Roads are the major connectors between point A and B on land. They allow trade of physical goods and also ideas. People travel to different places and exchange narratives and viewpoints. They symbolise growth and progress universally and even affect peoples quality of life. Travelling from Karachi to Turbat would take 11 days by road once because of the countless streams and rivers along the unpaved roads; now it takes hardly 6 hours.
Although information can easily be exchanged online, some information remains undiscovered unless we travel there ourselves. In fact, roads can also have a psychological impact and affect behaviour. One theory suggests that the external environment that we are exposed to can cause dramatic shifts in how we interact and behave. It can even encourage more severe crime if lets say cracks on the roads are left unattended.
A small city is best discovered on the road. You can approach anyone and quickly interview them to get a quick poll. In just a few simple questions we can gauge where the city is headed. Economists give signalling great importance, surveys are done to gain insight into consumer and business confidence; it's a leading indicator to identify where expectations are headed and help determine consumption and saving patterns in that economy.
So yeah, roads are important.