During World War II, the Allied Commander, General Eisenhower, was impressed by the German Autobahn system. He recognized its use for both military and civilian purposes. Later, as President of the United States, he signed the first legislation funding the construction of a similar system in the United States. In 1956, Eisenhower signed the Federal Aid Highway Act, and construction of our Interstate Highway System began. The construction officially ended in 1992 after the completion of 41 thousand miles of controlled-access highways with standardized access and signage. The cost was $114 billion. Construction funds came from the Highway Trust Fund Fuel Tax and congressional appropriations. The same funding, “The Gas Tax”, is used today to maintain our freeways. Although our Interstate Highway System today only amounts to 2.6 percent of our roads, it carries 26 percent of our vehicle traffic.
A number of myths still persist concerning the construction and usage of freeways. Adolph Hitler claimed credit for Germany’s Autobahns. In fact, the design and early construction of the Autobahns began well before Hitler rose to power. In the U.S., one of our continuing myths is that our freeways are built to provide one mile in every five miles straight and strong enough to accommodate military aircraft in wartime. Part of our myth arises from the full name of the legislation signed by President Eisenhower in 1956, “The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways”. Additionally, the stated purpose of the interstate system was to connect our Principal Metropolitan Areas with our National Defense Areas and promote the evacuation of large cities in wartime or national disasters. Today, we frequently see our freeways loaded with vehicles fleeing hurricanes. Imagine what a large-scale evacuation would be like without our freeways.
The origin of our system of national roadways dates back to the Federal Aid Road Act of 1916 and The Federal Aid Highway Act of 1921. Those acts created standards for numbering and signage, but the funding for construction and maintenance was the responsibility of each state.
Alaska and Hawaii created problems for our interstate highway legislation. By definition, they can not have “interstate” highways as they do not connect to any other states. Those states were addressed by later legislation, and they got their funds.
Some of our freeways today charge a toll. The legislation creating our interstates prohibited the charging of a toll for usage. There were exceptions for roads constructed by the states prior to the legislation and for roads constructed in densely populated areas. The most expensive toll road in the world today is the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Although part of the interstate system, the toll for a family sedan traveling the length of that freeway is currently $112.91.
Our Constitution does not give the federal government the authority to set highway speed limits. That is left up to the individual states. The National Maximum Speed Limit of 55 mph, which existed from 1974 to 1995, was enforced by the threat of withholding federal highway funding from states which did not comply with the federal mandate. Speed limits vary on different portions of our interstates, with the maximum being 80 mph in some rural areas. The highest speed permitted in the nation today is on Hwy 130, a state highway in Texas. That toll road is not part of the federal interstate system and has a speed limit of 85 mph on a 41 mile section. Montana was the last state to implement speed restrictions on its interstates. In 1998 the Montana Supreme Court ruled that Montana’s “reasonable and proper” limit was unconstitutionally vague.
The crowning achievement of Eisenhower’s eight years in office is our interstate highways. He truly is “The Father of our Interstate System”.
Author: Staff
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