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Chapter 4: Considerations in Defining Historic Roads 4-1 4.0 Considerations in Defining Historic Roads 4.1 Why Understanding Historic Significance Is Important A goal of this guidance is to demonstrate that the national objectives of providing a safe and efficient roadway system and preserving historic roads are not mutually exclusive and that both can be accomplished as part of keeping the nationâs streets and highways current, from Connecticutâs Merritt Parkway, a high volume regional corridor, to Tampa, Floridaâs brick- paved local streets. What distinguishes successful solutions that balance sound engineering with historic preservation is that they start with a well founded understanding of what specifically makes a particular road historically significant. Recognizing and understanding which physical features convey that historic significance and which do not provides the information needed to develop a balanced solution and use history as a meaningful factor in developing the final design rather than it being addressed as an afterthought or as mitigation for an adverse effect. A clear understanding of what makes a road historic generally leads to stakeholders' agreement on which physical features of the road or its setting are essential to retain to maintain historic significance and most need to be respected. It provides the data to appropriately integrate history into the project development process from the outset of planning, when the opportunities for history to have a positive effect on design outcomes is greatest, and throughout the project development and construction phases as an invaluable factor in decision making. When history is not well understood or not integrated from the outset of the planning process, balanced solutions where history matters are often more difficult to achieve. 4.2 Defining Historic Roads: Whose Definition of What? As straightforward as it appears, the concept of starting with a well founded understanding of what makes some roads historic, it can be difficult to achieve. Historic roads mean different things to different people. The result is that a variety of road types are considered âhistoricâ for a correspondingly variety of reasons. For example, a FHWA-designated scenic byway is valued for its pleasurable travel experience and for promoting heritage tourism. Other roads that are considered historic might include a route commemorating a historical event, such as the Washington-Rochambeau Trail from Rhode Island to Virginia or the Selma-to-Montgomery civil rights march in Alabama. They could include highways that retain innovative pre-World War II geometric design or are roads within manipulated landscapes such as a park road or parkway. Still others could be modern roads closely following historic trails like the Camino Real or a Kingâs Highway, or a route once designated as a pre-1927 tourist trail such as the Lincoln Highway across Americaâs heartland or the Dixie Highway from Michigan to Florida.
Chapter 4: Considerations in Defining Historic Roads 4-2 Historians, advocates, enthusiasts, preservationists, planners, engineers, and a host of others interested in old roads and routes have maintained a decades-long dialogue about which roads are historic and for what reasons, but there is no national consensus on either a consistently applied definition of historic roads or an understanding of how specific road-related features relate to conveying significance. One of the reasons contributing to no national consensus on defining historic roads is that many subscribe to the "new social historyâ that swept through historical scholarship starting in the 1960s. This viewpoint has makes it legitimate to study and value the patterns and material culture of everyday life, and by extension the preservation of everyday common things, from vernacular houses to roads. When the National Register Criteria for Evaluation were adopted over 45 years ago, there was yet a fairly strong consensus among historians about which historical themes and features of the built environment were the significant ones. Today, with a broadening of perspectives, there is far less consensus and a tendency in the preservation community and the public to place significance on almost any old and standing feature, including those associated with roads that are 50 years old and greater (Figure 4.1). 4.3 The Federal Definition of Historic These guidelines are a framework for advancing federally funded or permitted transportation projects involving historic roads. The appropriate definition of historic in this context is the federal one set forth in the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) of 1966. The act created the National Register of Historic Places, a listing of those buildings, structures, sites, objects, and districts that are considered worthy of preservation. Cultural resources such as historic roads are determined eligible for listing by developing historic contexts and then applying the National Register Criteria for Figure 4.1. Does the Road Convey Its Period of Significance? National Register listed or eligible resources are supposed to look like they did when they achieved their significance. Arizonaâs old US 80, then and now, illustrates the potential pitfalls of a long period of significance during which roadway design evolved significantly. Arizona considered all pre-1956 state highways eligible with no site-specific definition of what makes them significant. If the period of significance is from 1915 to 1955, which features of the road guide decisions for its improvement and maintenance? What is worthy of preservation? All features? Classifying all examples of a particular resource type as historic generally does not support the site specific decision making encouraged by this guidance where history matters.
