In February 1661 Clas Rålamb wrote a proposal to Charles XI's Regency Council: to build a new road to Stockholm. The previous summer Rålamb had been appointed as the new Landshövding (County Governor) of Uppland Län, geographically located to the north and south of Stockholm, thus engulfing the city completely. The new road that Rålamb proposed was to stretch between Fittja, south of Stockholm, and Hornstull. This road would replace the older road running between Skanstull and Alby. Rålamb's proposal was approved by the Regency Council. The council also sent a reminder to the new Landshövding. The road to Drottningholm, over Bromma and Huvudsta, as well as the road to Enköping over Stäket also needed to be completed. Rålamb immediately began the work of organizing the three road projects, projects that came to span the rule of three Landshövdingar and take more than ten years to complete.
The research project intends to explore how these three road projects were organized and how the construction of them was implemented. Three aspects have been identified in order to do this: organization, land and work. The aspect of organization has been divided into two parts: first the construction of the roads and secondly the official administrative roles linked to road building such as Brofogdar (bridge bailiffs) and the Vägmästare (road master). The aspect of land is connected with the fact that all three roads came to affect private land. This led to the question of how and if landowners should be compensated for their loss. The final aspect of work, relates to the conflict over who was to build the roads. Should the nobilities tenant farmers be included in the workforce or not?
The research project uses as its main source the Landshövding’s correspondence, where the three road projects are discussed in detail with, among other, Kronobefallningsmän (bailiffs), the Regency Council, Kammarkollegiet, but also with individual landowners. To this have been added letters to the Landshövding, as well as parts of Kronobefallningsman Jon Pedersson Lille's archive, as well as court records. In addition, laws and regulations of the time are important sources, as well as parts of the nobility's Riksdag minutes and the Kammarkollegiet’s minutes.
