Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - X. Internal Communications - 3. Country Roads. By C. E. Gyllenberg
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country roads.
627
the Middle Ages to get anything but a small number of roads constructed that
were practicable for vehicles. The "Eriksgata", i. e., the road used by the newly
elected king when making his progress to receive the homage of his people,
formed a circuit through the central parts of the kingdom, running round Lakes
Vättern and Hjälmaren and the western part of Lake Mälaren. But even this road
was in old times certainly nothing but a bridle-path. From various points
of that "Eriksgata", roads branched off towards the surrounding parts of the
country, e. g., one south-eastwards to Kalmar, one south-westwards to Halmstad, a
westerly one to the estuary of the Göta älv, a north-westerly one to Kopparberget
in Dalarne, and a north-easterly one to the coast of the Gulf of Bothnia. In
the time of Gustavus Vasa, it was decreed by the Riksdag of Västerås (1544)
that all public roads should be cleared by the help of the common people and
at their expense, "so that all the roads might be passable without any risk,
both from Ny-Lödöse (now the Gamlestad of Gothenburg) towards Kalmar and
thence to Stockholm, this should likewise be done with all the other roads
necessary"; further, that the peasantry of Northern Västergötland should "clear the
Tiveden forest (between the provinces of Västergötland and Närke), so that
people might easily pass along it with vehicles". In spite of this, it is rather
unlikely that a road passable by carts was really constructed across the Tiveden.
Far into the 16th century, assemblies of importance were almost exclusively
held in towns that could be reached by boat. According to a descripton still
extant, written by a German traveller about his journey from Hälsingborg, via
Jönköping and Norrköping, to Stockholm, in 1586, the way was in winter-time
generally laid across frozen lakes and level country, whereas in summer the
route by water was preferred, "for", he says, "because of the deep roads and
the marshy lands it is difficult to make one’s way on horseback".
But, from time to time, arrangements were made to improve the roads. In
1664, it was enacted that all thoroughfares between towns, parishes, and the
courts of assizes should be improved, in some places they were to be altered,
levelled, and straightened. With this object, the roads were divided into
various sections to be kept "well cleared and in good repair", by the peasantry;
at the same time an ordinance was issued concerning the survey of the roads and
the erection of mile-posts. Nevertheless, at the end of the 18th century there
existed but few carriage roads except the highroads, and, on the whole, it was
not till the 19th century that the roads of Sweden were put into a condition
comparable with their present good state. In Skåne, 8. G. von Troil, Governor
of Malmö (1851—74), made himself famous for his successful efforts for the
improvement of the roads.
Since 1840, the State has, to a steadily increasing extent, made grants towards
keeping the roads in a good condition. In the year mentioned, grants to the
amount of 75 000 kronor were made "for the laying out of new roads, or else
for the improvement and reconstruction of hilly and less satisfactory roads";
moreover, the people in the neighbourhood of such roads were enjoined to contribute
towards the costs of construction, as well as to undertake their future
maintenance. The State grant has ever since constantly been on the increase, so
that in 1915 an amount of 3 million kronor is to be allotted to the purpose.
By those means some 19 250 km of road has been constructed or improved
between 1841—1913.
The construction of new roads has of låte chiefly been carried on in
the north of Sweden. During 1841—1913, State grants of 36-16 million
kronor have been made towards the construction of new high-roads and the
repair of old ones; the total calculated cost of these roads amounts to 54-82
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