Chapter 4: Considerations in Defining Historic Roads 4-3 Evaluation. Properties like roads and bridges or archaeological sites are considered historic or determined eligible for listing in the Register when they meet the criteria for evaluation. The criteria are applied using a protocol developed by the National Park Service (NPS) to identify those properties that have significance rather than those that simply are old and share a common history. Fortuitously, that well-established NPS evaluation process is founded on the same types of information that are useful in informing design and management decisions. That is, placing a road in its historic context in order to determine if it has significance and then using the research and analysis to define the most important physical attributes that convey why it is important. In other words, the current process to identify and support when a road meets or does not meet the federal definition of historic calls for the same analysis of what makes a road historic as that needed to achieve balanced designs where history is acknowledged in the planning and project development process. 4.4 What Kinds of Roads Meet the Federal Definition of Historic National Register Criteria for Evaluation are purposely broad in order to include all types of properties that have significance. The criteria are met by establishing significance and then meeting at least one of four specific criteria (A-D) and having enough integrity to convey that significance. The most common criteria applied to roads are Criteria A and C. Criteria A applies to those that have associations with events that have made a significant contribution to broad patterns of American history. For instance, roads determined historic because they meet Criterion A may once have carried significant tourist trails or memorial highway designations, like the Dixie Highway or the Lincoln Highway. They could be segments of early transcontinental routes like the Oregon Trail. Or they could be local roads that stimulated significant development, such as the 1924-25 Venetian Causeway across Biscayne Bay in Miami. Criterion C applies to those that are significant examples of technological development, are now rare examples of once-important roadway designs or contribute to historic districts. Under Criterion C, they may be engineered roads that incorporate important advances in highway engineering such as innovative paving treatments or proved influential in the evolution of interstate highway design. They could be scenic, landscaped parkways. Some roads are significant both for associations with events and for their engineering (Criteria A and C). One example is Oregonâs Columbia River Highway. Samuel C. Lancasterâs design philosophy of integrating the road into the landscape led to the National Park Service adopting its "Lying Lightly on the Landâ philosophy for national park roads beginning in the 1920s (Criterion A). Lancaster and other engineers designed the Columbia River Highway to high engineering standards that included maximum grades, minimum turning radii, reinforced- concrete bridges, drainage systems, and asphaltic concrete pavement (Criterion C). Finally, roads, along with other historic properties, can also be contributing features of historic districts, from downtown main streets to narrow, improved roads in rural areas.
Chapter 4: Considerations in Defining Historic Roads 4-4 National Register criteria for evaluation do not intend that old roads that do not meet current geometric standards and retain a historical feel are eligible and thus historic. To meet the criteria, significance must be established within appropriate historic contexts, and the roads must retain the ability to convey its significance through the aspects of integrity (Figure 4.2). How or why roads meet the federal definition of âhistoricâ needs to be supported by a complete and well founded synthesis of their significance compiled in accordance with National Register guidance specified in National Register Bulletin: How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation, also known as âBulletin 15.â Roads must have significant histories that are distinguishable from the common history shared by other roads. This is established through the development of historic contexts. The analysis should be founded on a thorough understanding and appropriate synthesis of primary and secondary sources and be site specific, establishing a clear link between the present appearance and the reasons for historic significance. Establishing that link is achieved by fairly and rigorously considering the aspects of the integrity that are a part of the criteria for evaluation. The National Register is a federal program implemented at the state level, so it is important to understand the predisposition of the state in which work is being conducted as perceptions of which roads may meet the criteria often vary from state to state. Definitions are often based on understandings that have been reached among state transportation agencies, state preservation offices, and historic roads advocates. Arizona, for example, had an interagency agreement that considers all pre-1955 state highways as historic for the potential information that they can yield. Very few states have this type of encompassing definition, and transportation agencies generally consider National Register eligibility based on road-specific assessments. Many states have undertaken research and evaluations to prepare historic contexts for development of their highway networks or have considered historic roads as part of inventories or surveys to identify historic bridges. Figure 4.2. When the Current Road Doesnât Match the Historic Significance. The Revere Beach Parkway began in the late 1890s as an Olmsted-designed, 30â-wide, two-lane carriage way from Boston proper to the beach. The 2007 National Register nomination focuses on its pre- automobile and early automobile improvements when in reality it is a dualized, post-1955 arterial highway. The period of significance for the road was taken to the 50-year cut off of 1957, but many highway features post-date even that later date. The historic significance justified in the nomination and how the road as it appears today is not consistent, and the information is of little use when advancing projects because it provides no guidance as to what specifically should be preserved to convey significance. The road appears to be old-in-name only.
