Interstate Highway System

FreightWaves Classics/ Infrastructure: I-43 serves Wisconsin (only)

A truck exits rather than continuing on to I-43. (Photo: Peter Johnson/interstate-guide.com)

As covered in several earlier FreightWaves Classics articles, there are a number of highways designated as interstate highways that are located only in a single state. Examples include (with links to the articles): Interstate 2, Interstate 4, Interstate 11, Interstate 12, Interstate 14, Interstate 16, Interstate 17, Interstate 19, Interstate 27, and Interstate 37.

These and other highways are termed interstates and are part of the Interstate Highway System (IHS) because they were built to...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freightwaves-classicsinfrastructure-i-43-serves-wisconsin-only

FreightWaves Classics/Infrastructure: I-40 is a key east-west highway

Signs for I-25 and I-40 in New Mexico. (Photo: alpsroads.net)

This is the latest in an intermittent FreightWaves Classics series about the U.S. Interstate Highway System (IHS). The series began with a profile of Interstate 2 (I-2) and has covered each interstate in numerical order. Today’s article profiles Interstate 40 (I-40), which runs from North Carolina in the East to California in the West. Earlier articles can be found on FreightWaves.com.

Overview

I-40 is one of the interstate highways that was in the original IHS plan. Spanning eight states, it is...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freightwaves-classicsinfrastructure-i-40-is-a-key-east-west-american-highway

FreightWaves Classics/Infrastructure: First plan for national infrastructure issued in 1808

The Erie Canal in 1829. (Image: transportgeograpy.org)

In 1807, the U.S. Senate passed a resolution requesting the U.S. Treasury Department to prepare and submit “a plan for the application of such means are within the power of Congress, to the purposes of opening roads, and making canals,” and other recommendations on how the federal government could improve what was then an inadequate and fragmented national transportation system.

On April 4, 1808, President Thomas Jefferson’s Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin submitted a wide-ranging...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freightwaves-classicsinfrastructure-first-plan-for-national-infrastructure-issued-in-1808

FreightWaves Classics/Infrastructure: I-39 serves rural Illinois and Wisconsin

Trucks head south on I-39. (Photo: crosscountryroads.com)

This is the latest in a FreightWaves Classics series about the U.S. Interstate Highway System (IHS). The series began with a profile of Interstate 2 (I-2) and has covered each interstate in numerical order. Today’s article profiles I-39, which serves two states in the Midwest – Illinois and Wisconsin.

On February 17, a multi-vehicle “mass collision” occurred on I-39 near El Paso, Illinois. According to the Illinois State Police, the crash scene was several hundred yards long and involved about...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freightwaves-classicsinfrastructure-i-39-serves-rural-illinois-and-wisconsin

FreightWaves Classics/Infrastructure: I-37 is a critical hurricane evacuation route

Construction of I-37 in San Antonio in the 1960s. (Photo: TxDOT/Texas Highway Man)

Like Interstate 2 (I-2), I-27 and I-45, I-37 is an intrastate interstate highway that runs entirely within Texas. Its total length is 143 miles.

San Antonio and Corpus Christi (and the Texas Gulf Coast) are linked by I-37. The highway also provides connectivity to the Rio Grande Valley via U.S. 281/I-69C and U.S. 77/I-69E. In addition, I-37 has a public safety role – it is one of the few limited-access hurricane evacuation routes from the Texas coastline inland toward San Antonio and Austin. 

Th...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freightwaves-classicsinfrastructure-i-37-is-a-critical-hurricane-evacuation-route

FreightWaves Classics/Infrastructure: I-35 serves the American heartland

I-35 was widened in Norman, Oklahoma in 2014. (Photo: Oklahoma Department of Transportation)

Interstate 35 (I-35) serves the central United States. As with most interstate highways that end in a “5,” it is a major cross-country, north-south route. I-35 runs from Laredo, Texas, near the Mexican border to Duluth, Minnesota, near the Canadian border.

I-35 was designated by the American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO; now AASHTO) on August 14, 1957, as an original interstate highway from Laredo north to Duluth.

A map of Interstate 35. (Image: I35highway.com)A map of Interstate 35. (Image: I35highway.com)

With a length...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freightwaves-classics-infrastructure-i-35-serves-the-american-heartland

FreightWaves Classics/Infrastructure: Connecticut Turnpike turns 63 (Part 2)

An aerial view of the Connecticut Turnpike shortly after it opened. (Photo: todayincthistory.com)

(To read Part 1 of this article, follow this link.)

Before construction on the Connecticut Turnpike began in 1955, construction had already begun on what would become the non-toll section of I-95 between Waterford and Stonington. This section was originally intended as an improvement to US 1 and opened in 1943 as a 3.6-mile-long, four-lane section of roadway between Waterford and in Groton. Part of it was the Gold Star Memorial Bridge, which was a toll bridge over the Thames River between New...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freightwaves-classicsinfrastructure-connecticut-turnpike-turns-63-part-2

FreightWaves Classics/Infrastructure: Connecticut Turnpike turns 63 (Part 1)

Trucks enter the Stratford toll plaza on the Connecticut Turnpike (I-95). (Photo: Wayne Ratzenberger/Connecticut Post)

Historically, Connecticut is part of New England as well as a tri-state area with New York and New Jersey, which together make up metropolitan New York City. It is the third smallest state by area, the 29th most populous and the fourth most densely populated of the 50 states.

As is the case with a number of other northeastern states, it has a turnpike. Unlike most of the other turnpikes in the region, however, it no longer charges tolls to use the highway.

The Connecticut Turnpike opened on...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freightwaves-classicsinfrastructure-connecticut-turnpike-turns-63-part-1

FreightWaves Classics/Infrastructure: I-30 links the DFW metroplex with Little Rock

Highway signs point the way to I-30 West, I-30 East and I-35 East. (Photo: signsmanufacturing.com)

The interstate highways ending in zero are generally the longest east-west highways in the Interstate Highway System (IHS). But Interstate 30 (I-30) is the shortest two-digit interstate with a number ending in zero in the IHS, extending only 366.76 miles. It runs through parts of Texas (223.74 miles) and Arkansas (143.02 miles). 

In addition, Interstate 30 is part of what is designated High Priority Corridor 55 (Dallas to Memphis via Little Rock).

In Texas, I-30 begins at an interchange with...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freightwaves-classicsinfrastructure-i-30-links-the-dfw-metroplex-with-little-rock

FreightWaves Classics/Infrastructure: I-29 serves the Great Plains and upper Midwest

An accident on I-29 near St. Joseph, Missouri. (Photo: stjosephpost.com)

Interstate 29 (I-29) is a generally north-south interstate highway that serves the Great Plains region and the upper Midwest between Kansas City and Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The highway’s total length is 755.51 miles.

In the south, I-29 begins at Kansas City, Missouri, at a junction with I-35 and I-70. It runs northward to the U.S.-Canada border near Pembina, North Dakota. The highway follows the course of three major rivers, each of which forms the borders of U.S. states. The southern...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freightwaves-classicsinfrastructure-i-29-serves-the-great-plains-and-upper-midwest

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