Highway+Network+In+The+U.S.

=The United States Highway Network of The 1930's=

//A picture of a state highway in Pennsylvania in the early 1930's.// []

====The highway system in the 1930's was a lot less complicated than it is today. Today, there are many more state highways, county roads, and interstate highways than in the 1930's. Until the creation of [|Route 66], there were no effective direct routes across the country.====

There were a lot of dirt roads in the country, and roads with more than two lanes were very uncommon. State roads and highways took longer routes as cars became more streamlined.

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As more and more people turned to automobiles as their main mode of transportation, road conditions improved from dirt roads to gravel and even some paved roads. The condition of the roads generally got better over time.

As more and more state roads and highways were created, railroads saw a decline in passengers.

During the Great Depression, many people were out of work and couldn't afford a car or gas. However, to combat the joblessness and hard times, FDR put people to work creating new roads and expanding the highway system. To combat poor gas mileage in cars, car companies made their cars more streamlined for better aerodynamics and, in turn, better gas mileage. Companies became very inventive to create better features on automobiles to deal with the bad economy.

Sources: http://history.howstuffworks.com/american-history/great-depression-railroads3.htm
 * http://tinyurl.com/1930highways**