Interstate Highway System

U.S. History

(noun)

A network of controlled-access highways that forms a part of the National Highway System of the United States. President Dwight D. Eisenhower championed its formation. Construction was authorized by the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956, and the original portion was completed 35 years later, although some urban routes were cancelled and never built.

Related Terms

(noun)

A network of limited-access roads, including freeways, highways, and expressways, forming part of the National Highway System of the United States. The system is named for President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who championed its formation. Construction was authorized by the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956, and the original portion was completed 35 years later.

Related Terms

Sociology

(noun)

The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways (commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, Interstate Freeway System or the Interstate) is a network of limited-access roads, including freeways, highways, and expressways, forming part of the National Highway System of the United States.

Related Terms

Examples of Interstate Highway System in the following topics:

  • The Eisenhower Administration

    • The presidency of General Dwight David Eisenhower, from 1953 to 1961, was a Republican interlude during the Fifth Party System, following 20 years of Democratic control of the White House.
    • His main legacy is the Interstate Highway System.
    • His major project was building the Interstate Highway System using federal gasoline taxes.

  • Conclusion: WWII and the U.S.

    • Land transportation was also about to witness revolutionary changes as the construction of the Interstate Highway System began in 1956.
    • He also promoted the Interstate Highway System as necessary for national defense, and made space exploration a priority.

  • Suburbanization

    • Certain infrastructure changes encouraged families to leave urban areas for suburban ones, primarily the development of the Interstate Highway System and insurance policies favoring suburban areas.
    • Eisenhower launched an initiative to create federal highways to allow for expansion outside of urban areas.
    • Thus, the interstate highway project of the 1950s was developed with suburbanization in mind.

  • Modern Republicanism

    • His enduring innovations include his launching of the Interstate Highway System, DARPA (the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which lead to the internet among other things), NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, driving peaceful discovery in space), the establishment of strong science education via the National Defense Education Act, and the encouragement of peaceful nuclear power use via amendments to the Atomic Energy Act.

  • Shrinking Cities and Counter-Urbanization

    • Interstate Highway System was built and automobiles became affordable for middle class families.

  • Urban Decline

    • This trend became more permanent with the construction of the Interstate Highway System under President Dwight D.

  • The Role of the Circulatory System

    • The circulatory system can be thought of as a highway system that runs throughout the body .
    • At the core of the human circulatory system is the heart .
    • Gas exchange is one essential function of the circulatory system.
    • Just as highway systems transport people and goods through a complex network, the circulatory system transports nutrients, gases, and wastes throughout the animal body.
    • The heart is central to the human circulatory system, as it pumps blood throughout the body.

  • Interstate Relations

    • Americans live in a federal system of 50 states that, together, make up the United Sates of America.

  • Geometric distribution exercises

    • Exercise 3.12 states that the distribution of speeds of cars traveling on the Interstate 5 Freeway (I-5) in California is nearly normal with a mean of 72.6 miles/hour and a standard deviation of 4.78 miles/hour.
    • (a) A highway patrol officer is hidden on the side of the freeway.
    • (b) On average, how many cars would the highway patrol officer expect to watch until the first car that is speeding?

  • The Square Deal

    • Instead, the Interstate Commerce Commission would control the prices that railroads could charge.
    • The Hepburn Act authorized the Interstate Commerce Commission to set maximum railroad rates and stop the practice of giving out free passes to friends of the railway interests.
    • In addition, the Interstate Commerce Commission could examine the railroads' financial records, a task simplified by standardized booking systems.
    • For any railroad that resisted, the Interstate Commerce Commission's conditions would be in effect until a legal decision of a court is issued.
    • By the Hepburn Act, the Interstate Commerce Commission's authority was extended to bridges, terminals, ferries, sleeping cars, express companies and oil pipelines.