On June 29, 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid
Highway Act of 1956, launching the greatest public works program in the
nation's history-the Interstate Highway System. Financed on a pay-as-you-go
basis by highway user fees, the interstate system has been one of the largest
contributors to our nation's economic growth and quality of life.
Age and rapidly increasing travel are taking their toll on the condition
and performance of the interstate system as we celebrate its 40th anniversary.
Whether we continue to reap the safety, mobility and economic benefits the
interstate provides depends upon the investment decisions made to maintain
and improve the network.
Following are some points of fact about the interstate as it reaches its
40th birthday.
- The interstate system is a 45,500-mile network of highways joining the
nation together and supporting one-fourth of motor vehicle travel while
comprising just 1% of all the nation's public road mileage.
- Capital investment in the interstate in 1993 was $9.5 billion, $600
million below the level needed just to maintain current conditions and $3
billion below the level needed to improve conditions.
- Thirty-five percent of interstate mileage is in poor or mediocre condition
and 24% of interstate highway bridges are structurally deficient or functionally
obsolete.
- Vehicle travel on the interstate increased by 55% from 1984 to 1994
(the last year data were available).
- Almost half of all urban interstate mileage experiences moderate to
severe congestion during peak travel time.
- The average motorist travels about 3,000 miles each year on the interstate
system.
- Design features such as controlled access, wider lanes and divided lanes
have made travel on the interstate twice as safe as on non-interstate routes,
and
- The building and improvement of the interstate is financed from the
federal Highway Trust Fund through motor-fuel taxes dedicated to highway
and bridge improvements and through funds provided by the states.
While in attendance at the ISTEA reauthorization regional forum in Chicago
May 21, Rodney Slater, federal highway administrator, announced that the
connector roads to major passenger and freight intermodal terminals in all
50 states, District of Columbia and Puerto Rico had been identified for
inclusion to the National Highway System.
"Once we submitted our proposed NHS map to Congress, the department
embarked on additional work to ensure that the system would include important
highway linkages with all major passenger and freight intermodal terminals,"
Slater said.
The National Highway System Designation Act of 1995, signed by President
Clinton last November, includes 161,108 miles of important rural and urban
roads, including some connections to major intermodal terminals. Congressional
approval is needed to modify the NHS to include the additional 1,925 miles
of rural and urban roads that will provide connections to other major intermodal
terminals.
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