How The Interstate System Changed Urban And Rural America

The interstate system, enacted by President Eisenhower on June 29, 1956 was in my opinion, what changed urban and rural America. The interstate changed how Americans traveled, conducted business, and transported goods across the country. I feel that the benefits from this system outweigh the negative effects.

Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th President of the United States and retired Army General created the brainchild of a system of highways in the United States that was similar to the Autobahn in Germany, which Eisenhower visited while fighting in WWII. The autobahn had 2 travel lanes in each direction, and allowed fast speeds, making travel across Germany more efficient. Eisenhower was also driven to streamline interstate travel because he

As citizens of the United States, we have the convenience and benefits of the interstate system to travel on. Before President Eisenhower's Interstate System, and before the United States Numbered Highway system, there were no standards or guidelines to which roads were built, most of the roads were not even paved, the state government did not even require a numbering systems to the existing roads, and ones that did exist were not organized in efficient manner. The US Route System, and later The Interstate System, have prompted massive growth, greater tourism, and easier transcontinental travel throughout the United States. I feel that at the time, the general consensus was that naming the interstates would allow attachment of the interstate to the particular area it went through. However, numbering them according to their location allowed for an unbiased, sequential, numbering system that would qualm the fears of the critics of the numbered system. At this time, federal highways were paved, had a lane of travel in each direction, and had a grade limit when climbing. Through mountainous areas, switchbacks, which would later be eliminated when Eisenhower's system was implemented, were needed to climb steeper