Chapter 4: Considerations in Defining Historic Roads 4-5 4.5 Is it the Road Itself or Resources Beyond the Road that Makes it Historic? It is vital that those who prepare the documentation supporting why roads are historic are also able to interpret and identify specific road-related attributes that contribute to significance. Roads that meet the National Register of Historic Places criteria generally fall into one of two broad categories. One is that the road itself â its cross section and physical features located within a right- of-way â is historic. The other is when the road is located in a historic district/context and links properties beyond the right-of-way that are the basis of its historic significance. The road may or may not contribute to historic significance of the historic district. It is the relationship of the road to the historically significant features beyond the right of way that is notable, not the road in its own right. Such an example is the Ashley River Road Historic District in Charleston, South Carolina (Figure 4.3). The road connects a series of antebellum plantations, but it is a mid-20th century highway that is not historic and is not a contributing resource to the district with its pre-1861 period of significance. The reason for distinguishing roads as historic in their own right from those in historic districts/contexts is that they call for very different sets of preservation questions and design guidance. Under the National Register criteria, when roads are the significant resource, they are to be treated as historic structures where the physical attributes of the road strongly convey its significance. An example could be an early application of a significant paving material or a technologically significant engineering Figure 4.3. Ashley River Road Historic District (South Carolina). Ashley River Road outside of Charleston lends its name to the National Register-listed historic district of antebellum mansions that line the river, but it is not why the district is significant. The road links the houses that give the district its historic and architectural significance. The road itself is just a transportation corridor that connects the significant resources. It is not even listed in the nomination as a contributing resource to the district. In fact, during its antebellum period of significance, the river was the dominant transportation corridor. Research shows that Ashley River Road was widened, paved, curves and alignments improved, and all bridges replaced by the state from 1934 to 1960. It is, in comparison to the historic district, a modern facility. What is significant is not the geometric design of the current roadway but rather the relationship of the right of way, including orientation, to the historic properties adjoining it. The fabric of the road itself is not historic; it is what is beyond the right of way that is historic. Photograph J.P. Harshbarger.
Chapter 4: Considerations in Defining Historic Roads 4-6 achievement. In each of these cases, the physical attributes, engineered or evolved design and materials that are the basis for significance should inform design and preservation decisions. A projectâs purpose and need narrative can then address maintaining the historically significant features of the road as a desired outcome. The same understanding of significance can also serve as a measure in developing and evaluating alternatives that achieve the desired outcome. When roads are ancillary features of larger historic districts/contexts, the preservation issues generally change to ones of scale, texture, and relationship of the road to the beyond-the-road resources. Emphasis shifts to those qualities that make the setting significant rather than the road fabric itself. Roads in historic districts are generally not individually distinguished, but how they relate to the setting as a whole and how to maintain those attributes should be addressed in design solutions. With few exceptions, the emphasis for roads located in historic districts will be on the setting and preserving the relationship of the road to that setting, rather than the road itself as an artifact worthy of preservation. From a practical perspective, roads in National Register-eligible historic districts have been successfully dealt with for many years under the federal regulatory process. Proposed changes to the roads are assessed for their direct and secondary effects on the adjacent historic properties with appropriate measures taken to avoid, minimize or mitigate adverse effects. There are numerous examples where this has successfully been done in locally significant historic districts, from those with local significance like the Kings Highway Historic District in Princeton Township, New Jersey (Figure 5.9) to the nationally significant Route 1 Extension approach to the Holland Tunnel in New Jersey that is considered Americaâs first superhighway (Figure 4.4). Figure 4.4. In response to the need to accommodate traffic approaching the 1923 Holland Tunnel through an already congested part of Jersey City, the New Jersey State Highway Department applied the economic theories of railroad location to a vehicular highway and built Americaâs, and potentially the worldâs, first superhighway known historically as the Route One Extension. It is the quintessential engineered highway as it segregated through from local traffic and made provisions for changing grades along the limited-access, dualized highway that also passes through the Bergen Ridge as it approaches the at-grade tunnel portal. Most of its geometric features contribute to its historic significance. Because the highway was literally wedged into the existing fabric of Jersey City, the portion of the road from the tunnel to the south end of the Pulaski Skyway could not be widened. A completely new road on a new alignment (Jersey City Extension to the New Jersey Turnpike) was constructed in the 1950s to increase capacity. Its construction largely ensured that the historic road would retain its integrity. Photographer: Thomas Flagg.
Chapter 4: Considerations in Defining Historic Roads 4-7 It May Have Historic Significance, But Does It Possess the Integrity Needed to Convey Its Significance? Simply put, for properties to meet the federal definition of historic, they need to have the ability to convey their historic significance; it must possess integrity. The National Register Criteria for Evaluation recognize seven aspects or qualities that define when a property has integrity: location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association. The NPS protocol specifies in Bulletin 15 that "to retain historic integrity, a property will always possess several, and usually most, of the aspects.â If roads do not retain the aspects of integrity, then they do not meet the federal definition of historic (Figures 4.5, 4.6, 4.7). Assessment of integrity should be specific and address the physical attributes of roads as they exist today, including plan, profile, and roadside treatments. The analysis is particularly useful to the planning and project development process because it focuses on the relationship between historic significance and the essential features to convey that significance. To arrive at a reasonable assessment of integrity, alterations must be evaluated to determine if they changed the design, appearance, or workmanship of roads or compromised the technological and/or historic significance. Most roads represent an amalgam of design features that have evolved over time, often making assessment of integrity challenging. Evaluation requires applying an understanding of roads as structures, including a working vocabulary of their structural elements and how they relate, or do not relate, to their historic significance. If for instance a road is identified as a significant superhighway, emphasis should be placed on whether it retains the original balanced-design geometry of the travel lanes and limited-access features such as original overpasses and interchange geometry. If it is an evolved road, the geometric features determined to be the distinguishing characteristics from the period of Figure 4.5. When Integrity Is Lost, It Is Lost. The Maine Turnpike from Kittery north to Portland was the first toll road in America built after World War II. Its success at alleviating Maineâs summer tourist traffic tie ups and, more importantly, its financial success in using toll revenues to pay back construction costs at a rate that defied skeptics and the predictions of federal engineers, made it a major factor in persuading a dozen other states to build toll roads from the late 1940s to 1950s. While the historic significance of the Maine Turnpike was recognized, an assessment of its integrity found that the original design had largely been lost due to subsequent widening, modern shoulder and median improvements, reworking interchanges, and replacement of the original toll plazas. The turnpike was found not eligible for the National Register due to its lack of integrity.
