ↑ T. H. MacDonald, Uncle Sam Considers Roadsides, American Civic Annual, Vol. II (American Civic Association, Inc., Washington, D.C. 1930) pp. 164, 165.
