Sunday, August 29, 2021

The Importance of the Federal Road Act

Melloy Dodge would like to introduce you to the history of The Federal Road Act. For many decades, roads in the earlier centuries consisted of muddy trails just big enough for a horse and carriage. Not soon after the invention of the first gasoline-powered Motorwagen, by Karl Benz that you can read about here, people started to care more about roads than ever before. Since the 1900’s roads have been considered the state and local responsibility to repair, but that decision to do so was entirely up to them and oftentimes roads were not managed the way they should have been. 

Because of the lack of care roads were receiving, the federal government created the Office of Road Inquiry in 1893, for the sole purpose of advising state and local officials on the best method to improve and maintain their roads. The automobile industry and automotive consumers skyrocketed in the first part of the 1900s and the need for better roads became increasingly apparent. 

In 1902, Martin Dodge advocated for “federal aid” to states. After a bill was drafted, the federal aid bill was introduced to Congress in 1902. It stated that the federal government would cover 50% of the cost of the road, and the state would pay the other half as long as they agreed to the road contracts designed by the government and supervised the construction of said contracts. Of course, this meant that everyone had to pay taxes to cover the cost of road construction and upkeep, and not everyone was willing to pay. 

Ultimately, in 1916, Woodrow Wilson signed the act into law. This provided rural communities and cities with good roads. The act initially began at 75 million in federal money and 50/50 matching funds that would cover 6% of the state's roads over a 5 year period. Without this act, community growth and good roads would be way behind where it sits today. It’s really nice to drive on roads that are better than driving to work on all dirt roads, muddy and unmaintained!

Melloy Dodge continues to get new inventory daily, and if you are looking for something we don’t have in stock, we can order it! Let  Melloy Dodge work hard to make sure our customers have the vehicle of their dreams that can easily take them down new roads. 


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