Interstate Highway System turns 70

[ElishaGOtis]

(if this is a repeat thread plz merge thx )

Hidden in the shadows of the USA's 250th birthday, 70 years ago (on the 29th), President Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 into law, marking the birth of the world-famous Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways (say that ten times fast lmao 🤣). Since then, these superhighways have dramatically changed the landscape of the United States and beyond as we know it. Canada, Mexico, and some other American countries use similar standards for freeway design, especially the left-hand shoulders. The signage and (what effectively became the) MUTCD were specially adapted for this giant set of new roadways coming into the picture. The truck stops, roadside diners, motels, fast food, and especially Buc-ee's wouldn't have been possible without this special system. Sure, there were limited access highways before this, but nothing so uniform across the country.

FDOT even put this on a couple of the I-95 rest areas:

[Beltway]

I go to Google Maps Street View and it is interesting how many countries have recently built superhighways that look essentially the same as the ones built here 40 to 50 years ago. Both urban and rural.

Off the top, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, China, India, Morrocco, Libya, Israel, South Africa, Grand Canary Island, Reunion Island, Chile, Peru, New Zealand, and I could find a number of others.

[Bobby5280]

More and more countries have limited access superhighways, but it's interesting to see how they cut corners on standards compared to current American Interstate highways.

Some of these highways have narrow shoulders or no shoulders at all. Curve geometry is often much tighter, resulting in slower travel speeds. On ramps and off ramps may be too close together, which creates weaving conflicts. I'll complain a good bit about highway sign designs in the US, but I think our standards are quite a bit better than most other countries.

It's rare to see a country outside the US build system interchanges that aren't some kind of cloverleaf. True directional stack interchanges are mostly unique to America.

Just surfing around Google Earth it's pretty easy to tell how developed or not a country may be based on the quality of their highways and their zoning/design safety practices around those highways. I'll look at a lot of these roads and figure, "wow, a lot of motorists must be getting killed on that crap."

[vdeane]

More and more countries have limited access superhighways, but it's interesting to see how they cut corners on standards compared to current American Interstate highways.

Some of these highways have narrow shoulders or no shoulders at all. Curve geometry is often much tighter, resulting in slower travel speeds. On ramps and off ramps may be too close together, which creates weaving conflicts. I'll complain a good bit about highway sign designs in the US, but I think our standards are quite a bit better than most other countries.

It's rare to see a country outside the US build system interchanges that aren't some kind of cloverleaf. True directional stack interchanges are mostly unique to America.

Just surfing around Google Earth it's pretty easy to tell how developed or not a country may be based on the quality of their highways and their zoning/design safety practices around those highways. I'll look at a lot of these roads and figure, "wow, a lot of motorists must be getting killed on that crap."

Indeed.  It's one thing that would make me not want to leave this country.  No other country has anything that can match up to the interstate system.  Some come close with freeway systems like China, South Korea, Japan, and most of Europe, but they often cut corners in a few places.  Plus the signage and numbering is different, too.  In fact, if we were including how routes are numbered/signed, I would say that the only place outside of the US that even comes close is Québec, and the autoroutes have many places where there are at-grades or system interchanges that don't even truly qualify as freeway/freeway (and at least one of those includes autoroute mainlines following ramps onto frontage roads with driveways).

[Max Rockatansky]

The biggest thing you have to get used to with Mexican Autopistas is that you follow the control cities more often than the posted route number.  The lack of wide shoulders, tolls and grades exceeding 7% are among the other overt differences.  I do like pulling over to buy food at a store or from someone with a taco stand at the toll gantries though. 

[splashflash]

More and more countries have limited access superhighways, but it's interesting to see how they cut corners on standards compared to current American Interstate highways.

Some of these highways have narrow shoulders or no shoulders at all. Curve geometry is often much tighter, resulting in slower travel speeds. On ramps and off ramps may be too close together, which creates weaving conflicts. I'll complain a good bit about highway sign designs in the US, but I think our standards are quite a bit better than most other countries.

It's rare to see a country outside the US build system interchanges that aren't some kind of cloverleaf. True directional stack interchanges are mostly unique to America.

