Early in the 1800s, growing western settlement spurred efforts to improve transportation routes across the Appalachian Mountains. In 1822, Virginia authorized a survey for the route that became the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike, linking the upper Shenandoah Valley with the Ohio River. Funded mainly by the state, with contributions from communities along the right-of-way, the route generally followed earlier Native American and game trails that by 1790 had often been improved into rough roads. Construction began in 1838 from both ends and the middle section was completed in 1845. The road was to be built on a variation of the macadam plan, using an elevated surface and layers of small stones to create a watertight roadway, and the work was contracted in sections. In practice, only some sections were ever completed to specifications, and once the road opened, appropriations and tolls were not enough to finish bridges and maintain the roadway. Even so, the turnpike opened western Virginia to settlement and trade and became a valuable objective during the Civil War. After the war, most of it lay within the new state of West Virginia, repairs came slowly, and tolls continued on some sections into the 1890s. Virginia chief engineer Claudius Crozet characterized the route as a sea of mountains and valleys with little level land and rivers flowing in every direction of the compass. Much of the route can still be traced on modern roads, and in West Virginia the route from here to Parkersburg is designated the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike Byway, while some bypassed original sections are designated Backway routes.