Road Block

foreign [Music] canada is a nation on wheels we have more than three million automobiles that's one vehicle for every five people there are enough in canada to transport the entire population of this dominion at one time we are a nation on wheels thousands of cars and buses get thousands of us to work every day and on sunday they get thousands of us to and from church thousands of trucks deliver our goods tons and tons of it day and night still other vehicles protect our lives and our property [Applause] [Music] and help keep vital public services operating and when our cars are not working for us they're trying their best to give us a lot of pleasure so you can see we are a nation on wheels wheels made to roll [Music] but do they these aren't and in the car are men who will be late for work these aren't and that load of goods is urgently needed at its destination in all the cars and buses and trucks in traffic jams all over the country are countless people people and goods urgently needed at their destinations but at their destinations there is almost sure to be still more time wasted trying to find a place to park whether it be in a big city or any one of the thousands of smaller communities from coast to coast every snarl of traffic that slows our wheels slows the work of the nation just that much maybe you think this happens only in the cities and small towns well then let's get out of this jam it's sunday now why not pack a lunch and take mom and the kids let's head for the open road squat open roads [Music] try to find one besides congestion the toll of deaths injuries and property damage due to accidents has reached shocking proportions [Music] what's the matter anyway what's happening to us and our nation on fields there are over half a million miles of highway in canada 85 of the people who travel from city to city travel by highway 675 million people last year alone [Music] our food moves by highway more than half the total volume of all farm products goes to market by highway and practically everything the farmer needs moves by highway transportation industry would be crippled without truck transportation [Music] in times of national emergency our reliance on highway transportation is critically important up to 75 percent of the materials and supplies shipped to and from defense plants is handled by trucks three out of four defense workers use motor vehicles to get to work motor transport is a key factor in the strength and mobility of our armed forces only a nation with the industrial capacity to make a great number of automotive vehicles can support a modern army in canada we have that capacity a production system that has made possible the mass production of highly efficient reasonably priced vehicles our highways are tremendously important there's no question about that and they have been built largely by the efforts of the highway pioneers who launched the good roads movement they got us out of the mud and started the tremendous boom of road building in the twenties since then we have spent billions of dollars to make our highways a major nerve system of transportation but what happened why the roadblock today here is the plain truth our present highway system is not equal to the job we're asking it to do today why in the first place most of our highways were not designed for today's volume and kind of traffic in the second place many of them are worn out we have modern rolling stock but the highways they roll on are obsolete they slow down and endanger traffic because of restricted visibility narrow lanes sharp curves steep grades soft or narrow shoulders dangerous and congested intersections cramped underpasses narrow and low capacity bridges lack of necessary railroad grade separations too many entrances to main highways from roadside establishments and no standardization of highway traffic signs markings and signals in cities out-of-date street systems are threatening to cause complete stagnation of traffic this congestion is irritating and costly to operators of cars trucks and buses particularly serious is the enormous cost of time lost in traffic jams one major problem is the lack of well-located and well-designed express routes for heavy traffic movements within and through cities another is the shortage of parking and loading space which not only inconveniences those who require it but also adds to general congestion traffic is further handicapped by badly designed intersections which contribute to confusion delay and accidents and as traffic continues to increase our highway problems multiply it is perfectly clear that we have got to provide more space for the movement and parking of motor vehicles and more freedom from driving hazards caused by highway deficiencies it's a real job it can be done of course but to do it we've got to look deeply into the reasons why our highway system has gotten us into such a muddle let's find out about this roadblock many of our roads are just plain worn out highways constructed during the road building boom of the 20s were planned for life expectancies ranging from 15 to 30 years their number is up the job of just maintaining our highways is swamping us because we unwisely considered highways expendable during world war two and let too many of them go to pot right now each province is doing more than ever before on road building but even this is inadequate at this record rate it's going to take canada another 10 years before highways get anywhere near an adequate level of efficiency much of the money now being spent could have been used for necessary new construction if we had not let our roads deteriorate so badly we have let our city streets become bottlenecks we have done little to develop them into systems designed to meet the requirements of today's motor vehicle traffic the big highway construction program of the twenties which gave us most of the roads we are now using was aimed at the requirements of that time not of today the obvious urgent need then was for improved surfaces on existing roads the idea of redesigning highways to make them adequate for much greater traffic demands did not occur to most people simply because few