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Show IMPROVEMENT ON LINCOLN HIGHWAY Twelve j-pars ago when the Lincoln highway was laid out across the continent, con-tinent, motor vehicle traffic was not a problem. Heavy through passenger traffic was then foreseen by but a few and interurban freight transportation was a dream. But the founders of the Lincoln highway, with a vision of the present marvelous development of highway transportation, endeavored to set an example In the routing of the Lincoln highway by leading it around or near. Instead of through large centers along the line. This policy, far from meeting with the approval of the authorities or the business men of the communities near the projected route, raised a storm of disapproval. Every community between New York and San Francisco near the line selected se-lected for the first transcontinental highway fought with avidity to have the route marked to follow through its main streets through the heart of Its downtown district. In later years, as realinement on the route became possible and the original location was slightly revised here and there in the process of shortening, many communities originally incorpor- t ated on the route were by-passed and In each instance the association's board was deluged with protestations, visited by committees, and strongly censured when it held to Its original policy of missing every community possible. It Is difficult to estimate to what extent ex-tent the progress of improvement on the Lincoln highway has been delayed in some states through the antagon- ' ism or apathy developed in certain influential centers of population because be-cause the route did not exactly bisect the buiness communities of such centers cen-ters and pass the doors of the business busi-ness establishments. It is interesting to note how the passage of years and the development of American highways and highway transport have changed the municipal attitude toward through route construction con-struction and alinement. There is hardly a metropolitan center along the Lincoln highway now which is not making a strenuous effort to provide adequate by-passes for the tremendous tremen-dous volume of travel which it is now recognized should not be allowed to add to the growing congestion of busy business streets. City planning commissions everywhere every-where are urging the opening and broadening of through arteries traversing trav-ersing the edges rather than the centers cen-ters of metropolitan areas. American cities have had a tendency to centralize cen-tralize along a first main business street and later along a few such streets. Few of them are laid out with any eye toward decentralization of traffic and a great problem lies before be-fore American communities in taking steps now to take care of the still greater coming traffic. |