GERMAN ROADS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 100, 29 April 1937, Page 16

GERMAN ROADS.

"HITLER'S HIGHWAYS."

PARADISE FOR MOTORISTS.

BIG PLAN IN PROGRESS.

(By IT AX S SCHIRMER.)

Towards the cn<l of the summer of 1036 tho first ll'OO kilometres of Germany's network of new motor roads readied completion and could be opened to traffic. After .11 years of construction, about one-seventh of tlie huge project known as "Adolf Hitler's highways" has been finished, the whole to embrace some 7000 kilometres. Xever before, perhaps, has a project of this kind been carried through with suclx speed and

-,'fficicncy as this latest road construction programme in Germany. On May 1, 1f»33. the first "National Labour Day," Adolf Hitler, addressing hundreds of thousands assembled at Tenipclhof t ield, near Berlin, formally announced this gigantic plan. Just eight weeks later, on Juno 27, the first law appertaining to these new roads was cnacted, and oil September 23, three months afterward, actual work was begun, the Reich Chancellor himself turning over the first spadeful of ground at the opening ceremonies. The first section on which work was started was the Frankfurt a/Main-Mannheim road, and to-day, after years, motor cars are running through all parts of the country over the first 1000 kilometres of Reich motor roads.

The following routes are now open to tra fHcHamburg-Bremen, Berlin-Stet-t.in, Berlin-Madgeburg-Hannover, Bonn-C'ologn«-Duisburg/Hambora, Halle- Leipzig, Lvipzig-Bayreuth, Bad NeuheimFrnnkfort /Main - Heidelberg - Bruchsal, Munich-Siegesdorf (frontier) near Salzburg, with connecting road to German Alpine highway running to Berchtesgaden, Breslau - Kreibau - Gleiwitz - Beiithen, and finally parts of the StuttgartMunich, Weimar-Chemnitz, Bayreuth-Chemnitz-Dresden, and Elbiug-Koenigß-berg routes. By the spring of 1937 most of the motor road ring which' is to encircle Berlin will be completed, as, for instance, the spur running from the Stettin-Berlin route to Erkner, to the east. Enormous Project. The construction of these roads has involved enormous expense, but seems to be justified for two main reasons—the fight against unemployment and the constantly growing- automobile traffic. The German Government is allocating 400,000,000 marks annually to the project. Of this sum 4 per cent goes in wages, 25 per cent is for materials, 12 per cent for machines and equipment, and 16 per cent for administration expenses and kindred items; 120,000 workmen are actually employed on the roads, auxiliary work occupies another BO,JoC and there are at least 80,000 engaged in the manufacture and preparation of road-building materials, etc. This means that the State is saving something like 120,000,000 marks per annum which would' otherwise have to be paid for unemployment relief, and at the same time is receivng additional tax revenues to the amount of 80,000,000. The situation, then, is something like this: 35 per cent of the money now bein<* devoted to this road construction would have to be ditfutfoi for benefit o£ unemployed, while fipproxiMtely 2j5 per cent flows back into the State treasury, in the form of taxes, and the Stated outlay is only about 35 per cent to 40 per cent of the total expended; To -Wbii'd great extent unemployment has been reduced through this roail construction programme can be seen from the fact that the number of workmen directly or indirectly employed on the project has !"^. en!,cd from 200,000 in the sprinir of 1933 to 400,000 at the present time. Following Old Trade Routes. , felt sure that the future expansion of motor traffic and the automobile industry generally will fully justify this gigantic task, for which the National Socialist Government has assumed the responsibility. The plan as first conceived contemplates a network of some 7000 kilometres, or about 4375 miles of new roads. These will serve as lines of communication between all the important business and industrial centres of Germany, and new centres will probably grow up where these roads have their junctions. Most of the new roads will follow the old "trade routes" of centuries ago. One of them, for example, runs from the Dutch-German frontier near Wesel; thence via Cologne-Frankfort-Xuremberg and Eegensburg to Passau. This same route was used in medieval times by the merchants of Holland when plying their trade up the Rhine and down the Danube to the Balkans, and thence via Constantinople to the Orient. Another of the new roads follows the trail of the old trade route from the Rhineland via Cologne-Erfurt-Leipzig and Breslau to Upper Silesia. This route was originally used by the merchants of Flanders on their way to Poland and Russia. The old trade route of the Middle Ages from the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean, over the Brenner Pass, will be revived by the new motor road Koeningsberg - Stettin - Berlin - LeipziirMunich. r "

According to the plans adopted, all sections of the new motor road system will be built right up to the German frontiers, indicating that they are intended to form a part of an international European network of roads for, motor traffic. A Maze of Obstacles. A fixed standard has been established in the dimensions, etc., of these roads. There are to be two separate motorways, each 25 feet wide, arid divided by a 16-foot greensward which will be planted with trees or shrubs, in order to shield the driver of a car from the glare of headlights coming iri the opposite direction. There will be no grade crossings, as these will be replaced in every instance by bridges or viaducts. Special turn-outs will be provided for cars desiring to enter upon or leave the main road, so that they may take either direction without having to cross the main highway. In this connection there are still many difficulties and obstacles to be met and overcome. This is particularly true of the densely populated regions through which the motor road runs, such as the Ruhr Basin, which is already overcrowded with railway lines and highways. Near Kaiserberg, irt the Ruhr, the Reich motor road must" cross II railway lines, 17 ordinary highways, and two canals. In the Essetf district there are 40 sets of railway ; tracks to be crossed, 103 roads and high-! ways, and 20 rivers or canals.

Sppcinl care is being taken not "to spoil nr detract from the natural of the country through which these *ads pa so. A whole staff of landscape specialists have been employed for the very purpose of studying the problem of avoiding monotony in the landscape ■wherever this it possible.

Eliminating Nerve Fatigue. Much depends upon the lay of the land in each particular district, but it has been demonstrated that many motor -accidents have been due to nervous fatigue, and that such fatigue is aggravated by hours of endless, monotony in the surrounding country through which one ie driving. . Moreover, on these new roads the motorist will be able to travel at higher speed and at the same time with . This wilt ,undoubtedly mean'new'business motor car manufacturers, and there is no question but that new models of cars, both for private and business purposes, are being evolved and perfected. Neither j the old type of touring car nor the old type of racer will long be adhered to I the "streaCi-line" " mo^^^ 'car ; iifao will have Mt he 1 improved as ; ..to speed and generaivSttU. Siencj£sn. fJejr of iHe. much greater di&» will >• • Economic Advantages. T&fre !sS s€iiri;§nother branch of the j a\itomobile y industry which will vastly ■benefit -from these new motor toads, namely, the motor truck industry 'This •traffic haß been much by j being unable to make any kind of speed owing to inferior Toads. It has been shown that on the *4^ roads it will be transport fresh fish from,. iSforth : Sea ports to points in Bouthern,Germai»yi, whereas up to now such sh&mentg were only possible as f*r «fefpiamf„ On the other hand^i6@piFia«Ma^-pro-ducts can now friyih f.qr.. daily delivery in the^^^^.|*revioi|^Tj''' ; this was only ; the.' Danube. What is true of fish and milk shipments applies also to the rapid transportation' of fresh vegetables and fruits from the regions where they are grown to the large centres of consumption.

Generally speaking the new Reich motor roads _will open up new traffic facilities everywhere, and will serve to co-ordinate urban and rural activity and interests, bringing the people of the city and those from the country into closer touch, which us one of the most important aims of National Socialist economic politics.