[SunkenCiv]

Hadrian had a road built from the site of Antinoos (named after his catamite, who drowned there) on the Nile all the way across expanses of nowhere, over to the Red Sea, in an attempt to give the new artificial town some kind of economic life. It has been said that the only use of the road was by the construction workers who built it.

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[ovrtaxt]

in an attempt to give the new artificial town some kind of economic life.

Kind of like Rte 66 in reverse.

[Graymatter]

Hadrian's road from Antinoopolis to the Red Sea was intended to put the town on the map, economically, by establishing a rival to the main trade route along the Wadi Hammamat, the popular (and critical) trade route to Arabia and beyond.
According to some, it did put a dent in the rival. See page 35 here...

http://assets.cambridge.org/052147/1370/sample/0521471370web.pdf