will definitely circumscribe the extent to which W. P. A. funds can provide the means for access-road construction, as will a reduced availability of qualified relief workers where most needed.
Tactical roads.—No special measures have yet been devised for the improvement of tactical roads. Some consideration has been given to the needs of a few roads of this class in conferences thus far held for the determination of access-road programs, notably certain roads in the vicinity of Camp Edwards on Cape Cod, Mass. In this case it has been determined that there will be frequent military use of roads extending from the reservation to outside firing points on the north and south shores of the cape. It is also indicated that there will be frequent maneuvering of motorized equipment on the cape roads, extending all the way to Provincetown. Any such usage will necessitate a substantial improvement of these roads. In their present condition, they are scarcely adequate for the public traffic they are required to serve during the summer season. However, no definite provision has been made to deal with the road problem on the cape. Nor has it yet been possible to ascertain the scope of the similar problems elsewhere, and no procedures have been developed for dealing with these problems.
Strategic network.—By formal certification, the Secretaries of War and of the Navy have 'advised the Public Roads and Work Projects Administrations that projects for the improvement of any roads conforming to the approved strategic network are important to national defense. These certifications enable the Federal Works Administration to invoke for such projects the exceptional provisions of the Federal Highway Act of 1940 and the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act, fiscal year 1941, that apply to projects of importance to national defense. Measures are being taken to give effect to these provisions to the fullest practicable extent.
Almost completely, the main lines of the network coincide in their general direction with the roads—generally the most important roads—included in the Federal-aid and State highway systems. In view of this duality of interest, the Public Roads Administration has requested the State highway departments to include in their programs for the expenditure of currently available Federal-aid funds as many projects as possible on roads conforming to the strategic network. It is expected that this request will meet with the sympathetic response of all State agencies.
The Work Projects Administration has instructed its State administrators to give priority to defense-highway projects in their programs and to expedite construction in every possible way. It has informed these administrators of the studies of necessary improvements on the strategic network made by the Public Roads Administration and the State highway departments. It has also instructed them to obtain advice from the district engineers of the Public Roads Administration concerning desirable projects for the improvement of the network, and to cooperate closely at all times with the Public Roads Administration and the State highway departments.
The measures thus taken, it is believed, give assurance that currently available Federal-aid and emergency relief funds will be employed to the greatest practicable extent for essential improvements of maximum utility on roads conforming to the strategic network.
