When the Federal Aid Road Act of 1916 was signed into law the Nebraska Legislature wasted no time and appropriated $640,000 (equivalent to $ in ) to match the appropriation from the Federal Road Fund and authorized the State Board of Irrigation, Highways, and Draining (a predecessor to the Department of Roads) to begin construction. As part of this, the board worked with county officials to devise a plan to connect all county seats in the state with approximately of highways. During the 1920s the state began to lay gravel for state highways and by the end of the decade ranked 14th in the nation in state highway mileage that was graveled or better.