The American Assn. of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) has planned a year full of commemorative activities for the 50th birthday of the Interstate highway system.
The celebration will begin with an AASHTO news conference in Detroit on Jan. 11, during the International Auto Show. Later in the year, a cross-country convoy is planned.
According to AASHTO, the June trip will retrace in reverse the route that a young Dwight D. Eisenhower first traveled in 1919 between Washington D.C. and San Francisco—a trip that is purported to have made him a life-long advocate of a national road network. It was Eisenhower who as president in 1956, signed the Interstate Highway Act into law.
A series of policy conferences are planned for the last half of the year. The conferences will examine the future of the Interstate and transportation in the U.S. For more information, go to www.interstate50th.org.
