HITTING THE ROADS

This article traces the development of America's roads and highways. In the years leading up to World War I, approximately $1.8 million was spent constructing 425 mi (684 km) of roads. It was not until 1916, however, that the federal government got serious about road improvements. The first major federal road program, the 1916 Federal Aid Road Act, authorized $75 million over 5 years for road improvements. By 1935, the growth of automobile traffic produced roads in need of rapid and continuous repair. Designs were constantly revised to accommodate the traffic and often involved major reconstruction, but money was not always available. An answer to the financing problem was found in user fees in the form of tolls. The highway era that began in the 1920s and continued through the Great Depression came to an end with World War II. The Federal Highway Act of 1940 provided that previously authorized federal-aid highway funds could be used to pay for preliminary engineering and for supervising construction of projects essential to national defense. Alarmed by the time required to move military troops across the country, President Eisenhower signed the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956, creating the Interstate Highway System. The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) introduced a new surface transportation era--one in which advanced technology plays an integral role in operating and managing the existing highway system. ISTEA also encouraged the development of intelligent transportation systems (ITS), which use advanced computer and communications capabilities to improve transportation efficiency and safety. The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21), the progeny of ISTEA, continues the original legislation's commitment to rebuilding the nation's highway infrastructure by providing financial resources through the Highway Trust Fund.