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Although engineered roads existed from the Iron Age to the Roman period they were always narrow, muddy in winter making it sometimes impossible to use and hard in summer, History learning site, by this time horse men and horse drawn carriages were the means of transportation for all of the UK. The 1600’s witnessed road improvements with introduction of turnpike roads resulting in fees being charged for use of those improved roads. UK road network witnessed significant changes over the past one hundred years of development with modern, more comfortable roads made from tar.

The story of road development is as old as that of car development where horses had to give way for automobiles that are driven by engines. The manufacturing

class benefitted most from the new improved roads as they needed their finished goods to move much quicker. According to Department for Transport, by 1914 UK road network was twenty-eight per cent shorter than what we have today, it was after the First World War that major developments began to occur resulting in creation of a special department for roads hence began the expansion and linkage of roads from London to several cities.

Acceptance of cars by the public was gradual and the public had to be made to see their importance. By 1923, a kilometre of road had an average of five cars (Olympic Britain, 2012). The 1950s saw a surge in the public’s acceptance of cars and the mass motoring, hence creating the need to build more roads so as to reduce the ever increase in congestion. Road network has improved tremendously from the early days and number of cars on the road has greatly increased that by 2012 every kilometre has an estimate of five hundred cars Olympic Britain (2012). Today, the road is U.K’s most popular means of transportation resulting in usage of over four-fifths passenger travel and two-thirds of domestic freights Department for Transport (2012).

Source: Developed from Department for transport

The 1936 Trunk Roads Act witnessed the expansion of principal roads in the UK with the M1 opening as a full-length motorway signalling the faster and easier road transportation. Motorways are termed as roads that serve inter urban routes that bear long distance traffic, they are usually designated with the letter M.

Motorways are wider than other roads, although they were initially designed as a two way lane they are now constructed as a four lane road reducing traffic congestion and accidents. Linking other towns to motorways are the primary routes which according to Department for Transport (2012) are classified into A roads providing transport links in large scale between or within areas, B roads

links with different areas and connects with A roads, classified unnumbered roads unofficially designated as C road or minor road connects with the A and B roads, it also links with a village or housing estate and finally unclassified or D roads which constitute sixty per cent of the UK roads are designed for local traffic.

Lack of adequate roads to allow easy movement of cars to various locations has been a major challenge to developing countries and Nigeria is no exception. This hinders development and economic growth. With lack of alternative means of transportation the road is Nigeria’s most common means of transportation either for personal or business (National Bureau of Statistics, 2015).

The first road was built in the Lagos area around 1914 to serve as feeder link to the expanding railroads. Road network gradually expand to other parts of the country with establishment of two roads in the 1920s linking Lagos in the West to Port Harcourt in the Eastern and to Kano in the North. By the 1960s Nigeria’s road network has reached most towns that had large population in the country.

The first expressway was established in 1978 linking Lagos to Ibadan and later to Benin City. According to Nigerian Ministry of Works by 1990 there were approximately 108,000 kilometres of roads in the country consisting of 30,000 kilometres paved and 25,000 kilometres gravel while the rest are earthed roads which are not tarred. Nigerian roads are further divided between the three structures of government; Federal, States and Local Governments where statistics show seventeen per cent controlled by the Federal Government, sixteen per cent States and sixty seven per cent Local governments.

Despite various efforts by previous administrations to further the building of new roads and rehabilitate the existing ones there is still a lot more efforts to be done.

Records from Federal Ministry of Works show, there are only eight double lane roads linking various states in the country from Abuja-Kaduna-Kano, Kano-Maiduguri, and Abuja-Koton karfe-Lokoja. Other locations are Ajaokuta-Benue-Kogi states, dual roads in Port Harcourt-Aba-Umuahia-Enugu, the Lagos to Ibadan expressway, and Benin to Sagamu and Ibadan to Ijesa. These expressways are connected to single lane roads; they further connect to shorter roads leading to

towns and cities which, depending on the state the roads can be in good shape or needs rehabilitating. This makes the roads in Nigeria to be over used with complete dependence on all means of transportation. The lack of reviving the railway has not helped matters as moving goods from one place to another takes a long time not to talk of the danger involved.

The Northern part of the country has a more flat land with little hills in few areas and a shorter rainy season enables easy road construction and maintenance than the Southern part of the country. However, the large land mass size and wide population distribution makes road construction and maintenance difficult.

Whereas, roads in the southern part are more difficult to construct with the rain forest and mangrove swamps occupying major areas. These complex problems between the divides in the country should be supplemented with an efficient rail system that will move both human and materials from one place to another and improve the distribution process. As it is now, ease of distribution is rather daunting with the lack of ‘motor ways’ road network across the country to ease speedy movement of cars from one location of the country to another.