Traveling the Old Red Trail

ROAD IMPROVEMENTS SINCE 1917
Through time, roads did not stay in the same place. As road-building equipment improved, many roads could be run straighter. Sloughs and hills were no longer as a great a challenge to build on as they were in the past. These shorter and straighter roads reduced road maintenance and eliminated curves which made travel safer. In the early 1920s, a loop in the road west of Mandan was eliminated, reducing travel by six miles. In 1928 another seven miles of travel was reduced by eliminating curves in the far western part of the state.

The early roads in North Dakota were the responsibility of the counties and townships. In 1917 the State Highway Commission was created which was able to obtain additional funding from the federal government. Through the Commission, state roads (major highways) could be improved and they would also be uniform. However, this effort ground to a halt in 1918 because of World War I. By the early 1920s, after the conclusion of the war, not only was federal money available for road construction, but there was a lot of surplus war equipment, like heavy trucks, that could be used for road construction. The major problem was finding sufficient state funds necessary to match the federal funds. The money from automobile registrations did not generate enough money. This was solved in 1925 when a two-cent tax was placed on each gallon of gasoline sold in the state.

At the time, all of the roadbeds were still dirt but, by 1927, tar and oil was used on the roads surface along sections of eastern U.S. Highway 10 (the official name of the Red Line Trail in 1925). This surface, on top of loose gravel, resisted moisture and provided a smoother driving surface. By the end of the 1920s, most of the highway was covered with loose gravel. This gave the tires better traction in wet weather.

In the late 20s and early 30s, it was decided that the roadbed needed to be elevated above the surrounding land. The center of the road was built the highest and ditches were dug along it so that water could run off and collect in the ditches. This kept the roads dryer when it rained. During the winter months, winds could blow the snow off of the roads and accumulate in the ditches.

By the mid-1920s, highway fatalities were becoming a great concern. Ten percent of all fatal road accidents occurred at railroad crossings, where the road crossed railroad tracks. Highway 10 crossed the railroad tracks 39 times. To minimize this hazard, the road was altered so that by 1930 Highway 10 only crossed the track two times.

In the early 30s, to give the road more stability on frequently traveled areas of Highway 10, between Fargo and Casselton, contractors poured concrete on top of a thick gravel base which was reinforced with steel rods. In the sections of road around Valley City, Jamestown, and Bismarck, Highway 10 had a heavy coating of a mixture of oil and gravel.

By 1938, the entire route of Highway 10 was a hard-surface road. Other than maintenance, only minor changes were made changes were made for the next twenty years.