Farm-to-market road
In the United States, afarm-to-market roadorranch-to-market road(sometimesfarm roadorranch roadfor short) is astate highwayorcounty roadthat connectsruraloragriculturalareas tomarket towns.These are better-quality roads, usually ahighway,thatfarmersandranchersuse to transport products to market towns or distribution centers. Historically used throughout the country, today the term is primarily associated with a large state-maintained highway system inTexas.
History
[edit]By 1930, counties and townships across the U.S. had built a large number of farm-to-market roads, many of which were in need of repairs and safety improvements. The Chief of theBureau of Public Roads,Thomas Harris MacDonald,considered this need to be driven not by insufficient funding but by inefficient planning and inadequate equipment on the part of thousands of counties. He advocated for an expansion of state-maintained highway systems through thefederal-aid highway program,so that counties could focus on maintaining fewer roads to a higher level of service.[1]
Texas
[edit]This term is most closely associated withTexas,whereFarm to Market RoadandRanch to Market Roadindicate roadways that are part of the state's system of secondary and connecting routes, built and maintained by theTexas Department of Transportation(TxDOT). Texas established this system in 1949 to improve access to rural areas. As with other state-maintained highways in Texas, all Farm or Ranch to Market roads are paved. The system consists primarily of two-lane roads, although some segments have an additional number of lanes, while some have been upgraded tofreeways.Farm to Markets may also run alongside large urban freeways and tollways (for example,FM 1093,which runs west out of Houston to the Katy-Fulshear area alongsideWestpark Tollway). Speed limits along these roads vary, but may be as high as 75 miles per hour (121 km/h) in rural areas,[2]such as inAndrewsandPecoscounties (for example, alongFM 1788,FM 1776,andFM 1053).[3]
History
[edit]The first farm-to-market road in Texas was completed in January 1937 during theGreat Depression.It connectedMount Enterpriseand the former community of Shiloh inRusk County.The route was 5.8 miles (9.3 km) long and was constructed at a cost of $48,015.12 (equivalent to $801,000 in 2023[4]). This route is now part ofTexas State Highway 315.[5]
The first officially designated highway,FM 1,was authorized inSabine County, Texasin 1941 to connectUS 96nearPinelandto a sawmill belonging to the Temple Lumber Company at Magasco.[6][7]The first Ranch to Market Road was designated in 1942.[8]
In 1945, the highway commission authorized a three-year pilot program for the construction of 7,205 miles (11,595 km) of farm-to-market roadways, with cost to be shared equally by the state and federal governments.[9]As the program grew, efforts were made by legislators from rural areas, includingState SenatorGrady HazlewoodofAmarillo,to expand the farm-to-market road network in the late 1940s.[10]The funding was to have come from an increase in thefuel tax,as proposed by State Senator Grover Morris in 1947. Although polls suggested that a majority of Texas residents were in favor of such a tax,[11]this measure was stymied by lobbyists, who supported such funding forarterial roads.[12]
The popularity of the program and the perceived need to connect the vast, isolated central and western areas of the state prompted the passing of the Colson-Briscoe Act in 1949, sponsored by State Senator E. Neveille Colson and State RepresentativeDolph Briscoe.[13]This legislation appropriated funding for the creation of an extensive system of secondary roads to provide access to the rural areas of the state and to allow farmers and ranchers to bring their goods to market, reserving a flat $15million per year (equivalent to $152 million in 2023[4]) plus 1 cent (equivalent to $0.13 in 2023[14]) per gallon of gasoline sold in the state for local highway construction.[7]
By 1957, the system had grown to over 31,000 miles (50,000 km).[15]In 1962, the Texas legislature adjusted the appropriated funding amount to $23million annually (equivalent to $177 million in 2023[4]), through federal fund matching, and expanded the farm-to-market system from 35,000 to 50,000 miles (56,000 to 80,000 km).[16][17]By 1964, the system's mileage exceeded that of all other federal and state routes combined.[18]The system now accounts for over half of the mileage maintained by TxDOT.[19]
Identification
[edit]
Signs designating a Farm to Market or Ranch to Market road are a black square background containing a white shape of the state of Texas, with the words "FARM ROAD" or "RANCH ROAD" appearing in white text on the background and the route number in black text within the shape of Texas.[20]Guide signs(the large green signs usually found alonghighwaysin the United States) designating these roads use a simple white rectangle with the abbreviation "F.M." or "R.M." and the route number appearing below the abbreviation in black text.[21]
As a result of population growth and the expansion of urban areas, many Farm to Market and Ranch to Market roads that originally served rural areas now serve urban areas, sometimes exclusively. An effort was made to rename such roads "Urban Roads" on June 27, 1995, but residents opposed the effort, arguing that removing the "Farm" and "Ranch" from the designations was "un-Texan," and that the cost of changing signage was not justified. Other than a few route markers, such as onFM 1315nearVictoria,most signs were not changed, and TxDOT abandoned the idea to do so.[22]While the Farm to Market and Ranch to Market route markers remained in use, the state tracked these Urban Roads separately in its highway designation files. For example, the mileage ofFM 544in thePlanoarea was transferred from FM 544 to UR 544 in 1995.[23][24]As part of the state highway system, Urban Roads were eligible for state maintenance; however, unlike rural Farm to Market and Ranch to Market roads, they did not receive state funding for expansion.[25]On November 15, 2018, the Urban Road system was cancelled, and all roads on this system reverted back to their previous FM and RM designations.[26][27]For example, UR 544 was redesignated as FM 544.
