Essay 27-C: The National Highway Act and the Founding Documents
When one considers the marvel that is our Interstate Highway System, few today could imagine that it ever posed a challenging constitutional issue for the nation.
Indeed, especially after the passage of the Highway Act in 1956 during the Eisenhower Administration with an 89-1 vote in the Senate—arguably the most significant national infrastructure project in American history—its constitutionality would appear to have been unquestioned. And, yet, in the first decades of the Republic, the idea that the federal government would sponsor and finance ‘internal improvements’ at all was highly contentious.
The impetus for this signature piece of legislation, which has come to be known as the
The “National Interstate and Defense Highways Act” was provided by President Eisenhower, although it was predicated upon many years of reflection, study, and planning.
As early as the summer of 1919, Lt. Col. Eisenhower served as an observer on a massive experimental military convoy across the nation from Washington, DC, to San Francisco. This challenging exercise highlighted the inadequacy of the nation’s domestic transportation infrastructure at the time. In contrast, during the Second World War, Supreme Allied Commander Eisenhower viewed first-hand the extraordinary efficiency of the German Autobahn system largely constructed under the auspices of the National Socialist regime. In his own words, Ike recalled that, ”The old convoy had started me thinking about good two-lane highways, but Germany had made me see the wisdom of broader ribbons across the land.”
Of course, there were some earlier 20th-century American precedents upon which to build as well. In 1908, the Long Island Motor Parkway opened as one of the world’s first roads designed specifically for automobiles, and in 1938, Connecticut’s beautiful Merrit Parkway opened to the public, providing a scenic and swifter option to the highly congested Route One. Of even greater relevance was the construction of segments of the Pennsylvania Turnpike just prior to the outbreak of war, our first truly modern “superhighway,” which transformed travel logistics throughout the Keystone State.
