the eisenhower interstate highway system

8/3/2019 The Eisenhower Interstate Highway System

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Running Head: The Eisenhower Interstate Highway System 1

The Eisenhower Interstate Highway System

Roger A. SkilesTransportation Principles

Ed PinnellJuly 20, 2011




Abstract

President Eisenhower, after taking office in 1953 made one of his first term goals the

revitalizing of the nation’s highways. His hard work and dedication to this end

culminated in the signing of important highway legislation in 1956. Authorization for the

Interstate Highway System was provided by the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956

(FHWA 2011); later known as the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act of

1956. While funded by the Federal government, State Highway transportation agencies

had the responsibility for the construction of the projects. Future legislation would

eventually cap the miles of highway under this Act to 43,000 (FHWA 2011). The price of

this highway system has been estimated at $114.3 billion dollars (FHWA 2011).

Highway projects in both Missouri and Kansas lay claim to the first construction projects

under the 1956 Act. All traffic laws and operating requirements are the responsibility of

the States along with enforcement of such laws, including setting and enforcing speed

limits. While it is often thought that the Interstate highway system was built primarily for

military purposes and that highways could double as airstrips, the fact is that the

Interstate system was pursued for civilian benefits and while airplanes could land on

some highways, that was never the intent of Act (FHWA 2011).




History

The Federal-aid highway program established in 1916 was the model to which

The Interstate Highway System was built. Funding for Interstate construction was made

available to the State Highway transportation agencies by the Federal Government. The

State Highway transportation agencies were responsible for the construction. A National

System of Interstate Highways was authorized by the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1944

(Murphy 2009). However, the authorization to build it was not included in the legislation.

President Eisenhower, after taking office in 1953 made one of his first term goals the

revitalizing of the nation’s highways. He was aware of the poor conditions of the nation’s

highways from his days in the Army while accompanying a military convoy across the

country. When Eisenhower was serving in World War II as Allied Forces Commander,

he took notice of Germany’s Autobahn highway network which he thought was very

smartly engineered. The difference between Germany’s Autobahn and America’s

highways reinforced his belief that the United States needed better roads.

Eisenhower formed committees to study the highways and asked for input from

many state Governors. He used this information when he met with Congress to discuss

his proposal for a new Interstate Highway system (Leonard 2007). Legislation for the

new highway system initially failed in

1955. Most people assumed that with

1956 being an election year, the

Democratic Congress would not

support such a plan being pursued by a




Republican President. However, President Eisenhower worked with Congress making

compromises and urging their approval. On June 29, 1956 Eisenhower signed the

Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 (FHWA 2011).

During the rest of his term, he was always looking for ways to make

improvements and solve the problems that were experienced in the initial years of the

project. He encouraged the continued effort on the Interstate System throughout his time

in office. He was given the title of "Father of the Interstate System" based on his

leadership in promoting the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 and his determination to

advance the program on schedule. The Act as quoted by Louis Jacobson “touched

virtually every aspect of American life in the past 50 years.” (Jacobson 2005)

The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 included a limitation on how many miles

of interstate highway could be constructed with Federal funds. At the time, the limit was

41,000 miles. Legislation would later increase the limit to 43,000 miles. Of the 43,000

miles, 42,795 miles have been used. The Federal Highway Administration, with approved

legislation can approve additional mileage if it meets full Interstate standards and would

be a logical addition or connection. The current Interstate System is 46,876 miles long

and has been referred to as “The world’s largest public works project” (Lagesse, D 2003).

The distance beyond the 42,795 was not eligible for funding under the Federal-Aid

Highway Act of 1956, although States were able to use other Federal-aid funding to help

with construction.

Interstate highways are owned and operated by the States, with the exception of

the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge (I-

95/495) over the Potomac River in the




Washington D.C area (FHWA 2011). President Dwight D. Eisenhower approved special

legislation in August 1954 to allow the U.S. Bureau of Public Roads to build the bridge.

The bridge is owned by the Federal Highway Administration even though the District of

Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia operate the bridge. Actually, as the bridge

replacement project is nearing completion, when the first span of the new bridge was

opened, the ownership of the bridge will go to the States.

