Answer:
Because the roads were cracked and Johns people thought it was dangerous.
Step-by-step explanation:
'By the Waters of Babylon' is a short story penned by Stephen Vincent Benet. The story is a post-apocalyptic type story that narrates the relationship between humans and technology.
In the story, the Johns people avoided traveling to the god-roads because they were falling apart into great blocks of stone. When John and his people entered the Place of God they saw that the god-roads were broken and cracked and it was not safer to go from that way. So, they traveled through the forest, which was safer than the god-roads.