Just surfing around Google Earth it's pretty easy to tell how developed or not a country may be based on the quality of their highways and their zoning/design safety practices around those highways. I'll look at a lot of these roads and figure, "wow, a lot of motorists must be getting killed on that crap."

Indeed.  It's one thing that would make me not want to leave this country.  No other country has anything that can match up to the interstate system.  Some come close with freeway systems like China, South Korea, Japan, and most of Europe, but they often cut corners in a few places.  Plus the signage and numbering is different, too.  In fact, if we were including how routes are numbered/signed, I would say that the only place outside of the US that even comes close is Québec, and the autoroutes have many places where there are at-grades or system interchanges that don't even truly qualify as freeway/freeway (and at least one of those includes autoroute mainlines following ramps onto frontage roads with driveways).

Quebec but not Ontario?  I think the 400 series have long been at higher standard than Quebec auroroutes.  There are plenty of directionals.   See Ontario boardhttps://www.asphaltplanet.ca/ON/hwy_410-427_images/410_ar_DSC06882_42x28.jpg

[Beltway]

The biggest thing you have to get used to with Mexican Autopistas is that you follow the control cities more often than the posted route number.  The lack of wide shoulders, tolls and grades exceeding 7% are among the other overt differences.  I do like pulling over to buy food at a store or from someone with a taco stand at the toll gantries though. 

Aren't they mostly expressways and not freeways?

[Max Rockatansky]

The biggest thing you have to get used to with Mexican Autopistas is that you follow the control cities more often than the posted route number.  The lack of wide shoulders, tolls and grades exceeding 7% are among the other overt differences.  I do like pulling over to buy food at a store or from someone with a taco stand at the toll gantries though. 

Aren't they mostly expressways and not freeways?

No, the Autopistas are fully limited access freeways.  It doesn't necessarily stop locals from doing things like building ungraded dirt roads to them though.  There is one such road I use to shunpike a toll gantry on 54D coming/going from Zacoalco de Torres.  The nearest interchange is about 15 kilometers to the south.

[Beltway]

Aren't they mostly expressways and not freeways?

No, the Autopistas are fully limited access freeways.  It doesn't necessarily stop locals from doing things like building ungraded dirt roads to them though.  There is one such road I use to shunpike a toll gantry on 54D coming/going from Zacoalco de Torres.  The nearest interchange is about 15 kilometers to the south.

I have not been to Mexico. Just noting that on maps it seems like most rural 4-lane corridors have the expressway (partial control of access) lines.

[Max Rockatansky]

Aren't they mostly expressways and not freeways?

No, the Autopistas are fully limited access freeways.  It doesn't necessarily stop locals from doing things like building ungraded dirt roads to them though.  There is one such road I use to shunpike a toll gantry on 54D coming/going from Zacoalco de Torres.  The nearest interchange is about 15 kilometers to the south.

I have not been to Mexico. Just noting that on maps it seems like most rural 4-lane corridors have the expressway (partial control of access) lines.

There is a difference between the Autopista segments and regular Federal Highways.  A lot of Federal Highway segments in populated areas tend to be expressway designs with minimal use of traffic lights. 

Federal Highways 23 between Guadalajara and Chapala comes to mind as an example.  The corridor is pretty reliant upon making U-turns to access local roadways.  Pedestrians usually walk along the highway or use pedestrian overpasses.

[vdeane]

More and more countries have limited access superhighways, but it's interesting to see how they cut corners on standards compared to current American Interstate highways.

Some of these highways have narrow shoulders or no shoulders at all. Curve geometry is often much tighter, resulting in slower travel speeds. On ramps and off ramps may be too close together, which creates weaving conflicts. I'll complain a good bit about highway sign designs in the US, but I think our standards are quite a bit better than most other countries.

It's rare to see a country outside the US build system interchanges that aren't some kind of cloverleaf. True directional stack interchanges are mostly unique to America.

Just surfing around Google Earth it's pretty easy to tell how developed or not a country may be based on the quality of their highways and their zoning/design safety practices around those highways. I'll look at a lot of these roads and figure, "wow, a lot of motorists must be getting killed on that crap."

