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In 1961, the Bureau of Public Roads issued a summary of what it would take to build "the greatest peacetime public works program in history." Referring to the 41,000-mile Interstate System as it was then designated and its completion date in the early 1970s, the summary offered...
The Department of Transportation Act of 1966 included an environmental provision that had a major impact on the Interstate System and other Federal-aid highway projects. Under "General Provisions," Section 4(f) called on the Secretary to consult with the Secretaries of the Interior, Housing and...
Rex Marion Whitton was born on a farm in Jackson County, Missouri. He worked on the farm while attending school. At the University of Missouri, he waited tables and made beds at boarding houses to help pay his way. In April 1920, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering although, as...
At the peak of the Interstate System's greatest decade, Interstate openings occurred all over the country. The following list was compiled from news clippings gathered by the Bureau of Public Roads for the second half of 1964. ederal Highway Administrator Rex Whitton, who...
Celebrating the 50TH Anniversary of the Eisenhower Interstate System
by Richard F. Weingroff
Even as construction continued at a record pace, the Interstate System needed a savior-and found one in Missouri...
To mark the Interstate routes, the American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO) asked its member States to submit suggestions. The States submitted dozens of ideas in several forms, ranging from a 55mm color transparency to a 4-foot square aluminum blank. AASHO's U.S. Route Numbering...
When the American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO) issued design standards for the Interstate System, the minimum design value of 14 feet was included for vertical clearance (that is, the distance from the Interstate pavement to the bottom of overpasses). Although 14 feet was...
President Dwight D. Eisenhower's "Grand Plan" is sometimes misunderstood as recommending construction of the Interstate System. His vision was far grander than that.
The President intended to present the Grand Plan to the Governor's Conference meeting at Bolton's Landing in Lake George,...
Former Senator William Proxmire (D-Wi.) periodically issued a "Golden Fleece" to "the biggest, most ridiculous or ironic examples of wasteful federal spending." On November 10, 1981, the Golden Fleece went to the Federal Highway Administration for "the worst record of civilian cost overruns in...
On October 12, 1956, the White House announced that President Dwight D. Eisenhower had chosen Bertram D. Tallamy to be the first Federal Highway Administrator under a law, approved by the President on August 3, that created the position to head the Bureau of Public Roads in the Department of...