President Eisenhower sought a transportation system that would ease the rapid movement of the military, increase road safety, and aid commerce. Eisenhower also needed an efficient evacuation method in case of a nuclear attack from the Soviet Union. Therefore, he established a network of highway systems known as the Interstate Highway System. This highway system is a network of controlled highways that forms part of the National Highway System of the United States. The Interstate Highway System changed the lives of Americans between 1956 and 2000 especially through the environment, local communities, and their culture. The Interstate Highway System impacted the environment significantly, which changed the lives of many Americans. The United States started to become more reliable on automobiles because of the efficiency of interstates, which increased air pollution drastically. The U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics recorded that in 1960 there was rapid growth in highway and airline travel, but train travel declined greatly. …show more content…
There were plenty of displacements of urban populations and destruction of inner-city communities. The quality of life for people living in these neighborhoods was starting to become poor as construction of the interstates continued. Ben Kelly, the former public affairs director of the National Highway Administration, explained how expressway construction disputes treated local communities poorly, “Its major characteristics having been routings through low-income, often minority settlements with owner-occupants and tenants; and a nearly complete failure to insure availability of decent relocation housing at fair cost.” Although there were problems with certain communities near the highways, others frequently would gain from the construction when developers offered to purchase their land and houses, so they would be able to