Farm to Market and Ranch to Market roads are numbered as a single set of roads; thus, there is not an FM and an RM route with the same number.[28]Urban Roads were designated with the same route numbers as the FM or RM routes from which the mileage was transferred.[29]
Ranch Road 1,which runs near the former ranch home of former PresidentLyndon B. Johnson,is signed with a Ranch to Market Road route marker, but it is not part of this system; rather, it is the only roadway that TxDOT has designated as a "Ranch Road".[5]
-
Route marker:FM 1719 route marker inPotter County(left) alongside route markers for U.S. 87 and U.S. 287 (right) -
Guide sign:destination sign alongInterstate 35showing typical signage for a Farm to Market Road (right), along with signage for a State Highway Loop (left) and a State Highway (center) for comparison
Business routes
[edit]
Texas currently has two signedbusiness routesof Farm to Market Roads:Business RM 1431inBurnet CountyandBusiness FM 1960inHarris County.[30][31]Both business routes are former alignments that have been bypassed by newer routings. A third business route, BusinessFM 1187inTarrant County,was designated from 2004 to 2016.[32]
Other states
[edit]Missourihas a similar state-operated system of farm-to-market roads, calledMissouri supplemental routes.Missouri uses single (e.g., "A", "B", etc.) and double letters (e.g., "AA", "BB", etc.).[citation needed]
Iowaalso has a farm-to-market road system. Those roads are under countyjurisdiction,[33]but are eligible for state aid from a dedicated fund.[34]
Louisianahas a farm-to-market road system. The1955 renumberingrenumbered all routes based on an A-B-C system of route classification: A is primary, B secondary, and C farm-to-market. All routes 300 through 1266 are classified C routes.[35][circular reference]
Ohio's farm-to-market roads were maintained by the stateDepartment of Highwaysbut built to only acounty roadstandard. In 1939, the state spent $1.47 million (equivalent to $25.3 million in 2023[4]) to improve 74,417 centerline miles (119,763 km) of farm-to-market roads.[36]In 1940, the department launched a farm-to-market road improvement program alongside the usual maintenance program; it improved 742 miles (1,194 km) of roadway at a cost of $9.59 million, including funds from theWorks Progress Administration.[37]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^"Counties Try To Build Roads Without Engineering Direction And Proper Equipment".The Cincinnati Enquirer.February 23, 1930. p. 4 – via Newspapers.
- ^Richardson, Robin Y. (June 18, 2013)."New speed limit signs being posted".Marshall News Messenger.RetrievedOctober 28,2022.
- ^Clark, James (March 16, 2022)."NTSB opens investigation in Andrews deadly van crash".EverythingLubbock.RetrievedOctober 28,2022.
[NTSB spokesperson Eric] Weiss also said, 'FM 1788 is a two-lane, two-way asphalt roadway with a 75-mile-an-hour speed limit.'
- ^abcdJohnston, Louis; Williamson, Samuel H. (2023)."What Was the U.S. GDP Then?".MeasuringWorth.RetrievedNovember 30,2023.United StatesGross Domestic Product deflatorfigures follow theMeasuringWorthseries.
- ^abStaff."Farm/Ranch to Market Facts".Texas Department of Transportation.RetrievedFebruary 26,2008.
- ^Transportation Planning and Programming Division (n.d.)."Farm to Market Road No. 1".Highway Designation Files.Texas Department of Transportation.RetrievedApril 8,2011.
- ^abBurka, Paul (April 1983)."Texas Primer: The Farm-to-Market Road".Texas Monthly.11(4): 134.
