Federal Highway System Designation

Just as the railroad began to replace the horse and wagon, so a new means of transportation replaced the railroad; the automobile and the motor truck. As they rose to dominance, the face of the US-12 Heritage Trail changed once again, the focus returning to the road. Developing as the center of the automobile industry, Michigan became a leader in the good roads movement. Henry B. Joy, the president of the Packard Motor Car Company led the promotion of the first transcontinental highway. He petitioned Congress to develop a national plan to develop and improve the highway system. In response, Congress passed the Federal Aid Road Act of 1916. The act called for a system of highways that eventually would replace the railroad as the major means of surface transportation in this country.

As a result of this legislation, the Chicago Road became a part of the Federal Highway System as US-112, and paving began in the early 1920s. A new era had begun. Individual states organized Departments of Transportation and began a project of paving and building that in the following twenty years fostered more change than the entire preceding one hundred years. Bridge building was among the major projects undertaken during this time. The State of Michigan took a leading role developing standardized plans used for bridges throughout the state. One such plan was for the camelback, which was constructed only in Michigan and in Ontario, Canada. Several of these bridges spanned rivers along the Chicago Road. One particularly impressive bridge, circa 1922, still crosses the St. Joseph River in Mottville.

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