- archives.gov/publications/prologue/2006/summer/interstates.html
- www.fhwa.dot.gov/interstate/history.htm
- *www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/publicroads/00mayjun/onemileinfive.cfm
Written by Jenifer Chrisman on September 7, 2015.
An integral part of the American way of life, the Eisenhower Interstate Highway System has been called the Greatest Public Works Project in history. Enacted after President Dwight D. Eisenhower persuaded Congress to sign the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, the history of the interstates began in the summer of 1919.
Just months after the end of World War I, an 81 Army truck convoy expedition, including then Lieutenant Colonel Eisenhower, set out cross country from Washington, D.C., to San Francisco. Their mission was to road-test various Army vehicles, assuming wartime conditions to railroads, bridges, tunnels, etc., to determine the difficulty of moving an entire army across the country.
Averaging 58 miles per day, about 6 miles per hour, the trucks followed the Lincoln Highway, now U.S. 30. After considerable delays, including 230 recorded road accidents, inexperienced drivers, wheel paths, dirt roads, mountain trails, desert sands and inadequate bridges, food, sleep, shelter and drinking water, they arrived 62 days and 3,251 miles later.
During World War II, still thinking about good roads, Supreme Allied Commander Eisenhower noted that use of the autobahns enabled the Nazi’s to move quickly throughout Germany. With both the 1919 convoy and the ease with which the German moved their troops during World War II in mind, President Eisenhower set out to create the interstate system. “The old convoy had started me thinking about good, two-lane highways,” he wrote in his memoir, At Ease, “but Germany had made me see the wisdom of broader ribbons across the land.”
In a cooperative undertaking of federal (90 percent from federal gasoline tax) and state (10 percent), the completion of the interstate system cost $129 billion and comprised over 42,000 miles or road. Departments of Transportation for each state were responsible for design, location, right-of-way acquisition and construction. They utilized highly regulated standards of 12 foot wide lanes, 10 foot wide shoulders, 14 foot clearance for bridges, grades of less than 30 percent and travel designed to reach 70 miles per hour. The final system had a limited access of approximately 16,000 interchanges. And while the individual states are responsible for maintenance and ownership of the system, in 1981 they began receiving federal funds.
Persistent rumors have claimed when the interstates were built it was stipulated that a straight section with no bridges or obstructions be set every so many miles to be used as emergency landing strips. According* to Richard F. Weingroff, a writer at the Federal Highway Administration and a student of the agency’s history, this information is false. In his story, “One Mile in Five: Debunking the Myth,” he explains that the idea, brought about by the interest of the Air Force, was considered but was eventually scrapped. However, during World War II, a number of “flight strips” were secretly constructed near major highways for both lighter aircraft and heavy bombers. As the planes weren’t equipped with radar or modern navigational equipment, pilots may have used the highways for navigation. These strips could be seen from the road but no list was ever published.
What started out as a field test changed the American way of life. Although in many ways the Interchange system was designed to move an army and their materials across the United States, its economic and social impact has enormously affected the fabric of the nation.
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