In 1991 it was estimated that the cost of the Interstate highway system was $128.9

billion (FHWA 2011). The portion covered by the Federal government was $114.3

billion. Only the mileage included in the Interstate Construction Program (42,795 miles)

was paid by the Federal government. Mileage added as a logical addition or connection

outside the limitation and turnpikes incorporated into the Interstate System within the

mileage limitation were not included in the Federal government’s costs.

Major General Philip B. Fleming, the Federal Works Administrator approved the

first 37,700 miles of the Interstate System on August 2, 1947. The initial 37,000 miles

was recommended by Thomas H. MacDonald, Commissioner of Public Roads. Because

there was no program established by Congress to build the network of highways, the

States used Federal-aid funding to complete many of the projects inside the approved

interstate areas.

The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 initiated the formal Interstate Construction

Program. This new program brought higher design standards, a Federal funding source,

and the commitment of the nation. There are two interstate projects that claim to be the

first in the country. The first project using Interstate Construction funding appropriated

from the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 started in the state of Missouri. Beginning on




August 13, 1956, the project took

place on U.S 40 in St. Charles

County (Droz, D. 2007). The

project would later be designated

the I-70 Mark Twain Expressway.

A large sign was placed at the site

that said "This is the first project in the United States on which actual construction was

started under provisions of the new Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956. “

There was a second project that claimed to be first. Another construction project on U.S

40 west in Kansas, west of Topeka actually began before the 1956 Act, but didn’t award

the final paving contract until after the new legislation was in place (Droz, D. 2007). Due

to this being the first paving under the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, a sign was

erected in Kansas stating, "This is the first project in the United States completed under

provisions of the new Federal-Aid Highway Act

of 1956."

Traffic Rules

Interstates are owned and operated by

the states that occupy them. Therefore, the states

control the operating requirements and

limitations, including the speed limit. Along

with controlling requirements and speed, the

state must also provide enforcement. Although




the states are free to create their own laws and rules based on their own circumstances,

the National Committee on Uniform Traffic Laws and Ordinances (NCUTLO), which

includes police officers and State motor vehicle administrators, publishes a digest of

traffic laws and rules of the road. The goal of NCUTLO is to promote consistency of

traffic laws from state to state.

Although many people seem to believe at one time there was a national speed

limit of 55 miles per hour, there never has been a single speed limit adopted throughout

the country. The thought of a national speed limit

comes from the Emergency Highway Energy

Conservation Act signed on January 2, 1974 by

President Richard Nixon (Woolley 2011). The Act

was part of a countrywide effort to reduce the

consumption of oil in the middle of an energy crisis

due to Middle Eastern conflict and subsequent oil embargo ordered by the Organization

of Petroleum Exporting Countries. The Federal Highway Administration was prohibited

from giving approval to any highway construction project if the State pursuing the project

had a speed limit over 55 miles per hour. The States were not mandated to maintain the

55 mile per hour limit but would lose Federal-aid highway funding if they chose to post

any limit higher than 55. Due to the new law, all States complied with the 55 mile per

hour limit proposed in the legislation. It was not until 1987 when the Surface

Transportation and Uniform Relocation Assistance Act was passed that the States were

allowed to increase speeds on rural Interstates to 65 miles per hour without losing

funding. The National Highway System Designation Act of 1995 removed the rural




restriction allowing the 65 miles per hour limit to extend to all roads. As of today, the full

control of speed limits rests with the States (Fox 2004). Along with speed restrictions, the

States also control the types of vehicles that can be operated on Interstate highways under

their control.

Bicycles are not allowed to be operated on Interstates in most States. However,

some western states do allow bicycles on routes where

there is less traffic and alternate routes for bicyclists do

not exist (FHWA 2011). The safety of all Interstate

users is the main consideration when determining if

bicycles and motor vehicles can safely enter and exit the

highway together. In urban areas, some Interstate

highways have actually been designed and built with

bicycle lanes. The Interstate highway system was primarily designed to increase the safety of

drivers, passengers, and pedestrians. It is the largest single engineering and construction

project on this planet (McNichol, 2005). Safety on the Interstate is measured by a fatality

rate. This is a measured rate so that when traffic patterns and interstate usage change, the

data collected can still be utilized. The rate is measured as fatalities per 100 million miles

traveled. With a fatality rate of 0.8 in 2004, the Interstate system is the safest highway

system in the country as compared to a fatality rate of 1.46 for all other roads (Leonard

