Writing something... and calling it history... doesn't make it historically accurate.
In the small town where I grew up we had a historical society (most towns, and cities do). They provide a more accurate version of what happened locally and how that related to the state, national, and global picture.
In most towns and cities across America the early roads where built (paved) with bricks. Because that is what the railroads required. Rain and snow turned Americas dirt and gravel streets into waist deep mud holes. Goods shipped by rail were held up at stations (most often with a lack of storage space). So railroads refused expand to communities without a means to distribute the goods that railroad commerce provided.
The early streets were built.... not for cars or people (or even bicycles as some say). Most of the early roads across America were to move food and fuel.