Interstate Highway History

History of the Interstate Highway System
At the July 2006 ITE Western District meeting in Honolulu, Jerry Hall presented a technical paper he coauthered with Loretta Hall on the history of the US Interstate Highway system. Because of the interest in the topic, Jerry and Loretta were asked by the Editors of WesternITE to write a series of articles for the bimonthly newsletter. The columns began in November/December 2006 and will conclude in the Summer 2009. The final paper, Western Highlights of the Interstate System, was presented at the July 2011 ITE Western District meeting in Anchorage, AK. Links to the original paper, the WesternITE articles, and the Alaska paper are provided below.

  • Original Paper
  • Grandfather of the Interstate System
  • Fiscal Foundations of the Interstate System
  • The Fed's Big Stick
  • Initial Design Standards for the Interstate System
  • Toll Tolerance
  • Firsts in '44
  • Inventing the Interstate Highway Investment System
  • Fortuitous 'Fifty-Six'
  • The Rush is On!
  • In Highways We Trust (Fund)
  • The Interstate System's Initial Challenges
  • A Decade of Development
  • Interstate Innovations
  • Interesting Items about the Interstate System
  • The Interstate's Impacts on American Life
  • Western Highlights of the Interstate System

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