[Alberta's Child]

There's one big problem with this kind of approach. States will have no real incentive to do any new construction or long-term maintenance on roads through rural areas that connect to the interior of the country. If this doesn't sound plausible, it's important to realize that the earliest pressure in Washington for Federal transportation funding came all the way back in the very early 1800s. The first National Road was constructed as part of the agreement through which Ohio was admitted to the Union in 1803. It's no coincidence that the first Federal roads were being built when the first regions with no coastline on the Atlantic Ocean were joining the United States.

This is also (not coincidentally) the same reason why the strongest opposition to this "devolvement" transportation spending strategy comes from Republican Senators representing interior states.

[who_would_fardels_bear]

It would make sense to keep roadbuilding at the federal level if they were planning to continue to expand the federal network of roads, but they aren't.

Pretty much all they're planning on doing is maintaining what exists and adding in some stupid trains.

If that's the case then the responsibility for maintaining roads and bridges should fall back to the states.

If a state chooses not to maintain its roads then truck traffic will avoid it, tourists will avoid it, etc.

The market should be able to keep states honest and maintain reasonable roads if they want to keep their own people happy and business thriving.

[BfloGuy]

the earliest pressure in Washington for Federal transportation funding came all the way back in the very early 1800s

There has always been pressure for more federal spending and there always will be. It should be resisted.

The states can work these things out amongst themselves. The pressure to fund the roads you speak of will come from constituents just as it does now.

The federal government is not wiser or more far-seeing than the state governments.

[hinckley buzzard]

You are right the National Road was conceived and begun by Jefferson to facilitate settlement of the frontier, which at that time was the west side of the Appalachian mountains. Relic segments of the National Road can still be found in Ohio and Indiana, paralleled by federal route 40 and I-70.

The federal government was also involved in building canals connecting the Great lakes and rivers in the Ohio valley and points west. All this was provided for in the Constitution, plainly because they crossed state boundaries. States built their own intrastate roads of course and still do today.