|
The
people that developed this web site
have a passion for roads. They see
our highways as more than just the
connecting structure between our
cities, towns and people. They obviously
thrive on presenting facts and pictures
that in sum tell an interesting story.
There is no great written treatise
here that would give you a deep understanding
about how roads have affected our
society. No studies or erudite analysis
of the effects highways have had
on our culture or economy. There’s
just a museum like collection of
stuff about roads. Lots of stuff.
The
site has little in the way of organizational
structure or intuitively obvious navigation.
It is more like a collection of hundreds of
pictures loosely categorized by geographic
location. The authors invite viewers to send
in pictures of locations past and present and
then find a place on the site to put them.
One key to enjoying the site is picking locations
and piecing together the story that explains
the pictures.
For example
California’s famous Route
101 has a long and varied history. If you would
like to know where it starts and ends today
versus 50 years ago you can find out. In the
process you will discover that much of the
route has disappeared as Interstate 5 used
the right of way. In San Diego much of the
old 101 is used as a business route even though
it was the main road to the Mexican border.
Pictures will kindle your memories if you motored
on 101 before the I5 was built.
If you care
to see what the license plate from each U.S.
state looks like, you’ll
find them here. The Interstate numbering system
is explained along with data on what new Interstates
are planned. There are dozens of links to other
web sites, some by amateurs, some by authoritative
or government sources. A good way to see what
the site has to offer is to click to the Site
Map and view the long list of available information
pages.
For anyone wanting to plan a road trip to
explore and enjoy motoring I recommend the
section titled AA Road Trips. There you will
find route information and pictures of what
you might expect to see. Take a look at this
site and enjoy the trip.
|
