Eisenhower Interstate System

[DoctorHurricane2003]

A post in the political forum kind of got me started on this....


What would life be like right now without interstate highways? How would traffic be different? How do you feel about how interstate highways have affected your area? Have interstate highways failed to reach you in a needed way?


Upcoming New Interstate Highways:

I-49 Extension: Shreveport, LA to Kansas City, MO. Cities Served: Shreveport, Texarkana, Fort Smith, Fayetteville, Bentonville, Joplin/Springfield, Kansas City.

I-49 Extension OR I-6: New Orleans, LA to Lafayette, LA. Cities Served: New Orleans, Metairie, Kenner, Houma, Morgan City, New Iberia, Lafayette.

I-73: Georgetown, SC to Danville, VA. Cities served: Geogetown, Myrtle Beach, Florence, Greensboro, Danville.

I-74: Georgetown, SC to Cincinnati, OH. Cities served: Georgetown, Myrtle Beach, Florence, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Charleston, Huntington, Portsmouth, Cincinnati.

I-99: Bedford, PA to Corning, NY. Cities served: Altoona, State College, Williamsport, Corning/Elmira.

I-? (Most likely I-22 and perhaps an I-122): Batesville, MS/Memphis, TN to Birmingham, AL. Cities served: Memphis, Batesvile, University/Oxford, Tupelo, Hamilton, Birmingham.

I-86: Erie, PA to Harriman, NY. Cities served: Erie, Jamestown, Corning, Elmira, Binghamton, Middletown.

I-69 Trans-America Highway: Laredo, TX to Sarnia, ON, Canada. Cities served: Laredo, Victoria, Houston, Lufkin, Marshall, Texarkana, Hot Springs, Little Rock, Hoxie, Jonesboro, Poplar Bluff, Cape Girardeau, Cairo, Evansville, Vincennes, Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Lansing, Flint, Port Huron.

I-?(Most likely I-92, 98, or 369): Chicago, IL to Sarnia, ON, Canada. Cities served: Chicago, Benton Harbor, Lansing, Flint, Port Huron.

[Skywatch_NC]

I've traveled I-95 quite a bit over the past 15 years since having lived in Roanoke Rapids, NC...read a news article though one time that mentions 95 as being one of the deadliest interstate routes in recent years.

There's even been alot of debating by the NC government whether or not to make I-95 a tollway at the NC/VA and NC/SC borders...personally I'm not for it...but there are claims that it would bring revenue for the interstate upkeep on it's conditions.

Eric

[Guest]

A post in the political forum kind of got me started on this....


What would life be like right now without interstate highways? How would traffic be different? How do you feel about how interstate highways have affected your area? Have interstate highways failed to reach you in a needed way?


Upcoming New Interstate Highways:

I-49 Extension: Shreveport, LA to Kansas City, MO. Cities Served: Shreveport, Texarkana, Fort Smith, Fayetteville, Bentonville, Joplin/Springfield, Kansas City.

I-49 Extension OR I-6: New Orleans, LA to Lafayette, LA. Cities Served: New Orleans, Metairie, Kenner, Houma, Morgan City, New Iberia, Lafayette.

I-73: Georgetown, SC to Danville, VA. Cities served: Geogetown, Myrtle Beach, Florence, Greensboro, Danville.

I-74: Georgetown, SC to Cincinnati, OH. Cities served: Georgetown, Myrtle Beach, Florence, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Charleston, Huntington, Portsmouth, Cincinnati.

I-99: Bedford, PA to Corning, NY. Cities served: Altoona, State College, Williamsport, Corning/Elmira.

I-? (Most likely I-22 and perhaps an I-122): Batesville, MS/Memphis, TN to Birmingham, AL. Cities served: Memphis, Batesvile, University/Oxford, Tupelo, Hamilton, Birmingham.

I-86: Erie, PA to Harriman, NY. Cities served: Erie, Jamestown, Corning, Elmira, Binghamton, Middletown.

I-69 Trans-America Highway: Laredo, TX to Sarnia, ON, Canada. Cities served: Laredo, Victoria, Houston, Lufkin, Marshall, Texarkana, Hot Springs, Little Rock, Hoxie, Jonesboro, Poplar Bluff, Cape Girardeau, Cairo, Evansville, Vincennes, Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Lansing, Flint, Port Huron.

I-?(Most likely I-92, 98, or 369): Chicago, IL to Sarnia, ON, Canada. Cities served: Chicago, Benton Harbor, Lansing, Flint, Port Huron.

Are you serious about that last one? I say that because already have i94 from Chicago that hook up with i96 in Michigan which they both pretty much end at the same place? i96 however goes thru Benton Harbour, Lansing, Flint over to Port Huron where as i94 goes from Benton Harbour over to Kalamazoo, Battle Creek, Jackson, Anne Arbour, Detroit and then Port Huron as well.

