Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956

Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956
Great Seal of the United States
Other short titles
  • Highway Construction Act
  • National Interstate and Defense Highways Act
Long title An Act to amend and supplement the Federal Aid Road Act approved July 11, 1916, to authorize appropriations for continuing the construction of highways; to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 to provide additional revenue teem taxes on motor fuel, tires, and trucks and buses; and for other purposes.
Acronyms (colloquial) FAHA
Nicknames Highway Revenue Act of 1956
Enacted by the 84th United States Congress
Effective June 29, 1956
Citations
Public Law 84-627
Statutes at Large 70 Stat. 374
Codification
Titles amended
U.S.C. sections created
Legislative history
  • Introduced in the House as H.R. 10660 by George Fallon (D–MD) on April 19, 1956
  • Passed the House on April 27, 1956 (388-19)
  • Passed the Senate on May 29, 1956 (41-39)
  • Reported by the joint conference committee on June 22, 1956; agreed to by the House on June 22, 1956 (adopted) and by the Senate on June 22, 1956 (89-1)
  • Signed into law by President Dwight Eisenhower on June 29, 1956

The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, popularly known as the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act (Public Law 84-627), was enacted on June 29, 1956, when President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the bill into law. With an original authorization of US$25 billion for the construction of 41,000 miles (66,000 km) of the Interstate Highway System supposedly over a 10-year period, it was the largest public works project in American history through that time.[1]

The addition of the term "Defense" in the Act's title was for two reasons: First, some of the original cost was diverted from defense funds. Secondly, most US Air Force bases have a direct link to the system. The purpose was to provide access in order to defend them during an attack. All of these links were in the original plans, although some, such as Wright Patterson were not connected up in the 1950s, but only somewhat later.

The money for the Interstate Highway and Defense Highways was handled in a Highway Trust Fund that paid for 90 percent of highway construction costs with the states required to pay the remaining 10 percent. It was expected that the money would be generated through new taxes on fuel, automobiles, trucks, and tires. As a matter of practice, the federal portion of the cost of the Interstate Highway System has been paid for by taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel.[2]

Historical Background of the Interstate Highway System

U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Eisenhower's support of the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 can be directly attributed to his experiences in 1919 as a participant in the U.S. Army's first Transcontinental Motor Convoy across the United States on the historic Lincoln Highway, which was the first road across America. The highly publicized 1919 convoy was intended, in part, to dramatize the need for better main highways and continued federal aid. The convoy left the Ellipse south of the White House in Washington D.C. on July 7, 1919, and headed for Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. From there, it followed the Lincoln Highway to San Francisco. Bridges cracked and were rebuilt, vehicles became stuck in mud, and equipment broke, but the convoy was greeted warmly by communities across the country. The convoy reached San Francisco on September 6, 1919.

The convoy was memorable enough for a young Army officer, Lt. Dwight David Eisenhower, to include a chapter about the trip, titled "Through Darkest America With Truck and Tank," in his book At Ease: Stories I Tell to Friends (Doubleday and Company, Inc., 1967). "The trip had been difficult, tiring, and fun," he said. That experience on the Lincoln Highway, plus his observations of the German autobahn network during World War II, convinced him to support construction of the Interstate System when he became President. "The old convoy had started me thinking about good, two-lane highways, but Germany had made me see the wisdom of broader ribbons across the land." His "Grand Plan" for highways, announced in 1954, led to the 1956 legislative breakthrough that created the Highway Trust Fund to accelerate construction of the Interstate System.

Eisenhower debated for the highways for the purpose of national defense. In the event of a ground invasion by a foreign power, the U.S. Army would need good highways to be able to transport troops across the country efficiently. Following completion of the highways the cross-country journey that took the convoy two months in 1919 was cut down to five days.

Tollways

Many limited-access toll highways that had been built prior to the Interstate Highway Act were incorporated into the Interstate system (for example, the Ohio Turnpike carries portions of Interstates 76, 80, and 90). For major turnpikes in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, and West Virginia, tolls continue to be collected, even though the turnpikes have long since been paid for. The money collected is used for highway maintenance, turnpike improvement projects, and states' general funds. (Though not in Massachusetts, where the state constitution requires the money be used for transportation.) In addition, there are several major toll bridges and toll tunnels included in the Interstate Highways, including ones linking Delaware with New Jersey, New Jersey with New York, New Jersey with Pennsylvania, the Upper and Lower Peninsulas of Michigan, and, in the near future, Kentucky with Indiana. Tolls collected on Interstate Highways remain on Interstate 95, Interstate 94, Interstate 90, Interstate 88, Interstate 87, Interstate 80, Interstate 77, Interstate 76, Interstate 64, Interstate 44, Interstate 294, Interstate 355, and several others.

Toll turnpikes in the following states have been declared paid off, and those highways have become standard freeways with the removal of toll barriers: Connecticut (Interstate 95), Kentucky (part of Interstate 65), Maryland (part of Interstate 95), Texas (part of Interstate 30), Virginia (the part of Interstate 95 between Richmond and Petersburg), and Florida (part of Interstate 75).

References

  1. ↑ Weingroff, Richard F. "Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, Creating the Interstate System". Retrieved 9 November 2010.
  2. ↑ "Financing Federal-Aid Highways". United States Department of Transportation - Federal Highway Administration. 1999-09-15. Retrieved 2008-09-10.