The thing about roads is new players are likely to settle quickly next to them. Moreover, they may place the corner of their home at the edge of the road, making it hard to expand should you need it. Others try to claim it for fear of loosing precious stone road blocks or even settle in the middle of it because they failed to see the pattern made by others.
So the location of roads, especially the width, needs to be very clear from the start. However, no need to cheat government tables at day 1 or go SimCity mode with complex paths across the map. You can simply make 10 or 20 construction posts (up to 20 minutes) and put them in a straight line next to your lands to indicate future roads. Next, invite a new player to settle across the road so future players are likely to see the pattern. Players often keep their distance anyway, so all you need is a clear layout next to your lands.
If you want a bit more structure, you can build a small town hall by claiming 6 lands and making a building with an internal space of 4 high x 3 x 4. This will require 132 blocks. This space will allow you to fit a capitol and start a constitution. Next, you further increase the building to 4 high x 8 x 9 (+240 blocks), add a court and a zoning office. The whole project can be made within a single hour with 2-3 players. With some luck and understanding from your fellow citizens, you may even be able to ratify the constitution quickly and go to the last step. The final actions are to create a road district, then a law preventing anyone from claiming land in this district.
The first aspect to consider is that roads will be used by powered vehicles. This means your primitive road can be a small 2-3 blocks wide, but you need to make sure there will be space for something much wider later. A truck going in a straight line requires 2 blocks. But make a bridge like that and everyone will eventually fall. So 3 blocks is a more comfortable target.
Now people don't always go straight. You might thing about drunk drivers (yes there are) and tired players. Eco also has a great deal of servers with lags that make you appear on the side of the roads when you least expect it. Finally, players might leave their truck on the side of the road to go shopping and you must have some space to go around, especially in urban areas. So maybe 3.5 to 4 blocks for the width ?
As in real life, trucks also need extra space to turn, especially since players seldom slow down in turns and at intersections. This is why you might want to plan extra space (one more block is enough) at each turn and keep roads as straight as possible. Again, lags can cause vehicles to fall in slopes and trucks seems to slow down there too. Many road planners try to keep roads at the same level for these reasons.
The ideal roads have extra space at turns and intersections.
The ideal road is straight and flat.
Even if trucks are available, you will still have people on foot and they need space to go when trucks are passing at great speed next to them. This is particularly true for bridges and tunnels. I prefer to use a boardwalk made of a slower block (ex. Stone road when asphalt is available) so when players turn and reach the edge, their truck automatically slow down.
Your road should have a sidewalk for people on foot.
The sidewalk can be made of a material of slower speed (dirt road or stone road).
As speed of vehicles and road tiles increases, the frequency of players who fall down or fail turns increases as well. A simple wall of one square prevents that. However, I would advise against putting walls on each side of the road everywhere. This makes the road network look like a perpetual tunnel where there is little freedom to go around someone. It also costs a lot in material.
At bridges, overpass and turns next to slopes, use railing to prevent vehicles from falling.
Later in the game, you may want space for street signs, lights or transmission pole, especially in densely populated areas. Parking space is rarely a problem in Eco, but they give a nice role-play view. You may also want to save some space next to actual roads to keep a feeling of open space and sunny venue when there are tall buildings around (leaving at least one free block on your front lawn is a common rule on big servers). Therefore, a more useful road design has few blocks on the side to add parking lots, lights, decorations, breathing space, etc.
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