Film on Idaho Interstates

[andy3175]

Found this news link online but have not been able to find the video:

http://www.idahostatejournal.com/members/isj-film-explores-interstates-progress/article_a0760859-db5d-544e-a2a2-825be6392a12.html

They are vast ribbons of concrete and asphalt that link Southeast Idaho to the rest of the nation we simply call "the interstate."

But Pocatello is where two stretches of interstate – I-15 going north and south from Canada to Mexico, and I-86, a short leg that connects I-15 to Interstate 84 on its journey west to the Pacific Coast – merge.

Construction of the interstate system and its impact on the economy and history of this part of the state are explored in a new Idaho State Journal video documentary titled "Road to Prosperity."  Co-sponsored by Idaho State University, Agrium, the JRM Foundation and Monsanto, the film will be shown for free today at 6:30 p.m. at ISU's Bengal Theater.

The film examines the beginning of America's massive investment in an interstate highway system that set the stage for faster transportation routes in Idaho. It all began with the passage of the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 signed into law by President Dwight Eisenhower.

Also known as the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act, the bill authorized $25 billion in federal spending to create a system of interstate highways to connect 41,000 miles of America. It was the largest public works project in history at the time.

It also changed Southeast Idaho and Pocatello forever.

The documentary contains interviews with Idaho Transportation Department Region 5 chief engineer Ed Bala, longtime Chubbuck Mayor John Cotant, local transportation history buff Brian Richardson, former Pocatello Mayor Roger Chase, Idaho State Police District 5 Capt. Eric Dayley, Great Rift Development member Kristen Jensen of American Falls and Tim Forhan of the Regional Economic Development Corp.

[Rothman]

Makes me wonder if they'll bring up the Teton Dam disaster, which switched around some of the routing of US routes through the region.