From the recommendation of another commenter, here's a more recent indie game that seems focused exactly on that style of path logistics:
What exactly does that mean here?
I believe Settlers.. 3? got rid of that completely. Instead of manually placing paths and controlling the shipping routes the game would just figure it out for you.
After all, they bought then dumbed down or canceled quite a few great game franchises. Everything from bluebyte for example.
If Ubisoft was involved I’d assume it’s a heavy combat oriented rts with a settlers skin.
I don't think we know in detail what his original vision was, we can only assume if Pagonia is aiming to manifest it. And there is the theory that Ubisoft didn't like to have two similar games in their catalogue. They already have the Anno-Franchise, which is very similar to settlers, and had a promising new game released around the time Wertich left Ubisoft.
So the answer is probably a mix between internal politics of big companies, risk-avoidance and creative minds being too creative for the average manager. The more money you push, the more the system strifes to controlled outcomes. And Ubisoft was pushing very big around that time, to the point that they killed themselves, it seems.
They bought to the market a game with an akward positioning, which could be enjoyable if you see it primarily as a tablet oriented development, but with very little to do with the original The Settlers. Amusingly, it would probably have been better received with a different name.
Accordingly, I could see how the creator would feel uneasy with what's happening.