When Cyclists, Not Drivers, Led the Charge for Better Roads

(via Atlas Obscura) In 1909, a section of Woodward Ave. in Detroit was paved, a mile stretch that was not the first concrete pavement in the United States, but was by far the longest. The paving presaged the era of the automobile, but it was also the culmination of a fight for better roads undertaken by a surprising constituency: cyclists, who headed the “Good Roads” movement, a brief but effective campaign that came together at the turn of the century.