section_path: Important technological developments/Transportation/Roads
section_name: Roads
paragraph_text: Roads
  
  France was known for having an excellent system of roads at the time of the Industrial Revolution; however, most of the roads on the European continent and in the UK were in bad condition and dangerously rutted. Much of the original British road system was poorly maintained by thousands of local parishes, but from the 1720s (and occasionally earlier) turnpike trusts were set up to charge tolls and maintain some roads. Increasing numbers of main roads were turnpiked from the 1750s to the extent that almost every main road in England and Wales was the responsibility of a turnpike trust. New engineered roads were built by John Metcalf, Thomas Telford and most notably John McAdam, with the first ' macadam ' stretch of road being Marsh Road at Ashton Gate, Bristol in 1816. The first macadam road in the U.S. was the "Boonsborough Turnpike Road" between Hagerstown and Boonsboro, Maryland in 1823.
  
  The major turnpikes radiated from London and were the means by which the Royal Mail was able to reach the rest of the country. Heavy goods transport on these roads was by means of slow, broad-wheeled carts hauled by teams of horses. Lighter goods were conveyed by smaller carts or by teams of packhorse. Stagecoaches carried the rich, and the less wealthy could pay to ride on carriers carts. Productivity of road transport increased greatly during the Industrial Revolution, and the cost of travel fell dramatically. Between 1690 and 1840 productivity almost tripled for long-distance carrying and increased four-fold in stage coaching.