I wonder if thats the case if they are gonna do away with i96.

[Guest]

BTW i am within 10 mins of both i69 and i94 here in Michigan. I take i94 to work everyday and sometimes i69 as well.

[DoctorHurricane2003]

Yeah I was a little confused when I read it.....how in the world they are going to do it. Let me correct it...

It looks like it would have an interstate branching off of I-69 near Exit 48 (Bellevue, Olivet) just north of Marshall. The new interstate would head through Battle Creek, southeast suburbs of Kalamazoo, Elkhart, IN, South Bend, and hook up with 80-90 somewhere near Chesterton or Portage.

It's really confusing, they may just junk it altogether.

[ohiostorm]

Since Ive been to Myrtle Beach alot, I think the I- 74 extension is a good idea. Now, once you get so far south on 77, theres no good way to get to the city. This will cut down travel time and possible hurricane evac routes out of Myrtle.

[Wnghs2007]

I would be lost without the interstate system. It is very effiecent in my opinion. And without it, it would be to hard to get around.

[senorpepr]

I would be lost without the interstate system. It is very effiecent in my opinion. And without it, it would be to hard to get around.

Oddly enough, Adolf Hitler should take credit for our interstate system. Hitler came up with the Autobahn system (much similar to our interstates) during and just before the war. Eisenhower thought it was a great idea and brought it over to the states.

[coriolis]

The interstates have without a doubt transformed our country. They helped de-centralize our towns and cities. Without interstates there would be no Walmart. People would tend to live close to their work, trains would play a larger role. The interstate system added to our love affair with the automobile. It made longer trips feasible. I can't imagine a cross-country trip on US30 for example that goes through every town and city from here to there. A long trip by interstate probably takes less than half the time than it would on an old highway.

[SouthernWx]

As someone old enough to remember many areas of the southeast BEFORE interstates were built, I'm personally glad for the interstate system.

I remember those ridiculously long trips to my grandmother's home in northeastern Tennessee and my aunt's home in central Mississippi (in those days, it took dad 10 hours to drive from Atlanta to Jackson, MS....thanks to I-20 I today make the same trip in 5 1/2

[wx247]

I can't wait for I-49 to be completed. It will make the trip to school much quicker.

[Derek Ortt]

dont make 95 a tollway. I use that when I drive from miami to niagara falls

[coriolis]

Hey Derek, do you pass by anywhere near here?

[Persepone]

Okay guys--stop making me feel old! I remember my parents driving Maine to Florida on Route 1 (end to end) before the interstate--and lots of other rather long road trips--in a 1939 Plymouth Woodie (most of the trips) and I remember having to cross the desert out west at night with extra water, gasoline, etc. on the running boards (we looked like Oakies, I'm afraid).

The interstates have made travel faster and easier but a lot less interesting. There was a time when you sort of knew where you were because everything was very regional or local. There were very few "national" chains of anything... The most national stuff were gas stations--but even those were regional. When you stopped to eat, you got regional food. You got to listen to regional accents, etc. Today you just travel, but don't have a sense of the diversity of the US.

By the way, Connecticut finally removed the tolls after a couple of accidents that finally convinced people that the profit from the tolls was not worth the carnage. It seemed as the most horrific accidents were always at the toll booths (exploding gasoline/propane, etc. that killed children, etc.) There are still lots of accidents, but I think the horrific tollbooth accidents were much worse than what happens today.

And yes, they make travel a lot faster. And, while not intended for "local traffic" and commuters, they do make it practical to commute fairly long distances to work. The world has become a smaller place in some ways.

Still, there was something lost with the interstates... You see remnants if you go on the old Route 66, on Route 1, Route 301, etc.

(When my daughter was learning to drive, her instructions for bad weather driving were to get off the interstates and go on the "old" highways because she could stop if she needed to. A few times this probably saved her because she was not on the interstate in snow storms, ice storms, etc. but sitting in some diner on the old highway. She initially thought I was crazy, but I notice that she still does this. As do I.)

[Skywatch_NC]

dont make 95 a tollway. I use that when I drive from miami to niagara falls

Unless Gov. Easley and the state legislators continue to "drive" the issue of a tollway...well, there's ALOT of folks (my family included) who are anti-tollway.

Eric

[Wnghs2007]

dont make 95 a tollway. I use that when I drive from miami to niagara falls

Unless Gov. Easley and the state legislators continue to "drive" the issue of a tollway...well, there's ALOT of folks (my family included) who are anti-tollway.

Eric

Thats good to hear. Because Interstates I believe dont really need to be tollways anyway.

[yoda]

Good. I-95 need not to be a toll-way...

[Wnghs2007]

Good. I-95 need not to be a toll-way...

LOL. I hear ya.