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The interesting thing about this is that the case for it was to alleviate traffic, and that roads were getting old. In the video, a traffic engineer said that money was needed to maintain the roads, so there needed to be an interstate highway system. Those were the same arguments that we hear today for the need of High-speed rail system.
Personally I agree with the arguments of why we needed improved roads and highways of the past. The problems of then continue today demanding more of a need to move traffic. People simply keep moving and needing things moved, that isn’t going to change. Unfortunately progressive thinking isn’t always what others believe is needed. They simply want to remain in the same rut, with little or no foresight on what is the best answer/s to help society.
We can keep building roads and highways making them wider and wider to move traffic slowly from place to place. However it makes sense to find an alternate mode of travel that can move more people, save energy and produce jobs in the country. It takes creative thinking but not everyone finds this to be the answer, except they don’t have an alternative answer to the problem, just more of the same.
Why did we as a nation want to send a man to the moon, or enter the space race back in history, it costs too much and a waste of money. Yet today look at all the wonderful things that have come from the journey and the funding of the program. How many jobs, new items, inventions and improvements in our everyday lives that we take for granted today would not be here if the space program hadn’t been developed?
There simply isn’t any argument for not having a high-speed rail system, unless we want to remain in that rut on the same old roads.
Personally I agree with the arguments of why we needed improved roads and highways of the past. The problems of then continue today demanding more of a need to move traffic. People simply keep moving and needing things moved, that isn’t going to change. Unfortunately progressive thinking isn’t always what others believe is needed. They simply want to remain in the same rut, with little or no foresight on what is the best answer/s to help society.
We can keep building roads and highways making them wider and wider to move traffic slowly from place to place. However it makes sense to find an alternate mode of travel that can move more people, save energy and produce jobs in the country. It takes creative thinking but not everyone finds this to be the answer, except they don’t have an alternative answer to the problem, just more of the same.
Why did we as a nation want to send a man to the moon, or enter the space race back in history, it costs too much and a waste of money. Yet today look at all the wonderful things that have come from the journey and the funding of the program. How many jobs, new items, inventions and improvements in our everyday lives that we take for granted today would not be here if the space program hadn’t been developed?
There simply isn’t any argument for not having a high-speed rail system, unless we want to remain in that rut on the same old roads.
Great post.
To add to what you mentioned, things we take for granted today were things that many today would regard to as unessential. If we were in the cavemen era today, many regressives would say that we don't need cities or infrastructure.
Of the original interstates proposed, one remained unbuilt and was cancelled: I-67, which would have been short, running from Elkhart Indiana to Grand Rapids Michigan.
Of the originals, the last ones added to the plan, at the 11th hour, were I-77 and I-79. Both of those derive from a cancelled series of turnpike proposals that would have linked Cleveland and Charlotte; the West VA Tpk (which was incorporated into 77) was the only part of that to be built.
Several others had parts of their routes changed dramatically:
I-96 through Detroit
I-95 through Washington, between Trenton and New Brunswick NJ, and through Boston
I-40 through Memphis
I-78 through Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens
I-80 and spurs through parts of San Francisco
I-69 into downtown Indianapolis
Many, many 3dInterstates were cancelled as well.
Interstates 75, 77, 40, 15, 69, and 70 are five of the 'original' interstates that went through some major extension at some point well after they were first proposed. The southern end of 75 was to be Tampa, it was extended to Hialeah. The southern end of 77 was to be Charlotte, later extended to Columbia SC. The eastern end of 40 was to be Greensboro, later extended to Raleigh, then in the first modified proposal to Smithfield NC, and then after a plan to extend 40 to Morehead City NC was rejected, it was rerouted and finally extended to Wilmington. The southern end of 15 was to be San Bernardino, later extended to San Diego. The northern end of 69 was to be near Battle Creek, then extended to Lansing, and then to Flint, and then eventually to Port Huron. The western end of I-70 was to be Denver, in the early 60s a plan to extend it to Cove Fort UT was approved.
Interstates to be re-numbered:
Western I-80N became I-84
I-5W became I-80 (the northern half) and I-580 (the southern half)
The original Michigan route of I-94 became I-196 and I-96
I-92 and the Detroit to Port Huron I-77 became I-94
I-15W became I-86 in Idaho
I-80S in NE/CO became western I-76
I-80S in OH/PA became eastern I-76
I-86 between Hartford and Worcester became I-84
Interstates not in the original plan approved in the 1960s or early 70s (thus making the cut before the "official" cutoff of 199o): 82, 27, 37, 49, 43, 88 (NY), plus some extensions.
The "new" interstates since then have been up to the states to construct to interstate standards - of those 22, 39, 86, 97, and 99 have been completed to some extent or another. The others - 9, 73, 74 (extension), 69 are only being completed extremely slowly, and likely will never be completed as initially proposed.
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