The Interstate Highway Act of 1956(National and Defense Highways Act) was one of the largest public efforts that had constructed 41,000 miles of the system over a 10 year period.It was a work that had greatly revolutionized the way the world progresses while also enriching the quality of life for almost every American citizen.This event was important enough to remain in the textbook because socially it made traveling more efficient while also allowing citizens to travel to many more places inexpensively,economically because goods were able to be transported more productively which ultimately allowed many companies to lower transportation/production costs and enhance productivity/profits,higher gas prices due to increased production of cars,and …show more content…
without having to pay out of their budgets.However,more importantly,the efficacy of the highways ultimately helped people travel to their primary activities such as going to work,medical/dental appointments,etc.The ease of traveling and mobility that the highways had to offer still affects America today.In fact,America is now more productive than it used to be for the reason being that the highways have saved many citizens so much time which allows them to do more with less costs.Another factor that had contributed to the social impact is the increase in the use of automobiles.According to an encyclopedia source,by 1919,”the need for a planned system of national highways became discernible with the proliferating common use of cars in the United States”(Source #4).In addition, another source claims that “more than 90 percent of the nation’s households have access to automobiles”(Source #7).As directly indicated by these two sources,automoibles weren’t a luxury,but rather they were true necessities for many.While cars were being produced between 1908 and 1927,specifically that of Henry Ford’s Model T,many people now wanted to travel however needed an effective system that would be able to save them much more time.As a result,these very crucial interstate highways have ultimately expanded