Indeed.  It's one thing that would make me not want to leave this country.  No other country has anything that can match up to the interstate system.  Some come close with freeway systems like China, South Korea, Japan, and most of Europe, but they often cut corners in a few places.  Plus the signage and numbering is different, too.  In fact, if we were including how routes are numbered/signed, I would say that the only place outside of the US that even comes close is Québec, and the autoroutes have many places where there are at-grades or system interchanges that don't even truly qualify as freeway/freeway (and at least one of those includes autoroute mainlines following ramps onto frontage roads with driveways).

Quebec but not Ontario?  I think the 400 series have long been at higher standard than Quebec auroroutes.  There are plenty of directionals.   See Ontario boardhttps://www.asphaltplanet.ca/ON/hwy_410-427_images/410_ar_DSC06882_42x28.jpg

In terms of having fewer sections with at-grades/traffic lights and having proper system interchanges, sure (although it's not perfect - see ON 420), but when I was speaking to signage/numbering I was also speaking to things like the interstate shield (maybe I should have made sure to include that specifically).  Ontario doesn't have a shield for its freeway system and its numbering is just "routes that are 4xx".  Even counting the 400-series as a network despite that, there are some odd gaps - ON 407 ending at ON 115 with no freeway connection to the ON 115 freeway to Peterborough (which IMO should be connected to the system and given a 400-series number), how the designations stop before the border rather than at the border (to the point where Travel Mapping is debating creating a new clinchable system just to fix this), and debates over whether the QEW counts as part of the system (the "hidden ON 451" thing is roadgeek fanon).

So the signage may follow the North American system of using route numbers/directions, but it otherwise feels in some way like European freeway systems otherwise - including de-emphasizing exit numbers relative to the rest of North America.

New Brunswick and Nova Scotia also have a fair number of freeways, and even have shields for their freeway systems - but then apply those shields to proportionally more roads with at-grades than Québec (and unlike QC, I'm not convinced they every had plan for those systems to be pervasively freeways; at least QC's examples tend to be the result of cancelled or delayed corridors, and while you can convince me that NS intends to upgrade most of their's, the same is not true of NB).

[Rothman]

More and more countries have limited access superhighways, but it's interesting to see how they cut corners on standards compared to current American Interstate highways.

Some of these highways have narrow shoulders or no shoulders at all. Curve geometry is often much tighter, resulting in slower travel speeds. On ramps and off ramps may be too close together, which creates weaving conflicts. I'll complain a good bit about highway sign designs in the US, but I think our standards are quite a bit better than most other countries.

It's rare to see a country outside the US build system interchanges that aren't some kind of cloverleaf. True directional stack interchanges are mostly unique to America.

Just surfing around Google Earth it's pretty easy to tell how developed or not a country may be based on the quality of their highways and their zoning/design safety practices around those highways. I'll look at a lot of these roads and figure, "wow, a lot of motorists must be getting killed on that crap."

Indeed.  It's one thing that would make me not want to leave this country.  No other country has anything that can match up to the interstate system.  Some come close with freeway systems like China, South Korea, Japan, and most of Europe, but they often cut corners in a few places.  Plus the signage and numbering is different, too.  In fact, if we were including how routes are numbered/signed, I would say that the only place outside of the US that even comes close is Québec, and the autoroutes have many places where there are at-grades or system interchanges that don't even truly qualify as freeway/freeway (and at least one of those includes autoroute mainlines following ramps onto frontage roads with driveways).

Quebec but not Ontario?  I think the 400 series have long been at higher standard than Quebec auroroutes.  There are plenty of directionals.   See Ontario boardhttps://www.asphaltplanet.ca/ON/hwy_410-427_images/410_ar_DSC06882_42x28.jpg

In terms of having fewer sections with at-grades/traffic lights and having proper system interchanges, sure (although it's not perfect - see ON 420), but when I was speaking to signage/numbering I was also speaking to things like the interstate shield (maybe I should have made sure to include that specifically).  Ontario doesn't have a shield for its freeway system and its numbering is just "routes that are 4xx".  Even counting the 400-series as a network despite that, there are some odd gaps - ON 407 ending at ON 115 with no freeway connection to the ON 115 freeway to Peterborough (which IMO should be connected to the system and given a 400-series number), how the designations stop before the border rather than at the border (to the point where Travel Mapping is debating creating a new clinchable system just to fix this), and debates over whether the QEW counts as part of the system (the "hidden ON 451" thing is roadgeek fanon).