Chapter 4: Considerations in Defining Historic Roads 4-8 significance need to remain. This can include cross section, edge of pavement treatment, intersection design, and horizontal and vertical profiles. Integrity of design and materials are generally the most important aspects for roads to retain because, by definition, they are composed of geometry, road and roadside treatments, and the technologies and materials used to build or maintain them. Since so much of the historic significance of roads is associated with their geometry, alterations to their geometric design and Figure 4.6. When Significance Is Associated With Past Events and Now Looks Entirely Different. The 100-mile-long, concrete-paved, two-lane trunk highway that traverses the length of Delaware was begun in 1908 by philanthropist T. Coleman DuPont, who built the road at his own expense. For the first time it provided the state with an all-weather paved highway connecting the rural southern part with the urban north (bottom view). The road has historic significance. Over the decades, it was repeatedly widened and evolved into a multi-lane highway (top view) owned and operated by the State of Delaware since 1917. Currently few physical features of the original highway remain, but the road is largely on the original location. It has important historic associations but little physical fabric that is more than 50 years old. Today the road continues to evolve and change to meet modern transportation needs and is widely recognized by the public as a road with historical qualities. Delaware DOT developed a context for the DuPont Highway in two counties with eligibility criteria established for associated features such as gas stations, restaurants, and motels, but the right of way itself has not been determined eligible. Historic view courtesy DelDOT; Contemporary view J.P. Harshbarger.
Chapter 4: Considerations in Defining Historic Roads 4-9 the roadside can mean that they do not have integrity, which is an all or none determination. To meet National Register criteria, both individually and as contributing resources to historic districts, roads should look like they did and function as they were intended when they achieved their significance (Figure 4.5). Upgrades like guide rails, pavement striping, lighting, or traffic signals added to keep roads current and are reversible without adverse effect to the historic fabric would be excluded for the integrity assessment. Of less importance are the aspects of workmanship and location. For most of the past century, the technologies used to build and maintain roads were largely national in application. Workmanship was generally standardized. Location was closely related to the roadsâ history because their purpose is to connect points, but roads generally remain on the same or very close to their original alignment/location. However location is relative considering that some roads are improved and/or reconstructed on the same location with significant changes to the center line, grade, and horizontal alignment, and roadside appliances in effect replacing all of the original design, materials, and workmanship. Some evaluations may discuss the importance of roads retaining their historic "feel,â but National Register guidance is clear that roads must retain more than the aspects of feeling and association in order to be determined to retain integrity. Feeling and association alone are not sufficient to possess integrity and thus meet the federal definition for historic roads. If the setting is considered an important aspect, then roads should most likely be considered as a feature in and contributing to historic districts. 4.6 Distinguishing Historic Significance from Historical Character When defining and supporting what distinguishing physical characteristics make roads historic, it is important to not confuse historical character with historic significance; they are different. Historical character, or "historic characterâ as is commonly used, is a vague term that is frequently interpreted to mean inclusion of nearly every attribution or quality that chronicles the Figure 4.7. Historic Roads Need to Have Integrity As Well As Significance. I-85 Business at Lexington, North Carolina, built in the early 1950s, was one of that stateâs earliest limited-access freeways and was subsequently taken into the interstate highway system. An assessment of its integrity was critical to understanding the road as a historic structure and the refinements in roadway geometry that made it a "superhighwayâ in its time. The interchanges were considered so novel in this rural state that the department issued instructions to drivers about how to use exit and entrance ramps. This photo illustrates the median and shoulder treatments that were features of the original design. The roadway has significance within the statewide context of post-World War II urban bypasses. It remains largely as originally designed and meets the aspects of integrity. Photograph J.P. Harshbarger
Chapter 4: Considerations in Defining Historic Roads 4-10 past. Historic significance is the supported reasons that makes a property important based on the historical record and analysis of its value within appropriate historic context(s). In Maryland State Highway Administrationâs scenic byways guidance, for example, historical character is taken to mean an "element of the road and roadside context that contribute to the bywayâs scenic and/or historic character.â This is not the same as what makes roads eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. The byways definition implies existing roadway features be "frozen in time.â The broad and subjective nature of the guidance could be taken to mean that any old geometric feature is preservation worthy, even when it has little to do with why historic roads are considered significant (Figure 4.8). As with any historic property, not all physical attributes are equally important in conveying or preserving its significance. Roads, like any other type of resources, have requisite features, like edge treatments, horizontal profiles, cross sections, and travel way surfaces, that must be present for them to be roads. Just because features are old does not mean they are significant. Recognizing the distinction between historical character and the specifics of why roads are historically significant is crucial to establishing a framework for developing effective preservation and maintenance treatments. Blurring the difference between the two concepts is often a source of confusion for engineers, planners, historians, and others because efforts to preserve historical character instead of the distinguishing features that convey historic significance lessens the opportunities for developing balanced solutions â ones where historic significance matters. 