The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, popularly known as the National
Interstate and Defense Highways Act, was enacted on June 29, 1956, when President
Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the bill into law. With an original authorization
of US$25 billion for the construction of 41,000 miles of the Interstate Highway
System supposedly over a 10-year period, it was the largest public works project
in American history through that time. The addition of the term "Defense" in
the Act's title was for two reasons: First, some of the original cost was
diverted from defense funds. Secondly, most US Air Force bases have a direct
link to the system. The purpose was to provide access in order to defend them
during an attack. All of these links were in the original plans, although
some, such as Wright Patterson were not connected up in the 1950s, but only
somewhat later. The money for the Interstate Highway and
Defense Highways was handled in a Highway Trust Fund that paid for 90
percent of highway construction costs with the states required to pay the
remaining 10 percent. It was expected that the money would be generated
through new taxes on fuel, automobiles, trucks, and tires. As a matter of
practice, the federal portion of the cost of the Interstate Highway System
has been paid for by taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel.
Historical background of the Interstate Highway System
Eisenhower's support of the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 can be directly
attributed to his experiences in 1919 as a participant in the U.S. Army's first
Transcontinental Motor Convoy across the United States on the historic Lincoln
Highway, which was the first road across America. The highly publicized 1919
convoy was intended, in part, to dramatize the need for better main
highways and continued federal aid. The convoy left the Ellipse south of the
White House in Washington, D.C., on July 7, 1919, and headed for Gettysburg,
Pennsylvania. From there, it followed the Lincoln Highway to San Francisco.
Bridges cracked and were rebuilt, vehicles became stuck in mud, and
equipment broke, but the convoy was greeted warmly by communities across the
country. The convoy reached San Francisco on September 6, 1919.
The convoy was memorable enough for a young Army officer, 28-year-old
Lieutenant Colonel Dwight David Eisenhower, to include a chapter about
the trip, titled "Through Darkest America With Truck and Tank," in his
book At Ease: Stories I Tell to Friends. "The trip had been difficult, tiring,
and fun," he said. That experience on the Lincoln Highway, plus his
observations of the German autobahn network during World War II, convinced
him to support construction of the Interstate System when he became
President. "The old convoy had started me thinking about good, two-lane
highways, but Germany had made me see the wisdom of broader ribbons across the
land." His "Grand Plan" for highways, announced in 1954, led to the 1956
legislative breakthrough that created the Highway Trust Fund to accelerate
construction of the Interstate System. Eisenhower advocated for the highways
for the purpose of national defense. In the event of a ground invasion by a
foreign power, the U.S. Army would need good highways to be able to transport
troops across the country efficiently. Following completion of the highways the
cross-country journey that took the convoy two months in 1919 was cut down
to five days. Tollways
Many limited-access toll highways that had been built prior to the Interstate
Highway Act were incorporated into the Interstate system. For major turnpikes
in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kansas,
Oklahoma, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, and West Virginia, tolls continue
to be collected, even though the turnpikes have long since been paid for.
The money collected is used for highway maintenance, turnpike improvement
projects, and states' general funds. In addition, there are several major toll
bridges and toll tunnels included in the Interstate Highways, including ones
linking Delaware with New Jersey, New Jersey with New York, New Jersey with
Pennsylvania, the Upper and Lower Peninsulas of Michigan, and, in the near
future, Kentucky with Indiana. Tolls collected on Interstate Highways remain
on I-95, I-94, I-90, I-88, I-87, I-80, I-77, I-76, I-64, I-44, I-294, I-355,
and several others. Toll turnpikes in the following states
have been declared paid off, and those highways have become standard freeways
with the removal of toll barriers: Connecticut, Kentucky, Maryland, Texas,
Virginia, and Florida. References
The Greatest Decade 1956-1966 Part 1 Essential to the National Interest at
United States Department of Transportation - Federal Highway
Administration History of the Interstate Highway System
at United States Department of Transportation - Federal Highway
Administration Federal Highway Act of 1956