The Interstate Highway was started by Dwight D. Eiesenhower in 1956. Eiesenhower promoted the idea due to the Autobahn in Germany during WW2. He liked how they could use it to transport American troops in Germany. It was started to compete a main interstate in the Contenental U.S., and was the biggest highway system constructed in the U.S. Construction first started in Missourri, but people have often said that it was started in Kansas. Nebraska was the first state completely done with their section of I-80, a commonly used section of interstate that was completed in 1974.
The interstate was mainly constructed for two resasons. One was because of the Army Defense Sysem. The military wanted a major highway system across the country from city to city, so they could transport vehicles, troops, and incase of an invasion from a forien country, there was an easy transportation system.
the second reason was so people couuld travel easier and faster, instead of using state or county highways which stop at every town they go through, which slows the commute down alot. People had vever had a transportation like this before in large scale, the only thing they had were in cities like turnpikes or highways that went around the city.
Today, the Interstate is a great success. Its network spans over 46,000 miles cross country, and helps transport freight from as far is New York to California. Its helped the economy also, due to the movement of supplies and inventory in stores which make prices cheaper in the stores because their money can be used less if it costs less to transport items. During vacations, people can drive from a full tank to an empty one, because there are no stops on the interstate. In my opinion, if we didn't have the Interstate, our country would not be as strong and wouldn't be developed as good as it is today.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_highway_system
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/hep10/nhs/
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