Progress of the Road Program

Report Outline
Development of interstate Highways
Financing of National Road Program
Administration of the Road Program

Development of interstate Highways

When the national System of Interstate and Defense Highways was launched four years ago, motorists were promised that by 1972 they would be able to drive anywhere on a 41,000-mile network of superhighways free of traffic lights and stop signs. Today, the undertaking-which President Eisenhower once called “the greatest public works program in history” is up against financial difficulties. It is also plagued by allegations of corruption and mismanagement. Rep. John A. Blatnik (D Minn,), chairman of the House Public Works Special Subcommittee on the Federal Aid Highway Program, has predicted that hearings to be resumed late this year on fraud charges will open the program to criticism that will make past fault-finding seem “like a tea party.” Blatnik has called review of federal highway legislation a “major ‘must’ project” for the next Congress.

The Department of Commerce is now revising estimates of the cost of building the interstate road system. Even if the 1958 estimate of a $40 billion total is found still valid, Congress will have to arrange at least $10 billion of additional financing to finish the program on schedule. It may be aided in that task by Commerce Department findings, to be submitted shortly, on the direct and indirect benefits that various groups may expect to receive from the new highways. The findings are intended to serve as a guide to equitable distribution of the tax burden imposed by the federal share of the total cost. They are apt to be an influential factor in determining whether or not highway users will be called on to pay an increased federal gasoline tax to help finance the roads.

Federal AID For Highway Construction, 1916–56

Federal interest in interstate highways was evidenced as early as 1806, when Congress voted funds to construct the famous Cumberland Road, leading from Cumberland, Md., to the Ohio River and beyond. When Ohio came into the Union in 1803, Indiana in 1816, Illinois in 1818, and Missouri in 1821, Congress provided that 5 per cent of funds accruing to the federal treasury from sales of public lands in each of those states should be applied to building of roads within or leading to the state.