Who is responsible for interstate highways

During World War II , Eisenhower had been stationed in Germany, where he had been impressed by the network of high-speed roads known as the Reichsautobahnen. After he became president in , Eisenhower was determined to build the highways that lawmakers had been talking about for years. The law authorized the construction of a 41,mile network of interstate highways that would span the nation.

Under the terms of the law, the federal government would pay 90 percent of the cost of expressway construction. The money came from an increased gasoline tax—now 3 cents a gallon instead of 2—that went into a non-divertible Highway Trust Fund. The new interstate highways were controlled-access expressways with no at-grade crossings—that is, they had overpasses and underpasses instead of intersections.

They were at least four lanes wide and were designed for high-speed driving. When the Interstate Highway Act was first passed, most Americans supported it. Soon, however, the unpleasant consequences of all that roadbuilding began to show. Most unpleasant of all was the damage the roads were inflicting on the city neighborhoods in their path. They displaced people from their homes, sliced communities in half and led to abandonment and decay in city after city.

People began to fight back. The first victory for the anti-road forces took place in San Francisco , where in the Board of Supervisors stopped the construction of the double-decker Embarcadero Freeway along the waterfront.

In many cities and suburbs, however, the highways were built as planned. All told, the Interstate Highway System is more than 46, miles long. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. In the early summer of , Dwight Eisenhower was in a funk. Ike usually gets the credit for building the interstate highway system, which has been named in his honor, but that version of the story omits the critical role played by Congress.

In his State of the Union message in , he proposed an American interstate highway system, which he justified as a national defense program. The highways could be used for transporting troops and for evacuating cities in case of nuclear attack. The Eisenhower administration proposed financing the interstate highway system through a federal bond issue, and expected state and local governments to contribute 70 percent of the cost.

Military leaders knew from their experiences in the two previous world wars that roads were vital to national defense. During World War I, military truck traffic destroyed roads. In World War II, defense plants were often supplied by truck, but the lack of road standards sometimes impeded timely delivery. Over a two-year period, Army trucks drove 17 million miles on the test roads. Some vehicles carried blocks of concrete in an effort to see how long a ton truck would take to destroy roads and bridges.

Highway building and maintenance standards were developed from the tests. Congress passed the Federal-Aid Highway Act of creating federal funds for interstate highway construction. As the IHS developed so did its ability to support national defense.

For example, throughout the system, mile-long stretches of concrete pavement double as emergency landing strips for military aircraft. Many Army posts, especially where division-level units are garrisoned, are near interstate highways.

Military planners were emboldened by the ability to move personnel and materiel with ease during national emergencies. Despite the convenience and ease of movement, the IHS is showing its age. When funding was appropriated in , planners knew that, at some point, roads, bridges, and various infrastructure would deteriorate. The IHS was expected to last only into the s when improvements would be needed. The appropriation ran out in and current funding is sustained by the motor fuel tax, which is funneled into a trust fund.

On a summer day near Minneapolis, a section of a steel arch bridge on Interstate 35 collapsed into the Mississippi River. The accident killed 13 people and injured another The accident remains one of the worst bridge failures in the U.

At the time of the incident, approximately , of the nation's nearly , bridges "were considered either structurally deficient or functionally obsolete," according to a ABC News report. Since the I incident, political leaders have called for a major investment in the nation's infrastructure.

Most Americans see the IHS for what it is: a quick, efficient, and convenient means of travel. The automobile culture, which hit its stride in the s, thrived on networks of paved roads and inexpensive gasoline. Along the way, an entire segment of the economy was born. Businesses catered to travelers. Hotels, motels, restaurants, and service stations appeared at interstate exits to serve weary motorists.

The IHS is an icon and marvel of man's ingenuity. Great leaders such as Dwight Eisenhower and Lucius Clay had the foresight to conceive and build a network of interconnecting highways that helped to shape and define postwar America.

Who from the current generation of leaders will repair, rebuild, and expand the IHS? He is a graduate of the University of Arkansas and holds a master's degree from Webster University. Army Sustainment Magazine Archives.

Browse Army Sustainment Magazine. Sustainer News. Discuss This Article in milSuite. Dwight D. The excursion covered 3, miles Photo Credit: U. Patriot Day March 11, U.