Running Head: The Eisenhower Interstate Highway System

The Eisenhower Interstate Highway System

Roger A. Skiles Transportation Principles Ed Pinnell July 20, 2011

Running Head: The Eisenhower Interstate Highway System Abstract President Eisenhower, after taking office in 1953 made one of his first term goals the revitalizing of the nations 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).

Running Head: The Eisenhower Interstate Highway System

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 nations highways. He was aware of the poor conditions of the nations 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 Germanys Autobahn highway network which he thought was very smartly engineered. The difference between Germanys Autobahn and Americas 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

Running Head: The Eisenhower Interstate Highway System 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 worlds 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 (I95/495) over the Potomac River in the

Running Head: The Eisenhower Interstate Highway System 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 governments 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

Running Head: The Eisenhower Interstate Highway System 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 didnt 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

Running Head: The Eisenhower Interstate Highway System 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

Running Head: The Eisenhower Interstate Highway System 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

Running Head: The Eisenhower Interstate Highway System 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 1970s 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

Running Head: The Eisenhower Interstate Highway System 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.

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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

Running Head: The Eisenhower Interstate Highway System 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).

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Running Head: The Eisenhower Interstate Highway System

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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