INTERSTATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM TURNS 50:
LOOKING BACK, LOOKING FORWARD

In 1956, cross-country travel from New York to San Francisco usuallyentailed boarding a train. Roughly one-third of adult Americans didn't even have a driver's license. And fast food, relatively speaking, still meant heading down the block to grab a booth at the local diner.

But all that was before the Interstate Highway System, the largest and most expensive public works project in U.S. history. When President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed legislation that officially created the system on June 29, 1956, he made possible the fulfillment of a vision that he, and others, had been pursuing for decades: a safe and efficient system of highways that would connect our nation's major cities and ensure national defense.

Today, the scope of the Interstate System is vast and extraordinary. It includes 47,000 miles of highway with over 55,000 bridges, 104 tunnels, and nearly 15,000 interchanges. Over the years, it altered the physical landscape, and it affected the way people travel, work, and socialize. In short, it forever changed America.

As the country celebrates the system's 50th birthday, it seems fitting to consider the roadway network's past and its future. What is its legacy? What have been its shortcomings? What challenges does it face in the coming years?

The system's most recognizable benefit is the increased mobility it has provided. The interstates opened previously inaccessible stretches of the country to leisure travel and made relocation possible for those who wanted to leave urban life behind. Families moved into the new emerging areas on the fringes of city-suburbs-to enjoy a higher quality of life, and still easily commute to jobs in the cities.

The system also fueled the growth of the U.S. economy in the latter half of the 20th century. The speed and reliability of the interstates expanded markets, broadened the range of suppliers for firms, and made it possible for more customers to be served by same-day deliveries. Whole industries have recognized economies of scale by strategically locating manufacturing plants and warehouses near the thoroughfares.

"The interstates carry 75 or 80 percent of the dollar value of goods moved in the country," says E. Dean Carlson, former executive director of the Federal Highway Administration. "The amount of transfer of freight from rail to truck, and the amount that's being generated because trucks provide such good service, accounts for a major portion of our increased productivity."

Safety has been another important benefit. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) reports approximately one fatality for every 100 million

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