So the signage may follow the North American system of using route numbers/directions, but it otherwise feels in some way like European freeway systems otherwise - including de-emphasizing exit numbers relative to the rest of North America.

New Brunswick and Nova Scotia also have a fair number of freeways, and even have shields for their freeway systems - but then apply those shields to proportionally more roads with at-grades than Québec (and unlike QC, I'm not convinced they every had plan for those systems to be pervasively freeways; at least QC's examples tend to be the result of cancelled or delayed corridors, and while you can convince me that NS intends to upgrade most of their's, the same is not true of NB).

You left out the Hamilton Parkways. ;D

[ElishaGOtis]

Probably not the first to post this, but multiple maps by the FHWA seem to suggest the existence of an I-PR-53. For instance, https://hepgis-usdot.hub.arcgis.com/apps/usdot::eisenhower-interstate-system-map-1/explore

[Rothman]

Probably not the first to post this, but multiple maps by the FHWA seem to suggest the existence of an I-PR-53. For instance, https://hepgis-usdot.hub.arcgis.com/apps/usdot::eisenhower-interstate-system-map-1/explore

Looks like they're just marking which routes are designated Interstates in that link, segment-wise.  Puerto Rico Interstates are unshielded.

[vdeane]

Looks like they're just marking which routes are designated Interstates in that link, segment-wise.  Puerto Rico Interstates are unshielded

Yep.  They also have the Alaska interstates by the state route designations and not the interstate numbers, and "I-17" around Binghamton.

[The_Ginger]

Recently, signage showing America 250 and the Interstate Highway System's 70th birthday has been erected in West Virginia:

It also seems that it's been installed in other states. They are fairly common here, with one installed on each I-77 Exit 146 on-ramp.

According to the signage, they were delivered by President Trump and Transportation Secretary Duffy as part of Freedom 250.

[kphoger]

According to the signage, they were delivered by President Trump and Transportation Secretary Duffy as part of Freedom 250.

I bet they were delivered by USPS instead.

[Scott5114]

According to the signage, they were delivered by President Trump and Transportation Secretary Duffy as part of Freedom 250.

I bet they were delivered by USPS instead.

Fun fact...as of a couple weeks ago the breakpoint for when a sign is cheaper to send by UPS is now 22" (USPS is cheaper below that because they use cubic dimension pricing).

[kphoger]

Fun fact...as of a couple weeks ago the breakpoint for when a sign is cheaper to send by UPS is now 22" (USPS is cheaper below that because they use cubic dimension pricing).

I almost typed 'FedEx' instead, but then I wondered if the department might be required to ship everything USPS.

[Bitmapped]

Recently, signage showing America 250 and the Interstate Highway System's 70th birthday has been erected in West Virginia:

It also seems that it's been installed in other states. They are fairly common here, with one installed on each I-77 Exit 146 on-ramp.

According to the signage, they were delivered by President Trump and Transportation Secretary Duffy as part of Freedom 250.

Those designs are out of a FHWA design guide which specifically prohibits editing or excluding the text about Trump/Duffy or the Freedom 250 logo.

The other states I've been to recently (Ohio, Maryland, and Pennsylvania) have had the good sense not to install this signage.

[Scott5114]

Those designs are out of a FHWA design guide which specifically prohibits editing or excluding the text about Trump/Duffy or the Freedom 250 logo.

Yeah, and FHWA also says not to do Clearview in negative contrast or stretch and squash text, and a fat lot of good that does, right?

Notice is hereby given that Donald J. Trump and Sean P. Duffy are invited to deliver themselves to Las Vegas and suck my fucking dick.


Oh, and the radii of rounding on the border don't match the outer edge of the sign panel on your version, you fuckin' clowns.

[bing101]

Probably not the first to post this, but multiple maps by the FHWA seem to suggest the existence of an I-PR-53. For instance, https://hepgis-usdot.hub.arcgis.com/apps/usdot::eisenhower-interstate-system-map-1/explore

Nice and state routes are included  for California State Route 99 and CA-58 are mentioned here under Primary Highway Freight System.