Highway - History

History

Modern highway systems developed in the 20th century as the automobile gained popularity. The world's first limited access road was constructed in Italy in 1922 (see autostrade). Construction of the Bonn–Cologne autobahn began in 1929 and was opened in 1932 by the mayor of Cologne, Konrad Adenauer.

In the USA The Federal Aid Highway Act of 1921 (Phipps Act) enacted a fund to create an extensive highway system. In 1922, the first blueprint for a national highway system (the Pershing Map) was published. The Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 allocated $25 billion for the construction of the 41,000 miles (66,000 km) long Interstate Highway System over a 20-year period.

In Great Britain the Special Roads Act 1949 provided the legislative basis for roads for restricted classes of vehicles and non-standard or no speed limits applied (later mostly termed motorways but now with speed limits not exceeding 70mph); in terms of general road law this legislation overturned the usual principle that a road available to vehicular traffic was also available to horse or pedestrian traffic as is usually the only practical change when non-motorways are reclassified as special roads. The first section of motorway in the UK opened in 1958 (part of the M6 motorway) and then in 1959 the first section of the M1 motorway.