The Beginnings Of Our Interstates

[MrObsessive]

I thought I'd post this vid I ran across on YouTube. It seems to have been filmed late in 1961 as there are some dates the narrator mentions that indicate that. What really got my attention was all the neat '50's, early '60's Detroit iron that you don't see anymore plying the roads. 

I also found myself naming each of the cars and model years (that I could see clearly) going down the roads.

Ahhhh...........nostalgia-----long before vision blocking minivans and SUV's, when gas was cheap, and wide open spaces seemed endless.

Neat video and as usual, it gave me some modeling ideas!

 

 

[BigTallDad]

Some more trivia: That's the Eisenhower era. Actually, Interstates were also laid out with Civil Defense in mind...every XX number of miles had to have a straight stretch of YYYY feet so aircraft could land.

Also, have you ever seen a traffic signal on an Interstate? St. Louis tried that years ago, and I'm still chuckling over that fiasco.

[MrObsessive]

Also, have you ever seen a traffic signal on an Interstate? St. Louis tried that years ago, and I'm still chuckling over that fiasco.

Just a few miles from me there IS a traffic light as the highway literally ENDS at an intersection. This is PA Rte. 283 which runs from East/West here in Central PA. The confusion comes in due to part of 283 being a state rd, and then you have to exit off a one lane ramp which puts you on to Interstate 283 which also ends after a few miles as it runs into Interstate Rte. 83. 

Confused yet??

State Rd Rte. 283 ends at what's known here as Eisenhower Blvd ironically, and right at the intersection is a Wendy's. At least two times that I know of, that Wendy's has been partially mowed down by tractor trailers motoring along at 70 MPH, only to find out a little too late that there's a traffic light and UH-OH-------------it's red! 

In recent years, this particular Wendy's has put up a "hill" ostensibly to stop trucks that run the red-light into the building. Don't know if it's worked because since they put up the hill, no trucks have run the red-light yet!

[Eshaver]

I watched the construction of a couple of sections of I-95 from my grandmother's house in Richmond Virginia . It wasn't until I returned from living in Dallas Texas for years that I found the ORIGINAL route circumvented most of Richmond ! If if you visit Virginia , take I-295 as this is what was intended . See, I-95 was a Toll road from the day it opened in 1957  until 1993 . It was GREEDY Richmond Virginia government who withheld real estate and construction funds until Washington DC went with Richmond's wants .

[1972coronet]

I can go on forever about highways' history , especially the local ( southern California region ) highways . This area is host to the Arroyo Seco Parkway ( its original nomenclature , replaced by 'Pasadena Freeway' during the Great Renumbering of 1964 , and returned again to its original name a few years ago ) . This is the oldest highway in the western U.S. , if not the nation . It opened in 1940 ; it was signed ( 'numbered' ) as US 66 / CA 11 . When "US" routes were either decommissioned or renumbered in 1964-1976 , it became CA 11 .

Second-oldest highway in southern California is the Balboa Parkway , which was originally US 395 .

Some *state* highway numbers here are improper ; CA 91 was originally US 91 ---- its original terminuses were 'north'  and 'south' . However , when US highways were renumbered , its defacto number became CA 91 , even though its terminuses were now 'east' and 'west' ( in other words , it "should" be renumbered as CA 92 ) .

I also collect old maps and map books . The oldest I have is a 1957 Los Angeles / Orange County Thomas Guide .

[SSNJim]

Just a few miles from me there IS a traffic light as the highway literally ENDS at an intersection. This is PA Rte. 283 which runs from East/West here in Central PA. The confusion comes in due to part of 283 being a state rd, and then you have to exit off a one lane ramp which puts you on to Interstate 283 which also ends after a few miles as it runs into Interstate Rte. 83. 

Confused yet??

I-70 in Breezewood , PA is similar. It runs on US30 for a mile or so, along with traffic lights, intersections and all. US30 isn't signed as I-70 as such, but the direction signs say I-70 ->, not To I-70.

[Lizard Racing]

In 1919 there was a bold experiment called the 1919 Motor Transport Corps convoy, which was one of the first crossings of the United States by truck. 

Commanding this expedition was  then Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Dwight D. Eisenhower.

This adventure, along with observing the Autobahn in Germany made him a champion for highways across the country.

And the rest is history.

[1930fordpickup]

In 1955 my dad worked on 75 here in Michigan when he was in highschool. Helped lay sod on the overpasses. They are still working on it. LOL

[peteski]

Some more trivia: That's the Eisenhower era. Actually, Interstates were also laid out with Civil Defense in mind...every XX number of miles had to have a straight stretch of YYYY feet so aircraft could land.

 

I've have heard that too, but it seems that it is an urban legend.

This is some good reading material: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_Highway_System

I also see this sign on I 93 North right before crossing from MA to NH.

[Art Anderson]

Some more trivia: That's the Eisenhower era. Actually, Interstates were also laid out with Civil Defense in mind...every XX number of miles had to have a straight stretch of YYYY feet so aircraft could land.

Also, have you ever seen a traffic signal on an Interstate? St. Louis tried that years ago, and I'm still chuckling over that fiasco.

That is actually a myth, an urban legend.   It never existed as a regulation, or a provision in law.  It is true that our nation's system of superhighways were promoted as "Interstate & Defense Highways"--but "Defense" alludes to surface transportation only.  In only a very few parts of the US are Interstates paved thickly enough to withstand more than a "publicity stunt" of running an Abrams or even an M-60 Patton tank on them.  True, the German Luftwaffe was discovered to have used some bits of the Autobanen in WW-II, but that was a last-ditch effort to disperse their warplanes.  In addition, aircraft runways are almost always laid out to be aligned with the most frequent prevailing winds in whatever area of the US they are built--Interstates really are not laid out this way..