4.7 Determining Which Road Features Are the Significant and Essential Ones Just as the design of roads are site specific, so too is what makes them historic. Knowing which ones are essential is critical. Since history and its present Figure 4.8. Which Matters, Historical Character or Historic Significance? This 1968, four-level, interstate highway interchange in the greater New York City region was determined to have national significance and thus eligibility for the National Register of Historic Places because of its geometric design. Curiously, the determined eligible portion of the complicated interchange was limited to the bridges over the at-grade interstate highway; all approach roadway segments (ramps) were excluded. Since the significance of the roadway resource is its geometric design, the design of the railings/barriers has no bearing on its eligibility status. Since the barriers are not what make the geometric design historic, changing them should have no adverse effect. While the historical character will be different when a modern safety shape barrier is used instead of the open railings that were standard in 1968, what makes this property historic â the geometric design â has not changed. Photograph M. McCahon.
Chapter 4: Considerations in Defining Historic Roads 4-11 physical condition are generally specific to each transportation resource, identification of the distinguished features that are essential to maintaining historic significance needs to be done on a case-by-case basis rather than applying categorical assumptions. All features of roads should not be treated as equally significant simply because they are old and present. Additionally, the level of significance of both individual elements and the relationship of the road to its setting is different for different roads (Figure 4.9). While distinguishing characteristics do vary from road to road, how they are determined does not. They are the essential physical features that convey the supported and justified historic significance established by analysis of the historic record. For instance, at Paris Pike near Lexington, Kentucky, it was relationship of the evolved road to its historic district setting that mattered most, not the actual fabric of the road itself (Figure 3.5). For the Taconic State Parkway in New York, maintaining the rustic appearance of the original parkway design was most important when new roadside features needed to be placed (Figure 5.19). In both instances, design decisions for improving the historic roads were founded on a clear understanding of why each road is historic. As is often the case with roads located in historic districts or settings, that understanding of significance generally extends beyond the physical road itself to include its relationship to the resource as a whole. Roadway components can generally be grouped into plan, profile, structure, or associated features. The roadway plan consists of location and historical alignment. The profile is a synonym for those features that denote the vertical dimensions of roads, such as the pavement cross section, edge of pavement treatments, and paving material (Figure 4.9). Structures are bridges and tunnels designed to Figure 4.9. Understanding of Technological Significance Is Founded Knowing the Evolution of Highway Design. Evaluating the historic significance of Georgiaâs highway system included understanding the evolution of its four-lane with median (i.e., dualized) highways. The 1938 Atlanta-Marietta Highway (top) represented the stateâs transition from the 2-lane state highways of the 1920s and 1930s to those applying the principles of balanced design. The Atlanta- Marietta Highway was the stateâs pioneering, and thus historically significant, effort on the part of the state highway department to design a high-volume, high-speed highway. The historic context supported that most post-World War II dualized highways were not technologically significant because they were based on well established application of national design guidance developed by the federal Bureau of Public Roads in cooperation with AASHO. Source: Georgia Department of Transportation.
Chapter 4: Considerations in Defining Historic Roads 4-12 carry roads over, through, or under natural and manmade obstacles, and associated features include designed landscapes (e.g., parks or parkway reservations), toll booths, roadside barriers, and scenic pull offs to name a few. Tying all the components of a particular roadâs design back to why it is historic is how the distinguishing characteristics, and thus features essential to conveying significance, are determined. Many features, such as defined travel ways, unimproved shoulder treatments and intersections, are common to all roads. So explaining why particular features rise above the ordinary is important to providing complete and useful definition. Consequently it is helpful to consider the level of significance of roadway components within the context of different road types. There are three broad categories. They are general categories and are not necessarily mutually exclusive, but most historic roads will have attributes strongly associated with one of them. Planned/Engineered Roads; Pre-automobile or Early Automobile-era Road Segments; Evolved Roads The Planned/Engineered Road Planned or engineered roads are usually 20th-century highways, parkways, expressways, or superhighways that were built within discrete periods of time to plans that provided for relatively uniform geometry and appearance throughout its length and reflecting then-current design criteria. Engineered roads are often technologically significant representing significant advances in highway design (Criterion C) (Figure 4.10). They may also be historic for association with important events or trends in American history (Criterion A), like the Venetian Causeway in Miami that is recognized for its significance in planning and development. The rights-of-way may extend to include manipulated landscapes, providing corridors with significant naturalistic or scenic appearances, as in parkways or scenic parkways (Figure 2.2). Planned roads are usually the first roads that come to mind as historic roads because they provide a consistent appearance and are usually the least difficult of roads to define using National Register criteria because contexts, periods of significance, connectivity, and integrity are well documented by plans and other primary source materials. The distinguished characteristics are also generally clear, from the geometric elements that distinguish it to the treatment of the settings of parkways or the overall aesthetic used for roads.
