Overview of The Interstate Highway Act of 1956
The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 which is commonly known as the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act was enacted on June 29, 1956, when the bill was signed into law by Dwight D. Eisenhower who was then the president1. This was a movement that had started in the 1930s when President Franklin D. Roosevelt showed some interest in the construction of a network of highways that could create job opportunities during the period of the great depression. This resulted in legislation called the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1938; this directed the Bureau of Public Roads (BPR) chief to do a feasibility study of the possibility of constructing networks on the United States roads. By that time America had joined the war in Europe and thus construction of a highway was not possible. At the end of that war, the Federal-Aid Act of 1944 started to finance some of the improvements done on the highways.
By the time Dwight D. Eisenhower became president, only 6,500 miles of the highways had been improved. This led him to sign the bill that advocated for the construction of major highways. The legislation set aside about $25 billion for the construction of 66, 000km of Interstate Highways. The highway was to link the major cities in the United States2. This was the largest public works in the history of America with the biggest expenditure. The $25 billion was handled in a highway trust fund that paid 90% of the total cost of the highway construction while the remaining 10% was paid by the state. The state was required to generate the money by imposing new taxes on automobiles, trucks, fuel, and tires.
Eisenhower’s support for the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 had been attributed to the fact that he had an experience in 1919 as he participated in the U.S
Army’s first Transcontinental Motor Convey on Lincoln Highway was the first road across America from Washington, D.C., to San Francisco. The Transcontinental Motor Convey had been intended to sensationalize the urgent need for good highways and continuous federal aid. Along the Lincoln highway, bridges started to crack, vehicles could get stuck in the mud, and there was breakage of equipment. However, the motor conveys remained on the highway. According to Eisenhower, the trip was difficult, tiring, and at the same time entertaining.
Nation defense was the reason behind federal highways construction. It was argued that in events of attacks by foreigners, the military power would be able to take troops all over the country by use of the highway. Eisenhower maintained that a mile is set aside (from every 20) for airstrip emergency services. The construction of the highways took decades to be finished but when they were finished they had a lot of impacts on the life of the Americans.
Economic impacts
One of the positive effects that were experienced after the completion of the highways was that the journey across the country in 1919, which had taken about 2 months, could be traveled within 2 weeks. The suburban road infrastructure could be subsidized shortening the time spent by commuters from the urban centers to the suburbs. Some communities expanded economically since workers were able to commute from the urban centers to the suburbs. Examples of such communities were Ohio, Westerville, and Parma. Flight of citizens and businesses was supplemented and vehicle pollution was reduced.
American’s dependence on oil and automobiles was on the higher side and this contributed to the rise in the trucking industry and the termination of rails. However, the increased use of oil and automobiles contributed to a rise in air pollution and death caused by traffic.
Presently commuting in America has become easy, Ohio is crisscrossed by interstates and a huge number of highways can now be used to travel from north to south, east to west. It is now over 40 years since the construction of the interstate highway system was authorized. Since then the population has been increasing drastically and it is now estimated that the total population has increased by 70% and employment by about 100%. In only 40 years, the percentage of the United States population in employment has increased by almost 30% with a higher rate of female participation in formal employment. This has contributed to the increase in travel demand and more so in the use of the interstate highway system.
The Interstate highway system has had an intense effect on the economy of America which has contributed to a great extent, an improvement in economic productivity, business expansion, and employment creation. Costs of freight have become low and the operating costs on the trailers and tractors are now lower on the interstate highway as compared to other highways. A lot of developments are now evident in rural places where the cost of land is substantially lower and which was not accessible before due to poor transportation. Travel time has been reduced making it easier for the deliver of finished products thus cutting on the cost of warehousing. This has resulted in competition especially on the side of retailers and consequently leading to reduced prices for the consumers.
Through the interstate highway system, United States has been able to hold a competitive advantage of its products over other nations. Factors such as capital, labor costs, and infrastructure play a major role in determining a nation’s competitiveness in the international market. In America, the use of interstate highway systems has resulted in reduced cost of manufacturing and distribution locally; this, in turn, makes the products to have a competitive edge in the international market. More products are exported, more job opportunities are created and citizens can get products at a reduced cost.
Safety impacts
With the use of interstate highways, safety has improved and there are fewer cases of reported traffic accidents than before. Many Lives have been saved and the number of injuries has reduced. Over the last 40 years, it is estimated that more than 187,000 lives had been saved while the interstates were in use. There are still other systems in America but the use of the interstate highway has been proved to cause injuries at a rate more than 70 % lower than the other networks. The improvement on safety has led to increased economic gains. This is because if a lot of lives are saved, the number of productive people in the nation rises and costs of traffic accidents is reduced. Health care has improved due to the reduction of travel time. It is now possible to transport sick and the needy people to hospitals in a short time and have them attended to. Security has improved and there are now few cases of crime. People no longer fear traveling at night and they feel confident with the interstate highways. One of the main purposes of constructing the highway was for national defense.
Employment expansion
The interstate highway system has been more beneficial to the people who have directly used them. They have been able to save their traveling time for other productive activities. The use of the interstate highways is faster as compared to other highways in U.S. more time which is normally wasted on traveling especially due to traffic jams or accidents can now be saved to do other constructive activities8. The users of interstate highway have also been able to expand their geographical areas of operation because the use of the interstate highways is faster. Their businesses have expanded leading to improvement in the standards of living. On the side of vehicle operators, they have been able to cut on operating costs due to a reduction of vehicle maintenance costs, tires wear has improved, the vehicles consume lower oil and the depression costs have also reduced. This helps to counteract with the increase in fuel prices.
The interstate highway system has resulted in an expansion of employment opportunities and freedoms. People who earlier on lived on the marginalized and isolated rural areas can now find their way easily into the urban centers and secure employment places. Moreover, these rural areas have been developed and it is now easy to get employment even within the rural areas. Interstate highways have reduced travel time within the urban areas and workers can now travel quickly to any location of their work.
Reference
Anon. 2006. Technical memorandum task 2: the economic impact of the interstate highway system NCHRP Project 20-24 (52). Web.
Axelrod, Adams, and Phillips Charles. 2008. What Every American Should Know about American History: 225 Events That Shaped the Nation What Every American Should Know about American History. Adams Media.
Evans, Diana, 2004.Greasing the wheels: using pork barrel projects to build majority coalitions in Congress. Cambridge University Press.
Rose, H. Mark. 1990. Interstate: express highway politics, 1939-1989. Gaia future series Univ. of Tennessee Press.
Weiner, Edward. 2008. Urban Transportation Planning in the United States: History, Policy, and Practice. New York: Springer.
Weingroff F. Richard. 1996. Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956: creating the interstate system Vol. 60• No. 1 United States Department of Transportation – Federal Highway Administration. Web.