British Mandate: A Survey of Palestine: Volume II - Page 859

CHAPTER XIX.
development and, as regards means of communication, it was provided with the poor net-work of trunk roads described above. The rapid development which the country experienced during the following years necessitated a corresponding extension to and improvements in the means of communication.

26. The considerable change in transport facilities which the extraordinary development of the motor industry had brought about during the last few years before the outbreak of the war naturally exercised a corresponding influence in a country of the size of Palestine-a land extensively visited by tourists and a country which, during the last twenty-five years, has been subject to unusually rapid development by the creation of new colonies and industries, the establishment of agricultural and engineering enterprises and the enlargement of existing settlements and towns. In such circumstances the provision of suitable means of communication was obviously a matter of paramount importance.

27. The opening up of the country by means of roads has not only enhanced the agricultural and trade potentialities of the country but has facilitated the maintenance of public security by making it possible to control remote and lawless areas previously inaccessible during certain periods of the year.

28. The following table shows the lengths in kilometres of all weather and of seasonal roads open to traffic during the years shown. The figures in brackets denote the respective lengths which, being privately built roads, or purely military roads, or village tracks, are not maintained by Government.

YEAR LENGTH OPEN TRAFFIC
All-weather Seasonal
-----
1917 233 192
1921 450 No record available.
1925 600 1,350
1930 912 1,293
1935 1,179 (139) 1,751 (611)
1940 2,340 (274) 1,589 (l,224)
1945 2,660 (260) 1,565 (l,227)
29. The rapid expansion of Palestine's network of Government roads as illustrated above was brought about under three main groups, viz :-

(a) Roads constructed by the Government of Palestine during the years 1920-1935, and to a smaller extent in later years, in order to help keep pace with the general development of the country, to provide means of communication to newly developed areas and to meet the needs of the population.

(b) A programme of road construction commenced early in

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