Building the Foundation

The nation’s poor road conditions and the 1919 Transcontinental Convoy prompted federal and state agencies to improve roads nationwide. Meanwhile, the demand for a national, interconnected highway system continued to grow.

The Federal Aid Road Act of 1916 established the first federal program funding road construction, granting $75 million to improve and maintain roads within individual states. There were several opposing viewpoints concerning how funds should be distributed between states, with Congress ultimately passing a financing plan that equally weighed state population, land mass, and route mileage.

This program was a major catalyst for the 1920s becoming a "golden age" of road building. In 1922 alone, highway construction tripled that of the prior 8 years. 

During the Great Depression, the government leveraged road construction as an opportunity to provide numerous jobs to the unemployed. For example, the Workers Projects Administration paved or repaired 280,000 miles of roads across America.

While road work had all but ceased during World War II, Supreme Allied Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower marveled at the ease of travel granted to Germany by the two-lane autobahn highway network. Eisenhower saw a similar system of transcontinental highways as a way to improve the nation's transportation efficiency and mobility.

After rationing throughout the war, Americans were ready to spend their savings. Industries transitioned from war to peacetime manufacturing and the G.I. bill allowed returning soldiers to purchase homes more easily. These trends led to automobile sales and suburban growth skyrocketing, further encouraging the idea of a national highway system to support the rising automobile numbers commuting to and from suburban areas.