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Game Info[]

Basic transport infrastructure. Requires The Wheel.

  • Constructed on:
    • Any passable land tile; may pass through tiles containing other improvements
  • Effect:

Strategy[]

In Civilization V, the roads work a little differently than they do in the previous games. They are still constructed by Workers and allow units to move larger distances within a turn by negating the movement costs of terrain. However, they now have an upkeep cost: roads within your territory cost 1 Gold Gold per tile per turn.

If a road is within a city's borders, the owner of the city pays for the maintenance of the road, regardless of which player built it. This allows for a potent exploit: sign an open borders treaty with an opponent, then build roads on every hex possible within his or her cultural borders. This will severely weaken your opponent's economy, since they will lose 1 Gold Gold per turn per road hex. Running out of Gold Gold will slow your opponent's scientific progress and force military units to disband, making it difficult for the opponent to discover new technologies and maintain a defensive army without strengthening his or her economy first. Moreover, building roads will not cause diplomatic incidents with AI leaders, who may even propose to extend the open borders treaty.

Railroads make the aforementioned tactic twice as potent, thanks to their doubled maintenance cost. It can, however, be reduced by the Wagon Trains social policy from the Commerce tree, which halves maintenance costs for roads and railroads once the player picks it.

Civilopedia entry[]

A road is a path between places suitable for wheeled traffic. The Romans were famous for the quality of their roads, and in fact many are still in use today - albeit with repairs and improvements made since.

Gallery[]

Related achievements[]

The Appian Way
The Appian Way
Build 1000 roads, across any number of playthroughs.
The Appian Way was one of Rome's earliest roads connecting Rome to Brindisi. Called the "queen of the long roads" by Roman poet Statius.

See also[]

Civilization V Improvements [edit]
Standard CampFarmFishing BoatsFortLumber MillMineOffshore PlatformOil WellPasturePlantationQuarryRailroadRoadTrading Post
Unique Brazilwood Camp BNW-onlyChateau BNW-onlyFeitoria BNW-onlyKasbah BNW-onlyMoai1Polder GodsKings5 clearTerrace Farm1
Great People AcademyCitadelCustoms HouseHoly Site GodsKings5 clearLandmarkManufactory
Scenario specific Hadrian's WallMotte and BaileyPontoon BridgeTipiWajo
1 Requires a DLC

GodsKings5 clear Added in the Gods & Kings expansion pack.
BNW-only Added in the Brave New World expansion pack.

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