Highway Documentaries

[texaskdog]

Thanks for making my day!

[english si]

There's a 3-episode BBC Documentary about the UK motorway network. It was commissioned for the niche channel BBC4, so has less of those populist documentary bad habits (that we in the UK blame on America) of repeating everything lots and 'sexing' stuff up to make it more exciting.

The first episode, which traces the early history of the network, talking with engineers/designers, the navvies that did the grunt work, and residents that were near at the time (and still are now, or rather were 8 years ago when they made the doc).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcFLjj0napE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2srR9wMM1k

edit: remade post after watching. Can't find the second episode, and only can find half the third.

[SignGeek101]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7z4neS6h0g

[TheHighwayMan3561]

From last fall: A documentary from the Twin Cities PBS about the history of I-94 through Minneapolis and St. Paul, largely focused on the darker side of the route's construction through western St. Paul.

https://www.pbs.org/video/tpt-co-productions-interstate-94-history-and-its-impact/

[MNHighwayMan]

From last fall: A documentary from the Twin Cities PBS about the history of I-94 through Minneapolis and St. Paul, largely focused on the darker side of the route's construction through western St. Paul.

https://www.pbs.org/video/tpt-co-productions-interstate-94-history-and-its-impact/

Speaking of that, they also have a documentary about the origin of Highway 100, or Lilac Drive. It's very interesting (and kind of saddening) to compare what existed then to the generic concrete everything that exists along MN-100 today.

https://video.tpt.org/video/tpt-documentaries-highway-100-lilac-drive/

[roadman]

The only way to get good highway documentaries is to either start a YouTube channel yourself that is oriented towards this niche audience, or to get the FHWA/AASHTO/etc. involved and have them produce something.

Start a YouTube channel, and hope the insanely zealous copyright police don't pull down your postings (as has happened with 99% of the links in this thread).