Before Public Roads

American Roads Started as Private Businesses

Even the U.S. Department of Transportation has to admit, the first major U.S. roadways were not built by the government:

The privately built Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike Road was the first important turnpike and the first long-distance broken-stone and gravel surface built in America according to formal plans and specifications. The road’s construction marked the beginning of organized road improvement after the long period of economic confu...