Predecessors to today's modern highways include the foot trails and portages used by indigenous peoples in the time before European settlement. Shortly after the creation of the Province of Upper Canada in 1791, the new government under John Graves Simcoe built overland military roads to supplement water-based transportation, including Yonge Street and Dundas Street. At the time, road construction was under the control of the township and county governments. Local township roads were financed and constructed through a statute labor system that required landowners to make improvements in lieu of taxes. Private companies constructed corduroy and later plank roads and charged tolls in the second half of the 19th century. The rising popularity of the bicycle led to the formation of Ontario Good Roads Association, which advocated for the improvement of roads and recreation as the automobile rose to prominence.