The Erie Canal, completed in 1825, connected the Hudson River to Lake Erie, creating a navigable water route between New York Harbor and the Great Lakes. Shipping costs from the interior to the coast fell by roughly 90 percent within a decade. Cities along the canal grew rapidly, while previously dominant ports lacking canal access saw their relative economic importance decline.
Which choice most logically completes the text? The passage suggests that transportation infrastructure can _______
- A
depend entirely on technological innovations contemporary with its construction
- Bcheck_circle
reshape the economic geography of regions it serves and bypasses
- C
benefit only the cities at its endpoints
- D
have negligible effects on regional economic patterns
Explanation
Growth along the canal and decline elsewhere supports B. A contradicts the changes; C ignores intermediate cities; D is unsupported.