Chapter 4: Considerations in Defining Historic Roads 4-13 Pre-automobile or Early Automobile-era Roads and Road Segments Pre-automobile or early automobile-era roads or road segments are usually bypassed, abandoned, or lightly traveled and have minimum levels of subsequent improvement. They may retain original paving material and geometric features, such as brick-paved streets or unimproved shoulders. While they may retain a high degree of integrity of design and materials, they may be discontinuous and greatly shortened from their original length (Figure 5.11). The segments may range from a few hundred feet to several miles or more. Supporting their significance as a Figure 4.10. Historic Planned/Engineered Road US 27/Fort Benning Road (Georgia) Significance: First balanced-design road in Georgia applying federal-developed concepts, influenced all later designs and set standard that would be used over and over again on all later dualized (four-lane with median) highways (Criterion C). Significance established through statewide historic context for dualized highways. Integrity: Since balanced design is source of historical significance, location, design and association are the important aspects of integrity to consider. Significant features of road: design philosophy: design controls - speed, sight distance, grade, control of access all balanced in relationship to one another. Reflected in vertical and horizontal alignment, cross-sections, curve radii, use of a median, and construction of grade separation bridges located at points where military post roads could have access to the high-speed highway. Less significant features are the original pavement, shoulder treatments, side slopes, and railings.
Chapter 4: Considerations in Defining Historic Roads 4-14 property type (Criterion C) is likely to require survey and comparison against other roads sharing similar contexts and physical features with preference given to those that have sufficient supportable significance and/or integrity. Other segments may be documented to have significance in association with noteworthy cross-state or cross-country early automobile tourist trails, such as designated routes of the Lincoln or Dixie highways that retain their pre-1927 appearance (Criterion A). Other roads may be a contributing feature that links historic properties like a main street through a downtown noted for its architectural and commercial significance (Criteria A and C). The essential features for pre-automobile roads need to convey the significance of that era and physically represent it. Evolved Roads Roads whose appearance has changed, or evolved, over time account for the vast majority of highway miles in the United States today. By one estimate, there are approximately two million linear miles of road on locations that have been in use for more than 100 years. Evolved roads were usually laid out early in a regionâs or a communityâs history and then adapted and upgraded over time to meet changing transportation needs and patterns as well as understandings about roadway design and maintenance. Evolved roads can date to non-motorized eras of travel and may exist on, or be approximate to, rights-of-way that have been in use for long periods of time. It is important to remember that they have likely been repeatedly straightened, re-graded, widened, re-paved, reconstructed, and/or improved with intersections and safety features, particularly if they are a major highway (Figure 4.6). The degree of alteration, and thus integrity, is often dependent on any number of variables. This includes, but is not limited to, climate, traffic volumes, the natural life cycles of the materials used, patterns of surrounding development, and the tendencies, preferences, and patterns of maintenance and improvement of various owners and managers. Evolved roads are an amalgam of engineered features that have accumulated over time. They are often not characteristic of a single period, design, or method of construction, and thus generally do not have technological significance under Criterion C (Figure 4.11). The reason(s) for their historic significance is likely to be their association with a pattern of events or historical trends that made significant contributions to the broad patterns of American history on the local or state level under Criterion A. To identify the distinguishing characteristics of an evolved road, which typically does not have specific construction dates and many have physical attributes from several eras, the years of the period of significance must be clearly defined and supported. For these reasons, it can be challenging to determine distinguishing characteristics from the simply old and extant features. Historic significance meeting Criterion A may be perceived to be strong, but the ability of the road to convey that significance to the years when it achieved its historic significance may be minimal, especially if the period of significance dates to the pre-automobile era and the road is still in service.
