NATIONAL ROADS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 58, Issue 90, 26 January 1938, Page 4

NATIONAL ROADS.

Road construction has always been significant in the history of nations, writes a correspondent of the “Sunday Times.” In the future it may be vital. The vast system of Roman roads, stretching from Palestine to Scotland, was constructed and classified with such skill that it is still in a remarkably good state of .preservation, which is more than can be said of many of Britain’s modern roads. Now, once again for the first time since the Romans—Britain is to have a national road system. It is a most exciting national opportunity. The first thing that becomes obvious is the almost absurd complexity of the problem. Young motorists with fast cars want miles of concrete racing tracks with banked corners, no pedestrians, no cross-roads and no other traffic—except at its own risk. They point to the roads in Germany to show the kind of thing they would like. It is an exhilarating prospect, but, as every new road in this country will be filled up much quicker than it can be built, it is not very promising. Every motorist knows that if there is one thing more alarming than a narrow road crammed with bad drivers going slowly, it is a broad road crammed with bad drivers going fast. At the other end of the scale, the pedestrian and the horseman, who are really the nicest and most harmless road-users, would like to have the national roads laid with beautiful turf, with no traffic,of any kind. It will be impossible to satisfy everyone and almost impossible to satisfy anyone. The final result will have to bo a compromise, providing use with a national subject for grumbling lor the rest of the century.