and waterways to Army and Navy reservations, and industrial plants engaged in the defense production program. Roads to civil airports and landing fields were also included in this category.
Tactical roads included certain small mileages of roads giving access to isolated points of strategic importance, generally in coastal or border regions, and larger mileages near military reservations and in other areas that might become theaters of tactical maneuvers.
On roads of these classes, previously of little or no importance from the viewpoint of civil traffic needs, the report anticipated the development of a considerable defense usage which would necessitate substantial improvements attributable primarily to the defense needs.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE STRATEGIC NETWORK
The second general program recommended was to consist of essential improvements of the strategic network, a connected system of highways which had been previously designated by the War and Navy Departments as the routes of principal importance from the standpoint of national defense. At the date of the report this network consisted of a system of main trunk routes totaling approximately 74,600 miles, and auxiliary roads approximately paralleling the main lines on each side, with cross-connections at frequent intervals.
The network included routes joining all important centers of defense industry and all military and naval concentration points. Its main lines, with few exceptions embraced within the Federal-aid highway system, included routes of the interregional highway system previously recommended by the Public Roads Administration in its