Chapter 4: Considerations in Defining Historic Roads 4-15 For both pre-automobile era and evolved roads, the assessment of integrity should include determining how much of the road lies on original right-of-way and center-line and how much does not, along with how much of the design and materials from the period of significance remain. Many pre-automobile and evolved roads that have strong historic associations may not have integrity. If roads have integrity of location, but not of design and materials, then thoughtful consideration should be given to assessing whether location, setting, association, and feeling alone are sufficient for them to be convey their significance and which of their remaining distinguished characteristics are worthy of preservation in order to convey that significance. âFreezingâ evolved roads by advocating for no changes runs counter to their historic contexts, especially if they have continued to evolve over the past 50 years in a reciprocal and ever- changing relationship to the environment they serve. Consideration should be given to whether it is appropriate to attempt to preserve roads to any one period over another or to emphasize the preservation of any one design feature over another rather than fostering a process that encourages the roadâs continuing evolution. 4.8 Strong Historical Connection Between In-Use Roads and Change Another important consideration in understanding the historic context of roads that remain in service is the strong historical connection between roads and change. Nearly all historic properties change over time â they must in order to remain viable for contemporary use. Most in-service roads, even historic ones, have changed, and their history reflects a continuum of change. From paving materials to superelevation of curves, modifications in cross section to improve drainage or treatment of the roadside, change is part of the historic context of roads, just as introducing plumbing or air conditioning to an old house is part of its historic context (Figure 4.11). Figure 4.11. The history of many historic roads is one of change. The iterations of US 80 across southern Arizona reflect the historical and technological evolution that is typical of important routes. In Arizona, all in use and abandoned segments of the pre-1956 state highways system have been determined to meet National Register criteria, meaning that they meet the federal definition of historic.
Chapter 4: Considerations in Defining Historic Roads 4-16 How that change has been accommodated is the important consideration when using the historic context of a road in developing designs for improvements. Historically when improvements were made to roads, from shoulder treatment to paving and number and width of lanes, they were generally forward-looking representing then-current design, technology, and aesthetics. When modern features must be introduced in historic settings or to upgrade historic roads, compatible contemporary design is generally preferable to conjectural or inexpensive interpretations of the past. Keeping highway designs current also perpetuates the true history of highway development in this country. 4.9 Use Historic Information Through the Entire Project These guidelines strongly encourage practitioners to use the well-established practice of applying the National Register criteria in accordance with National Park Service guidance to define historic roads. The research and analysis not only identifies roads that meet the federal definition of historic, it also provides the information about historic significance needed for the planning and project development process. In other words, both tasks use that same information to inform sound policy for advancing projects that can result in preservation of historic significance. Since the desire is for preservation of significance to be a proactive project objective, preserving significance defined in National Register eligibility evaluations will assist with assessing effects. If significance can be preserved, then alterations to other components of the roadway may not have an adverse effect and history will become an integrated component of a balanced solution rather than a treatment added to mitigate adverse effects. Enumerating and explaining the specific features that make a specific road historic is most useful when it is done in a manner to support the entire planning and project development process, not just the identification of historic properties phase. It takes effort to do the research and understand the relationship of the physical features to conveying and maintaining historic significance. However without it, the history and historic context of roads are not likely to be preserved. This information is most beneficial to the planning and project development process if it is compiled and integrated into the project development process as early as practical. When all stakeholders understand what makes roads historic and which features are essential to maintaining that significance, the information can then serve as a critical and meaningful evaluation measure throughout the planning and design processes. Otherwise, and too often the case, consideration of history ends up being added at the end as mitigation rather than being a meaningful factor in developing a balanced solution. Despite over 50 years of practice using the National Register criteria to define historic for federally funded and permitted projects, to many the term "historicâ still means something other than meeting National Register criteria. Mixing those perceptions with the federal definition can complicate using historic significance to shape an outcome where history matters. This is particularly true when historic significance is equated with achieving outcomes like promoting heritage tourism, beautification, scenic conservation, farmland conservation, or limiting growth
Chapter 4: Considerations in Defining Historic Roads 4-17 and development. Since the intent of the National Historic Preservation Act and its role in the overall NEPA process is preservation of historic properties, it is important to stay focused on history, not other objectives (Figure 3.4). 4.10 Considerations for Making Historic Information Most Useful to the Planning and Project Development Process Recognize that while the National Register Criteria for Evaluation support considerable latitude in defining a wide variety of road types as historic, justification of significance needs to be founded on sound scholarship and understanding of historic contexts along with a reasonable assessment of integrity to convey that significance. If features have been lost, they are indeed gone, and they should not be used to support historic significance or maintaining the aspects of integrity. This is especially important for roads having associative significance under Criterion A (Figures 4.2, 4.5, 4.6). Recognize that transportation resources are not the same as discrete historic properties because they are systems, not places. Since the historic purpose of public roads has largely been for the movement of goods and people, they are generally part of larger networks of roads that are dependent on connectivity for their significance and integrity. This means that roads are best looked at in total, not just segments that come into agency work plans. Additionally, most roads are dynamic resources subject to upgrading, incremental improvements and maintenance to keep them in service. Defining historic significance of roads has credibility with all stakeholders when the analysis reflects an understanding of the historical