Originally Posted by
genec
No, not at all... I wonder then why highways were built, as originally only a tiny portion of the public could afford motor vehicles...
I have the 1918 edition of the 4 volume farm knowledge encyclopedia,
https://archive.org/details/Farm1 . It devotes entire chapters to roads, diy road building, vehicles, and their importance to the health and prosperity of a community. This volume was originally published before motor vehicles were common, road building was all about getting crops to market, and the kids to school.
IMO, books from the era will give a better accounting than contemporary internet writings.