Renewing the National Commitment to the Interstate Highway System: A Foundation for the Future (2019) / Chapter Skim
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Pages 27-48
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2 The Vision Takes Root and Pays Off The founders of the Interstate Highway System relied on a federal–state partnership to build a transcontinental highway system without parallel (McNichol 2003, 8)
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28 NATIONAL COMMITMENT TO THE INTERSTATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM In discussing the key ingredients in the system's success, including its economic and safety benefits, its social costs must also be acknowledged. THE VISION TAKES ROOT Good roads and canals will shorten distances, facilitate commercial and personal intercourse, and unite, by a still more intimate community of interests, the most remote quarters of the United States.
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THE VISION TAKES ROOT AND PAYS OFF 29 to a level that overloaded the capabilities of American railroads (Williamson 2012)
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30 NATIONAL COMMITMENT TO THE INTERSTATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM areas and were better suited for limited circumstances such as high-demand, urban segments (Weingroff n.d.-a, 299–307)
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THE VISION TAKES ROOT AND PAYS OFF 31 requirements. The first cost-to-complete agreement (known as the Interstate Cost Estimate, or ICE)
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32 NATIONAL COMMITMENT TO THE INTERSTATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM With these basic system standards and a funding mechanism in place, construction of the system began almost immediately after passage of the 1956 act, leading to a revolution in road-building technology and activity. Within a few years of the awarding of the first contracts to build the system in late 1956, states would end up moving more than 10 times the volume of earth required to build the Panama Canal, and they would pour enough concrete to build a wall 9-feet thick and 50-feet high and long enough to encircle the world (Arave 2003)
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THE VISION TAKES ROOT AND PAYS OFF 33 been the responsibility of states, a consensus had developed that it was in the national interest to provide federal funding for preservation7 as distinct from basic maintenance activities, such as snow removal and pothole repair, which would remain the exclusive responsibility of states. Successive changes in law would further modify the Interstate program by phasing out the dedicated highway construction program and by making the Interstates a subset of a much larger set of highways eligible for federal aid.
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34 NATIONAL COMMITMENT TO THE INTERSTATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM segments in all 50 states, and connections to all major urban areas of the continental United States. All told, the system's construction, which was in 1955 expected to take 12 years to complete with an investment of about $27 billion ($252 billion in 2018 dollars)
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THE VISION TAKES ROOT AND PAYS OFF 35 ure 2-3 illustrates how Interstate centerline- and lane-mileage have changed since 1990, when the system was considered largely complete. A BOON TO PASSENGER AND FREIGHT TRANSPORTATION At a Glance • The Interstate Highway System accounts for about one-quarter of all miles traveled by light-duty vehicles and 40 percent of all miles traveled by trucks.11 • The system has accounted for significant travel savings for interstate and long-distance travel for both passenger vehicles and freight, in some cases reducing travel time by half compared with travel times before its construction.
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36 NATIONAL COMMITMENT TO THE INTERSTATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM Motorists flocked to the Interstate highways as soon as they were opened to traffic, and that popularity has by no means waned. By 1967, Interstate routes already carried 12 percent of the country's vehicle-miles traveled (VMT)
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THE VISION TAKES ROOT AND PAYS OFF 37 purposes (TRB 2016)
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38 NATIONAL COMMITMENT TO THE INTERSTATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM of the highways identified are Interstate routes, which are instrumental in serving the country's marine ports and commercial airports, as well as connecting major freight rail hubs. BROADER ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES At a Glance • Analyses of the economic returns to Interstate and other highway investments in the United States have found high net social rates of return.
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THE VISION TAKES ROOT AND PAYS OFF 39 More than any single action by the government since the end of the war, this one would change the face of America with straightaways, cloverleaf turns, bridges, and elongated parkways. Its impact on the American economy -- the jobs it would produce in manufacturing and construction, the rural areas it would open up -- was beyond calculation.
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40 NATIONAL COMMITMENT TO THE INTERSTATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM Regions previously not well connected to the national economy have become more closely linked by the Interstate System for both the movement of goods and personal travel. The system has shaped the economics of residential, commercial, and industrial locations throughout the nation.
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THE VISION TAKES ROOT AND PAYS OFF 41 many cities for the purpose of redirecting longer-distance, interstate traffic around urban areas and congested central business districts (CBDs) , but these highways quickly became heavily used for local traffic.
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42 NATIONAL COMMITMENT TO THE INTERSTATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM civil rights leaders, and historic preservationists to begin pushing back in what became known as the "Freeway Revolt" in a dozen or more cities during the 1960s and 1970s. The damage done to the social fabric and economic vitality of many cities by urban freeways that split and isolated neighborhoods persists to this day, leading some states and metropolitan areas to plan and take mitigative actions to reunite communities.
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THE VISION TAKES ROOT AND PAYS OFF 43 The Interstate Highway System was designed to provide not only efficient but also safe transportation. Full access control -- one of the key features of Interstate highways -- is perhaps the most significant design feature effective in lowering crash rates (AASHTO 2011)
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44 NATIONAL COMMITMENT TO THE INTERSTATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM that since 1967 when the Interstate System was little more than a decade old, more than a quarter-million additional deaths would have been experienced had all the miles traveled on the Interstates been traveled on other roads with their higher rates of fatal crashes.19 Nevertheless, more than 5,000 deaths per year is a serious public safety concern, and the Interstates continue to be the focus of efforts to increase their safety performance. Ensuring the safety of work zones is a particular consideration, and one that may become even more challenging as the system undergoes more repair and reconstruction work and as traffic volumes increase.
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THE VISION TAKES ROOT AND PAYS OFF 45 allowing the use of federal-aid funds for purposes other than new construction, including resurfacing, restoration, rehabilitation, and reconstruction of existing segments. Congress also made HTF funds available for spending on other highways and public transit.
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48 NATIONAL COMMITMENT TO THE INTERSTATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM Pisarski, A
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