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Idaho Transportation
Department
Public Affairs Office
P.O. Box 7129
Boise, ID 83707
208.334.8005
Fax: 208.334.8563
Email


Convoy planned for interstate anniversary

Idaho will join in celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Interstate Highway System this year by participating in a stop along a cross-country convoy in June.

The golden anniversary acknowledges the unrivaled role the interstate system plays in the national economy and the country’s interconnected transportation system. The convoy will begin June 15 in San Francisco and then head east along Interstate 80, with stops in Reno; Salt Lake City; Rawlins, Wyo.; Cheyanne-North Platte and Omaha, Neb.; Des Moines, Walcott and Davenport, Iowa; Chicago; Columbus, Ohio; Pittsburgh and Gettysburg, Penn.; Frederick, Md; and finally arrive in Washington, D.C., Thursday, June 29.

A special event is planned at Gettysburg, home of President Dwight Eisenhower, who is recognized as the father of the interstate system and signed into law creation of the transportation network in 1956.

June 29 officially marks the 50th anniversary of the day federal legislation was signed to begin one of the biggest engineering projects ever undertaken: the U.S. Interstate Highway System.

The wide, relatively straight roadways in the Interstate Highway System were designed to be faster and safer than the two-lane roads that preceded them – designs that worked. And, the system has brought amazing changes to our way of life:

• It has put Americans within a few days' drive of practically everyone else in our nation, altering our willingness to travel and the way we schedule our time.
• It has revved our economy, forever changing the way we move people and freight; it has facilitated international trade; and turned trucks into rolling warehouses.
• It has stretched the link between homes and jobs – for better and for worse – and has redefined the relationship between urban and rural America.

Although Idaho is not on the main route of the convoy, representatives of the Gem State are expected to participate in an observance at Salt Lake City on Saturday, June 17.

 

Published 2-24-06