Can you cite this. Make an actual proof that government is needed to build roads.
The linked answer is quite feeble.
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1Disproof by counter-example. Privately built roads do exist. For instance, hereabouts there is the northern portion of "USA Parkway" (now Nevada 439) which was privately supported to support a commercial development: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nevada_State_Route_439 Likewise, there are a number of roads (basically anything called "XX Grade) built in the early mining days. Some have been abandoned, others became state highways.– jamesqfOct 4, 2019 at 2:00
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Historically on the East Coast of the U.S. there were roads that were privately held and the property owner could be sued for damages related to poorly maintained roads. Most of these pre-date the automobile. I personally was on one that had been preserved as a trail in a nature park. Throughout the nation, many roads followed Native American trails that pre-date contact with Europeans. The most famous of these include segments of the famous Route 66, including the Oatman Highway segments in Oatman, Arizona, which are the oldest part of the road's routing.– hszmvOct 7, 2019 at 14:49
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Another note about Route 66: The highway is no longer in official use in the United States, but because it was an important cultural landmark in the United States, and is featured in numerous songs, liturature, movies (as recently as Cars) in the 20th century and even the birth place of the McDonald's chain. As such, the route exists today mostly due to the work of preservation societies, present in all 8 states with a portion of the route running through it. While the government has funded it, it's only in the form of matching grants to these non-profits.+– hszmvOct 7, 2019 at 14:55
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Finally, the United States has a pretty active "adopt a highway" program, which allows private organizations to adopt a stretch of roadway for which they are responsible for keeping clean and beautiful, in exchange for publicity for their organization, be it churches, scouting, or other associations. Perhaps the most bizarre instant of this was the KKK applied for a highway and because the rules were content neutral, had to be permitted to have a highway to do it, but someone in the program got a little cheeky, which is why the Rosa Parks memorial Highway is proudly supported by the KKK.– hszmvOct 7, 2019 at 14:59
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1 Answer
Private roads exist, and roads existed before modern government. So the simple answer to the question as it is posed here is clearly no, government is not strictly necessary to build roads.
However, if we're talking about societies where automobiles are widely owned, then without exception, government plays a central role in organizing and funding the construction and maintenance of the primary road system as a whole. Roads are one of the most basic public goods. Where there is poor governance, there are poor roads and vice versa. Private companies do not step in to improve the roads independently. Even where major modern highways are privatized, their development is always organized by governments.
