Construction on state roads was progressing slowly because of a lack of funding. Noble proposed the state borrow money to speed the construction process, but the legislature rejected his proposal. He also recommended the creation of an Internal Improvement Board to coordinate the projects and possibly reduce costs through better organization and purchase of supplies in bulk, but again the General Assembly rejected the proposal, and instead kept the projects operating under several different project boards. His first term passed with little advancement on the internal improvement front because the representatives from southern part of the state blocked any large-scale plans on the grounds that such projects would have little value for their constituents since most of the projects would be in the central part of the state.