Building the American Highway System: Engineers as Policy Makers

The Bureau of Public Roads (BPR) has played a central role in the development of public roads and the national highway system in the United States. From an initial concern for farm-to-market roads, to a focus on a federal-aid system of primary and secondary highways, to its final concern for a network of high-speed intercity expressways, federal highway engineers have acted as the arbiters of American highway development. Seely investigates the influence that the BPR established from 1890 through 1956 a probing account of an instance where science prevailed over democracy, essentially because Americans were confident that the engineers could resolve even the most complex problems.