U.S. HIGHWAYS

Press, Volume LXXXV, Issue 25955, 8 November 1949, Page 5

U.S. HIGHWAYS

IMPROVEMENT HELD ESSENTIAL WASHINGTON, November 6. The immediate expansion and improvement of ihe nation’s highways were necessary to halt the “frightful loss of life and provide transportation routes essential to the national economy,” said Mr Thomas MacDonald, Federal Comhiissioner of :he Public Roads Bureau. He said that 43,000,000 cars and trucks vied for a place on America’s highways to-day, compared with 26,000,000 in 1930. “Any complacency we may have as to the adequacy of our roads to serve in peace or war is shattered by cold, hard facts.” Mr MacDonald continued. He felt that any attempt to hold up the programme to provide employment in the event of the depression would be a serious mistake. A survey showed the need for constructing 11,000 miles of main highways and bringing an additional 27,000 miles of the inter-state system up to the standard required to meet traffic needs. The bureau estimated that such a programme would require the expenditure of 11,000,000,000 dollars over the next 10 to 20 years.