- ^Courtney, David (August 2022)."The Texanist: What's the Difference Between a Farm to Market Road and a Ranch to Market Road?".Texas Monthly.47(8).RetrievedOctober 27,2022.
- ^"Texas to improve farm to market roads".Harper Herald.June 15, 1945. p. 3.RetrievedApril 8,2011.
- ^Followwill-Line, Robyn (May 19, 2000)."Grady Hazlewood".Amarillo Globe-News.RetrievedApril 8,2011.
- ^Belden, Joe (November 24, 1946). "'Out of the Mud' by Hiking Tax On Gas Is Desire of Majority ".Austin American.ProQuest1611714314.(subscription required)
- ^Smith, Griffin Jr. (April 1974). "The Highway Establishment and How It Grew".Texas Monthly.2(4): 86.
- ^Texas Transportation Institute."Texas Transportation Hall of Honor: Inductees: 2005".Texas A&M University System. Archived fromthe originalon February 20, 2011.RetrievedApril 8,2011.
- ^1634–1699:McCusker, J. J.(1997).How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda(PDF).American Antiquarian Society.1700–1799:McCusker, J. J.(1992).How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States(PDF).American Antiquarian Society.1800–present:Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis."Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–".RetrievedFebruary 29,2024.
- ^"Giant Road Plans Told".Austin Statesman.November 2, 1957.ProQuest1613523821.(subscription required)
- ^Kite, Kirk:Highway Developmentfrom theHandbook of TexasOnline.Retrieved April 7, 2011.
- ^Texas Department of Transportation."TxDOT History: 1970 to 1951".RetrievedApril 8,2011.
- ^"State Sets Big F-M Road Push".Austin Statesman.May 7, 1964.ProQuest1522273918.(subscription required)
- ^"Pocket Facts"(PDF).Texas Department of Transportation. 2021.RetrievedOctober 29,2022.
- ^"Standard Highway Sign Designs for Texas"(PDF)(Revision 4, 2012 ed.). Texas Department of Transportation. May 2021. p. 3–14.RetrievedOctober 28,2022.
- ^Texas Department of Transportation(October 2008).Freeway Signing Handbook.pp. 4–9 to 4–10.RetrievedApril 8,2011.
- ^Hughes, Sharon (July 16, 1995)."Highway officials nix urban road designation".Victoria Advocate.Associated Press.RetrievedApril 7,2011.
- ^Transportation Planning and Programming Division (n.d.)."Farm to Market Road No. 544".Highway Designation Files.Texas Department of Transportation.RetrievedApril 7,2011.
- ^Transportation Planning and Programming Division (n.d.)."Urban Road No. 544".Highway Designation Files.Texas Department of Transportation.RetrievedApril 7,2011.
- ^Babineck, Mark (August 18, 2007)."Tex-Arcana: What's a farm-to-market road?".Houston Chronicle.RetrievedApril 8,2011.
- ^"Minute Order 115371"(PDF).Texas Department of Transportation. November 15, 2018.RetrievedJanuary 4,2019.
- ^"Agenda"(PDF).Texas Transportation Commission. November 15, 2018.RetrievedNovember 10,2018.
- ^Greig, Jane S. (August 12, 1997). "RR, RM, FM? Signs along 620 explained".Austin American Statesman.ProQuest255539235.(subscription required)
- ^Texas Department of Transportation."Highway Designations Glossary".RetrievedApril 8,2011.
- ^Transportation Planning and Programming Division (n.d.)."Business Farm to Market Road No. 1431-J".Highway Designation Files.Texas Department of Transportation.RetrievedApril 7,2011.
- ^Transportation Planning and Programming Division (n.d.)."Business Farm to Market Road No. 1960-A".Highway Designation Files.Texas Department of Transportation.RetrievedApril 7,2011.
- ^Transportation Planning and Programming Division (n.d.)."Business Farm to Market Road No. 1187-C".Highway Designation Files.Texas Department of Transportation.RetrievedApril 7,2011.
- ^Iowa Code 2003: Section 306.3Archived2007-01-13 at theWayback Machine.Retrieved March 28, 2006
- ^Iowa Code 2001: Section 312.5Archived2005-03-22 at theWayback Machine.Retrieved March 28, 2006.
- ^1955 Louisiana Highway renumbering
- ^"Ohio Builds Up Rural Road System".East Liverpool Review.East Liverpool, Ohio. February 6, 1940. p. 5 – via Newspapers.
- ^"742 Miles Rural Roads Finished Or Being Built By Ohio Highway Dept".The Union County Journal.Marysville, Ohio. August 19, 1940. pp. 1–2 – via Newspapers.[1]