a modern highway makes to efficient transportation. A trip from
Catonsville to Towson takes 40 minutes today by way of old roads.
With the new beltway to be opened in 1962 that same trip will take
less than 15 minutes. It is small wonder that an expressway type
facility can lift the economy of a region. It is small wonder that new
businesses, which create new jobs, can locate in an expressway inter-
change area and reduce by minutes and hours the time it takes to
deliver or receive a product from a site many miles distant. And
that is the phase of the highway field I would like to discuss with
you today.

As you know there are regions in this country and in our State
where the economy could be improved. There are regions in this
State where young men are looking for jobs and finding none, leaving
Maryland for greener fields and new horizons. This is particularly
true in the so-called Appalachian Region. It is a part of our nation
which could use an economic shot in the arm. And it could use it
right now. Western Maryland is a part of the Appalachian Region.
We have fallen into the habit of calling regions like this "depressed
areas. " I would like to call them regions in need of growth. High-
ways, particularly expressways, can be a vital factor in the growth
they need. An expressway piercing the Appalachian Region can
serve a dual purpose. First, mere construction of such a facility can
create jobs for the people of the region while it is being built. For
the two years or so that the expressway is being built, construction
work will be available for the residents of the region.

With a completed expressway facility, the Western Maryland region
will be in closer contact with the great market places of the Eastern
seaboard. This will help to create a climate for industrial and commer-
cial growth in the region, expanding existing industries and businesses
and creating new ones. An expressway piercing the heart of the
Western Maryland region will bring the great port of Baltimore
closer by a great amount of time, and create the opportunity for
industries and businesses interested in foreign trade. It will bring,
through existing expressway links, the city of Washington much
closer timewise to the Western Maryland region. Pittsburgh and the
vast industrial complex around it would be closer. So will the market
places of the Eastern seaboard, the area of our nation which is
becoming a 500 mile strip city from Boston to Washington.

Now, it is true that the State Roads Commission currently is
building sections of Route 40 from Hancock west, cutting the miser-
able grades and curves of the existing road. But, the construction is

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