Key coverage
* Recounts the many attempts to promote substantial road improvement and new road planning in the first half of the 20th century
* Includes a reprint of Sir Frederick Cook's seminal report along with other papers reflecting the altered attitude to motorways
* An account of Harold Watkinson's contribution, who, though not the first to announce a motorway, did more than most Ministers of Transport to initiate the motorway programme
* Economic appraisal and forecasting techniques used
* The technical problems that had to be mastered in the persistent search for better value for money
* How the Transport Research Laboratory contributed to better safety through its interest in engineering, materials and design
* Chapter devoted to geometric design
