The Creation of U.S. Interstate Highways

By Skyler Farrand and Matt Layding

❖ America pumped cheap petroleum from Middle East

❖ U.S. doubled consumption of oil in quarter-century after the war

❖ Anticipated a future of low-cost fuels➢ Lead to construction of highways

History

❖ Congress first authorized a national highway system in 1944, but it became underfunded

❖ President Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956➢ Created Federal Highway Administration

❖ President Eisenhower became “Father of the Interstate System”

History

❖ Federal-Aid Highway Act also created nationwide

design standards:

➢ A minimum of two lanes in each direction

➢ Lanes that were 12 ft in width

➢ A 10-foot right paved shoulder

➢ Designed speeds of 50–70 mph

History

Highway Construction Equipment (www.dot.ca.gov)

❖ Largest Public Works Project of Eisenhower’s Administration was the creation of the United States Interstate highways

❖ The project called for construction of 42,000 miles of controlled-access highways linking major cities

❖ When Eisenhower left Office 7,500 miles of the system were in use

Planning/Construction

Interstate Map

“President Eisenhower … gave the nation its biggest construction project, the huge interstate-highway program

that changed the shape of American society and made possible the expansion of the suburban middle class.”

James M. Perry

The Wall Street JournalOctober 27, 1995

Influential Cultures

❖ Middle-class whites fled from cities full of black and destitute people, moving to the suburbs

❖ Racism against African Americans❖ Classism against the unwealthy

Stereotypical Family Home in the 1950’s (www.driveinmedia.com)

❖ Commuters❖ Travelers❖ Automobile

Companies❖ Postal Services❖ Military Vehicles❖ Construction

workers

❖ Environmentalists❖ People who did

not own cars

Benefiters Non-Benefiters

❖ Changed culture and lives of U.S. citizens❖ Facilitated the suburban migration❖ By 1960, ¼ of Americans lived in suburbs❖ Suburbs held ½ of population by end of

the twentieth century❖ Increased racial segregation and urban

“white flight”

Domestic Event?

Kennedy, David M, et al. “The American Pageant.” Boston: Charles Hartford, 2006. Print. Manning, Martin J. "national highway system." Daily Life through History. ABC-CLIO, 2014. Web. 10 Mar. 2014.Mayer, Michael S. "Eisenhower, Dwight D." The Eisenhower Years, Presidential Profiles. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2010. American History Online. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 11 Mar.2014<http://www.fofweb.com/NuHistory/default.asp?ItemID=WE52>Snyder, Logan Thomas. “The Creation of America’s Interstate Highway System.” American History. 2006. Academic Search Premier. Ebscohost. Web. 11 March, 2014. <http://www.ebscohost.com>

Works Cited