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Web site to focus on Idaho's
role in the interstate highway system

How well do you know Idaho’s interstate highway system?

Do you know which route is both an interstate and intrastate highway? Or which two Idaho interstates generally follow historic routes first used by western settlers. Or how many miles of interstate highways are located in Idaho.

Do you know which are the longest north-south and east-west interstates in the nation? And which major U.S. city is the beginning point of both the north-south and east-west interstate grid?

The answers to those questions and a wealth of other information about Idaho’s role in the interstate system are part of a series of new Web pages scheduled for unveiling on the ITD Internet site next week. The pages are part of a nationwide celebration of the 50th anniversary of the law that created today’s modern, interconnected network of highways.

ITD’s Web site will include messages by Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne and ITD Director Dave Ekern, a photo gallery that visually captures development and construction of Idaho’s interstate highways, a historical perspective of Idaho’s interstate highways, and a challenging “Road Test” that asks questions about the national interstates and Idaho’s highways.

The Web pages also probe the history of each of Idaho’s interstates and includes links to anniversary information at the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) and the U.S. Department of Transportation Web sites.

ITD’s new Web pages should be accessible by midweek with a link from the Internet home page, itd.idaho.gov .

The 50th anniversary of a bill signing by President Dwight D. Eisenhower that created the interstate system is scheduled for June 29 in Washington, D.C. A highlight of the yearlong celebration is a convoy that retraces one that crossed the nation immediately before the federal legislation was enacted.

Idaho will participate in the convoy when it passes through Salt Lake City, June 16-18. Director Ekern has been invited to speak briefly at a convoy dinner and ITD will join the convoy as it heads east toward the nation’s capitol.