TOMORROW'S ROADS TODAY - Maryland State Highway ...
TOMORROW'S ROADS TODAY - Maryland State Highway ...
TOMORROW'S ROADS TODAY - Maryland State Highway ...
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11<br />
Epigraph<br />
“Tomorrow’s Roads Today” is the title of the <strong>State</strong> Roads Commission (SRC) of<br />
<strong>Maryland</strong>’s 1959-1960 Biennial Report. There is no specific explanation in the report about<br />
what the title meant, but not all of the SRC’s proposed projects included in the “Twelve Year<br />
Program” had been completed by 1959. The report notes that <strong>Maryland</strong>’s citizens had become<br />
impatient with the SRC’s progress, and the SRC sped up road construction in order to bring the<br />
completed highway system to a reality by 1965. 5 The biennial reports through 1964 have similar<br />
peppy slogans for titles: Building for the Future (1961-1962), Forging Ahead (1962) and Paving<br />
the Way (1963-1964) with an anthropomorphic beaver unrolling a new road over an outline of<br />
the state’s boundaries. In 1965 however, the report’s title was changed to the matter-of-fact A<br />
<strong>Highway</strong> Report. Although all of the reports contain financial information to show how funds<br />
were used during each fiscal year in the reporting period, the format for the 1959-1964 reports<br />
changed to legal size and reports by the division chief of each office are one page long with<br />
photographs to show the progress being made.<br />
Introduction<br />
In 1947, as automobile traffic increased on <strong>Maryland</strong>’s highways, the older, narrow road<br />
system, originally designed for horse and carriage became functionally obsolete. Although the<br />
SRC built several new highways by 1941, the majority of the state highway system consisted of<br />
improved Colonial and nineteenth century roads. 6 After World War II, it became apparent to the<br />
SRC as well as to the <strong>Maryland</strong> Governors and General Assembly that many roads could no<br />
longer be improved because of limited right-of-way and the expense of engineering them for<br />
automobile traffic. Furthermore, <strong>Maryland</strong> experienced a population shift during the post-War<br />
period as more citizens moved from city to suburb, and roads that were lightly traveled<br />
experienced a sudden increase in traffic. As the Cold War started, <strong>Maryland</strong>’s common border<br />
with Washington, DC and the presence of civilian and military Federal agencies in the state also<br />
stressed the need for military preparedness, including a reliable road system. The SRC believed<br />
that construction of a highway system on new right-of-way would be safer and more inexpensive<br />
since new designs would incorporate nationally accepted safety standards. By 1965, <strong>Maryland</strong><br />
had an improved highway system with 3,452 miles of new roads and 557 bridges that the SRC<br />
believed were safe and adequate for most daily traffic volumes.<br />
The SRC was also faced with securing funding for the construction of this new highway<br />
system. Federal aid through the Bureau of Public Roads was available on a 50-50 match basis,<br />
but some projects could be so expensive that one project could cost the SRC’s entire annual<br />
construction budget. With multiple needs across the state, it was necessary to direct the money<br />
to critical projects. As early as 1941 the SRC had formulated a solution, recommending that the<br />
receipts from gas tax, car registration, and highway user fees be dedicated solely to highway<br />
construction. While Governor Herbert O’Conor and the General Assembly agreed with the<br />
proposal, the start of World War II prevented further action. Once the war ended in 1945, traffic<br />
increased at an unanticipated rate due to increase in automobile purchases, owners choosing to<br />
drive their cars rather than use public transportation, and suburbanization outside <strong>Maryland</strong>’s<br />
5 <strong>State</strong> Roads Commission of <strong>Maryland</strong>, Tomorrow’s Roads Today, Twenty-Seventh Biennial Report, Baltimore,<br />
MD (1961), p. 3.<br />
6 <strong>Maryland</strong>’s first law requiring highway construction was passed by the Colonial Assembly in 1666.