Robert Melville Smith (14 October 1887 – 16 November 1950)
was a civil engineer, who, as deputy minister of the Ontario
Department of Highways (now the Ministry of Transportation) between 1928 and 1943, designed and constructed the
Queen Elizabeth Way, the first divided intercity highway in North America.
Biography
Smith was born at
Kingston, Ontario, on 14 October 1887,
the son of Robert W and Jennie Reid Smith. He studied civil engineering at
Queen's University Queen's or Queens University may refer to:
*Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario, Canada
*Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK
**Queen's University of Belfast (UK Parliament constituency) (1918–1950)
**Queen's University of Belfast ...
at Kingston, graduating in 1914.
He was Chief Engineer of the Ontario Highways Department, and Acting Deputy Minister from February 1927, when he was appointed as Deputy Minister on 1 January 1928.
In 1934, following provincial elections, the new Ontario Highways Minister
Thomas McQuesten discussed with Smith the new concept of "dual-lane
divided highways," based on the German
autobahns
The (; German plural ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official German term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'. ...
, and decided that the highway known as
the Middle Road would be converted into the new form of highway.
Smith modified the design for Ontario roads. When it opened at the end of 1937, it was the first intercity divided highway in
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
, preceding the
Pennsylvania Turnpike, the first U.S. intercity divided highway, by one year.
Smith was also a consultant and contractor on projects such as the
Grand River Conservation Commission and the