2007). In comparison, the fatality rate when the Interstate Construction program began in

1956, the fatality rate across the nation was 6.05. Advances in safety, better guardrails,

better signs and markings, breakaway sign posts and utility poles, and wider shoulders




are all improvements that contributed to the fatality rate reduction. Numerous safety

improvements in automobiles have helped to reduce fatalities as well.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), in the 1970’s considered

converting all of the highway signs, including the speed limit signs to the metric units of

measurement (FHWA 2011). However, after receiving over

5000 comments from motorists, of which 98 percent were

against the change, all consideration for the change was

stopped. In 1988 consideration for metric conversion was back

on the table but once again, it was met with great public

negativity. In April 1994 the FHWA issued a statement that it would no longer pursue

conversion. The National Highway System Designation Act of 1995was signed a year

later which prohibited any funds from the Federal Highway-aid Act of 1956 from being

used to convert old standard signs to metric or to purchase any new metric signs.

Identification of Interstate highways was based off of the numbering plan for U.S

numbered highways, except it would be a mirror image of the numbering system (Droz,

D. 2007). For example, U.S 10 is in the northern part of the country while the new I-10 is

in the south. Based on this numbering plan, in September of 1957

all Interstate highway numbers were assigned and approved by the

U.S. Bureau of Public Roads (BPR) and the American Association

of State Highway Officials (AASHO).

Myths

There are numerous myths associated with the Interstate highway system. On

popular myth is that President Dwight D. Eisenhower or the Federal-Aid Highway Act of




1956 required one out of every five miles of interstate highway to be straight so airplanes

can land on the Interstates. The truth is that no policy, legislation, or regulation has ever

existed for this to be a requirement (Mikkelson 2011). This myth is difficult to dispel due

to the fact that it is so widespread. At times, airplanes are forced to land on Interstates for

safety reasons but highways were never designed for that purpose.

Another popular myth is that the primary purpose of the Interstate system was for

National Defense. While it is true that the words “and Defense” were added to the official

name of the highway system in 1956 (“National System of Interstate and Defense

Highways”) due to the Department of Defense being a big supporter of the highway

system, but the Interstate highway programs civilian benefits were so popular that any

required legislation would have passed even if defense was not a factor (FHWA 2011).

President Eisenhower knew the value the Interstate system would provide the military but

that was just part of the reason he supported it. His support was mostly based on

economic development, improved highway safety, relief of congestion, and reduction of

vehicle related lawsuits which were all civilian needs.

Conclusion

Even though the Federal government provided the funding under the Federal-Aid

Highway Act of 1956, the States were responsible for the construction, operation, law

making and enforcement of the highways. President Eisenhower played a significant role

in the approval and support of the 1956 Act but was not the sole reason the project was

successful. Additionally, while the Department of Defense contributed suggestions and

requirements for the highway system, the primary purpose of the Federal-Aid Highway




Act of 1956 was to enhance the safety and economic development of the civilian

community. The Interstate Highway Act of 1956 created the vast network of

superhighways, beltlines, and spurs of the modern-day highway system (Murphy 2009).

It “lead to an America that is more mobile, less plagued by regional differences, and

vastly wealthier than before (Fox 2004).”




References

Droz, R. (2007, October 5) U.S highways: from us1 to (us830). Retrieved from

http://www.us-highways.com/usbt.htm

FHWA (2011) Eisenhower interstate highway system. Retrieved from

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/interstate/homepage.cfm

Fox, J. (2004, January 26) The great paving how the interstate highway system helped

create the modern economy--and reshaped the FORTUNE 500. Fortune Magazine

Jacobson, L (2005, May 3) Ten bills that really mattered. Roll Call

Lagesse, D (2003, July 7) Building the highways that changed a nation. U.S News &World Report.

Leonard, B. (2007) Celebrating 50 years: the Eisenhower interstate highway system

McNichol, D. (2005, December 31) The roads that built America: the incredible story of

the U.S. interstate system.

Mikkelson, B. (2011, April 1) Landing of hope and glory. Retrieved from

http://www.snopes.com/autos/law/airstrip.asp

Murphy, J. (2009). Building America: then and now. The Eisenhower Interstate System

Woolley, J. (2011) The American Presidency Project. Retrieved from

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=4332#axzz1SZZTW5s9












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