evolution of road design context and maintenance over time. This includes acknowledging that most components of roads are based on standardization of values and details that were common to the era when the road was constructed or improved. The "as-isâ appearance of a road does not in and of itself lessen its historic significance, but it does mean that historic contexts to establish significance and integrity will be critical to the analysis and application of the National Register criteria. For historic districts, it is important to define specifically how roads contribute or do not contribute to its historic significance. Is it the road itself or relationships to resources beyond the right of way that is significant? How do roads relate to and contribute to the historic significance of the district? In some instances, the road may serve as the linkage for the properties that give the district its historic significance, and they do not contribute to that significance. In other instances, they are determined to be contributing to a historic district or context not because of their historic or technological significance but because they are located within the district, were built during its period of significance, and retain their appearance from the districtâs period of significance. Since historic districts are based on the concept of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts, properties that make up the district can generally accommodate a higher
Chapter 4: Considerations in Defining Historic Roads 4-18 degree of alteration than properties that are individually historic. Consequently, the aspects of integrity are generally less stringently applied to the resources that make up historic districts. Evaluations should be founded on specific information relevant to existing characteristics of the road or setting under consideration. Determining entire classes, systems, or types of roads stretching over hundreds of miles as meeting the National Register criteria and thus considered historic generally does not provide the specific information needed to build consensus on historic significance or develop appropriate treatments. Such categorical definitions of historic significance, like all pre-1955 state highways or all parkways in a particular state or all iterations of tourist trails because they once carried a trail designation, are considered by some practitioners to defeat the purpose of the site specific analysis needed to support informed and balanced decision making. When such information is absent, it can extend the environmental review process, especially Section 4(f) evaluations, to properties that do not merit that level of consideration. (Figure 4.11). Avoid defining all roadway features as distinguishing characteristics essential to conveying significance in order to avert change. This approach is generally unfounded and counterproductive unless the road is located within an entirely protected and controlled environment and preservation or restoration of the original design is the objective. Roads do change over time, as do many other types of historic properties, and not all physical features are equally important to conveying significance. 4.11 Examples of How Specific Roads Meet National Register Criteria Criterion A: Made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of American History, which are usually trends or events supported by a historic context. The trend or event must be clearly important, not just old and maintaining its old appearance. Route 66 Segments (Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California) â significant for its association with popular culture Oregon Trail Segments (Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon) â significant to 19th century westward migration. Dixie Highway in Mitchell County (Georgia) -- significant as examples of pre-1927 geometric design of first generation of paved state highways. Venetian Causeway (Florida) -- significant in community planning and development in Miami as it linked filled islands for residential development in Biscayne Bay. Jefferson Downtown Historic District (Georgia) -- significant because the main street contributes to the physical attributes of the mid-19th century through 1940 commercial and residential center of the town. District also meets criterion C.
Chapter 4: Considerations in Defining Historic Roads 4-19 Columbia River Highway (Oregon) â significant as the first scenic highway in the United States. It is the prototype for the National Park Serviceâs "lying lightly on the landâ philosophy for their park roads starting in the 1920s. Criterion B: That are associated with the lives of significant persons, and are generally those that best represent the personâs historic contributions. The significance must be direct, not a posthumous memorial designation, such as the highway named after a deceased political figure. The works of most highway engineers are better recognized under Criterion C. Long Island Expressways (New York) â significant for association with Robert Moses who transformed the outer boroughs and Long Island by planning and constructing a network of parkways and expressways and major river crossings. Criterion C: Embody distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction, represent the work of a master or possess high artistic merit, or are, like many roads, significant and distinguishable entities (a historic district); in other words, properties significant for their physical design or construction. Route One Extension (New Jersey) â significant for technologically innovative limited- access highway that set the national standard. Merritt Parkway (Connecticut) â significant as an engineered parkway with high artistic merit. Early Dualized Expressways (North Carolina) -- significant for their road design technology as the earliest limited-access highways in the state. Olcott Avenue Historic District (New Jersey) -- significant as a historic district in areas of community planning and development, education, and architecture under criteria A and C. Road linking resources serves as name, but historic significance is founded on properties beyond the right of way. Because they retain their appearance from the districtâs period of significance, local streets are contributing resources. Criterion D is for archaeological sites likely to yield information important in historic or prehistory. It generally is not applied to active roads because the road itself is not the important source of information about its construction and appearance. Automobile-era roads are generally not treated as archaeological resources. They are largely a 20th-century artifact, and there are many documentary sources of information about the original construction, maintenance, or improvement of automobile-era roads, including plans, design standards, photographs, maintenance records, agency reports, and the administrative record. It is not likely that a motor
Chapter 4: Considerations in Defining Historic Roads 4-20 road is itself the primary source of information important to its history, but the criterion can be applicable to ancient roads. Considerations in Defining Historic Roads Sources Seely, Bruce E. Building the American Highway System Engineers As Policy Makers. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1987. U.S. Department of the Interior. National Register Bulletin 15 How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation. 1990, rev. 1991. U. S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration. Americaâs Highways 1770-1976. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1976.
