ROADS WERE NOT BUILT FOR CARS
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Motorists assume the roads were built for them, but it was cyclists who first lobbied for smoother, harder, faster roads 19TH CENTURY CYCLISTS PAVED THE WAY FOR BETTER ROADS
Wooden hobbyhorses evolved into velocipedes; velocipedes evolved into safety bicycles; safety bicycles evolved into automobiles. I t ’s w e l l k n o w n t h a t t h e automotive industry grew from seeds planted in the fertile soil that was the late 19th century bicycle market. And to many motorists it’s back in the 19th century that bicycles belong. Cars are deemed to be modern; bicycles are Victorian. Many motorists also assume that roads were built for them. In fact, cars are the johnnycome-latelies of highways. The hard, flat road surfaces we take for granted are relatively new. Asphalt surfaces weren't widespread until the 1930s. So, are motorists to thank for this smoothness? No. The improvement of roads was first lobbied for – and paid for – by cycling organisations. In the UK and the US, cyclists lobbied for better road surfaces for a full 30 years before motoring organisations did the same. Cyclists were ahead of their time.
When railways took off from the 1840s, the coaching trade died, leaving roads almost unused and in poor condition. Cyclists were the first vehicle operators in a generation to go on long journeys, town to town. Cyclists helped save many roads from being grubbed up. Rural roads were unsurfaced and would be the colour of the local stone. Many 19th century authors waxed lyrical about the varied and beautiful colours of British roads. C y c l i n g org anisations, such as Cyclists’ Touring Club in the UK and League of A m e r i c a n Wheelmen (LAW) in the US, lobbied county surveyors and politicians to build better roads. The US Good Roads movement, set up by LAW, was highly influential. LAW once had the then US president turn up at its annual general meeting. The CTC created the RIA in 1885 and, in 1886, organised the first ever Roads Conference in Britain. With patronage – and cash – from aristocrats and royals, the CTC
published pamphlets on road design and how to create better road surfaces. County surveyors took this on board (some were CTC members) and started to improve local roads. Even though it was started and paid for by cyclists, the RIA stressed from its foundation that it was lobbying for better roads to be used by all, not just cyclists. By the early 1900s most British motorists had forgotten about the debt they owed to prehistoric track builders, the Romans, turnpike trusts, John McAdam, Thomas Telford and bicyclists. Before even one road had been built with motorcars in mind, motorists assumed the mantle of overlords of the road. A satirical verse in Punch magazine of 1907 summed up this attitude from some drivers: “The roads were made for me; years ago they were made. Wise rulers saw me coming and made roads. Now that I am come they go on making roads – making them up. I dislocate the traffic. But I am the Traffic.”
RoadsWereNotBuiltForCars.com (due online soon)