foresaw the tremendous growth of automotive transportation which was just ahead we're suffering from growing pains since 1939 the total mileage of all roads in canada has increased about 13 percent in the same period of time the number of cars on those roads has increased 60 percent this greatly increased traffic is wearing out and obsoleting our highways faster than ever before the problem can be solved of course but to do it we've got to look into the reasons why we are in this fix we have asked mr c.w gilchrist managing director of the canadian good roads association to explain some of the reasons why we are facing a crisis in our roads yes indeed the problem can be solved the canadian good roads association has given a great deal of thought to finding an answer to the highway riddle as a matter of fact only last year we appointed a committee of experts to go into the whole problem and they came up with this report their findings support the fact that there is a crisis now i should like to tell you some important conclusions now here is the first and perhaps one of the most important facts many of our roads are dying or have died of old age remember a lot of them were built in the 1920s and just can't take today's traffic they're wearing out faster than they can be replaced our automobile population has doubled in the past 10 years traffic has swamped us we never expected we would have three million cars buses and trucks on the roads today we were completely unprepared for the flood of post-war cars the great increase in traffic in the past two decades has been accompanied by events over which we have had no control we have had one major economic depression and one world war during this time road building was almost entirely suspended during these two periods in 1932 we were in the depths of a depression in 1942 we were at war and in 1952 expenditures on roads were beginning to pick up but we're still lagging far behind national needs now this neglect is costing us dearly six canadians are killed each day of the week and year another 100 are injured one hundred million dollars worth of property is lost each year in highway traffic accidents millions of dollars are wasted in time-consuming delays and parking difficulties without the buses trucks and passenger automobiles that work for us our complex society would break down fourteen thousand communities in canada depend entirely upon highways for transportation and communication modern farming could not exist without roads the farmer takes his produce to market by truck as an example seventy percent of all livestock and ninety five percent of all milk is carried to market by truck he receives his supplies almost entirely by truck and his personal automobile is a means of getting around with speed and convenience an army could not move without a great variety and number of motor vehicles motor vehicles and highway transportation are indispensable for defense we must therefore have good roads and strong bridges we must have roads to serve the widely dispersed plants making defense materials all civil defense plans the exchange of mutual services in an emergency and evacuation of populations depend upon roads or roads cannot be knocked out from the air industrial plants across the country are linked by road assembly plants are sometimes hundreds of miles away from the plants where parts are made and the parts are carried by truck workers too depend upon cars and buses to get them to work in some areas much has been done to break up the traffic jam and improve roads but in the final analysis there is only one cure the complete modernization of our highway system i don't need to tell you that this would cost us a great deal of money it is estimated that to modernize our highways during the next ten years would cost us four billion dollars highways like everything else these days cost more money our dollar doesn't go as far as it used to we want to be sure we spend our money wisely we want to use the most effective most modern and most economical methods we believe that we must find out a great deal more about our problems one way of doing this is through systematic research our association is sponsoring the canadian highway research institute for this purpose the institute will bring together the results of road research from all over the world so that canadian road builders may have at their fingertips the latest information on roads we of canada must understand what good roads mean to us they mean more tourist dollars hundreds of millions of tourist dollars good roads mean a greater development of our natural resources they speed our entire economy and mean more dollars in the pockets of all of us if you and i talk about the road problem interest others in this crying need and let our stand to be known to local provincial and federal authorities those authorities will know that they have real public support for a great road modernization program it is your problem mr and mrs canada are you willing to do something about it thank you mr gilchrist and thanks to the canadian good roads association for helping us see the need for a modern street and highway system it is encouraging to discover here and there evidence of such planning and to see some construction going forward on great new highways and on arterial city streets the municipal and provincial authorities who with courage and vision are solving today's traffic problems and tomorrow's traffic needs are making life better for all of us there is not one of us who does not heartily approve the idea of a transcanada highway portions of which are now under construction it is a vital need today this growing nation of ours will need more and still more great highways across our land if we are to prosper in the future are we to allow our present costly exasperating and perilous traffic muddle and roadblock to continue into the future without prompt action it will grow worse with every passing day stifling our growth imperiling our defense and complicating our living no we will not we must not and we will get rid of our roadblock solve our traffic problems and build an open road to a great and happy future [Music] you