Interstates: The Next 50 Years

New Funding, Technology, Materials and Methods Will Shape a Generation of Roads

By Bruce Buckley

In June 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed legislation that would help shape a nation. The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 paved the way for the creation of the interstate highway system - a vision that today connects people nationwide via a 42,795-mi. network of roads.

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Eisenhower's foresight helped create the backbone of U.S. economic growth, reduced congestion on local and state roads, and helped improve road safety.

But even Eisenhower couldn't have imagined the demands on the highway system caused by tremendous population growth and the subsequent increase in licensed drivers - at a time when funding sources are becoming scarce. As the industry celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Interstate, experts are looking at ways to address the system's growing needs over the next five decades.

Since 1956, the U.S. population has grown 81.5 percent to 298.2 million, and 2056 estimates suggest the population could hit 437.2 million - a 46.6 percent increase from today. Meanwhile, the number of licensed drivers has grown 163.5 percent since 1956 to 204.7 million. In 50 years, that number could hit 382.6 million - an 86.9 percent increase.

Faced with that kind of growth, today's Interstate is not expanding fast enough to handle demand, said Charles Potts, CEO of Heritage Construction and Materials in Indianapolis.

"You've heard the saying, 'Build it and they will come,'" Potts said. "Well we haven't built it and they've already come."

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta said the basic issues of interconnectivity have been addressed since the days of Eisenhower, but as he looks toward the next 50 years, congestion relief and capacity building should be the focus.

"We need to focus on the intermodal nature of traffic growth," he said. "As you look at the next 20 years, the growth in traffic from imports and exports alone will put a tremendous load on the system. We've got to be able to take traffic that's generated from the maritime trade and then put it on highway and rail and move it to the interiors."

Where's the Money?

If anything can cloud the vision of Interstate progress, it's funding. Experts note that the traditional gas tax model is falling well short of financial demand. In fact, the American Road & Transportation Builders Association in Washington, D.C., estimates the Highway Trust Fund could reach a zero balance as early as 2009.

Increasing the gas tax has proven politically unpopular, especially as prices at the pump approach $3 per gallon. Plus, cars are becoming more fuel efficient, further eroding the revenue stream.

With traditional models failing, Interstate projects are increasingly looking toward alternative funding sources, including public-private partnerships and tolling.

SAFETEA-LU contains provisions that encourage public-private partnerships, including expanded opportunities in private activity bonds and in loans available under the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act.

Such partnerships are fueling the nation's most ambitious Interstate plan - the Trans-Texas corridor. The 600-mi. corridor is being funded through a development agreement between Cintra-Zachry and the Texas Department of Transportation, which includes a $6 billion investment from Cintra-Zachry to design and construct a 316-mi. toll road section.

Meanwhile, existing Interstates are being leased to help fund future improvements. In 2004, the Chicago Skyway was leased for 99 years to the Spanish-Australian consortium of Cintra Macquarie for $1.8 billion. The state of Indiana signed a $3.8 billion contract in April to lease the Indiana Toll Road to Cintra Macquarie for 75 years.

Richard Norment, executive director of the National Council for Public Private Partnerships, said he has seen a spike in interest in PPP this year. Texas and Virginia have experimented with the model for nearly a decade, but Norment said discussions of PPP are now going on in nearly a dozen states.

It's an alternative that he said will gain favor out of necessity.

"It's going to be a slow process," he added. "We've had 50 years of experience with Uncle Sam paying for our Interstates, but people are also upset with gas prices and don't want to increase the gas tax. If the Highway Trust Fund isn't sufficient, what is going to happen to our roads?"

Jim Riley, transportation services chairman at Kansas City, Mo.-based design and engineering firm HNTB, estimated that as much as 20 percent of Interstate funding in the next five years could come from private sources.

"There's going to be a boom in the amount of urban Interstates that will be financed by private money because our gas tax isn't going anywhere in the next five years," he said.

States Step Up

Public-private partnerships underscore the shifting roles in the development of Interstates. Since the 1980s, there have been ongoing discussions about "devolution," giving more power to the states to address their own needs. It's a trend that Secretary Mineta said needs even more discussion today.

"Mayors and governors know more about what their problems are and how to solve them than someone at the federal level," he said. "I want bottom-up solutions rather than top-down solutions."

The federal role in the Interstate system is a major point of debate under the National Cooperative Highway Research Program. The NCHRP currently has commissioned a panel that will look at the next 50 years of the system.

Kenneth Orski, a panel member and president of Urban Mobility Corp. in Potomac, Md., said the panel will discuss the federal government's role in expanding the system.

"The feds could remain in charge of maintaining the existing system with the Highway Trust Fund, but any additions to the nation's highway infrastructure would be financed by the states, perhaps in cooperation with the private sector," he said. "That's a scenario worthy of exploration."

Information Superhighways

Missouri's 1,100-plus mi. of interstates 70, 44, 55, 64, 29 and 35 provide critical MiddlOne area where the federal government continues to have a strong guiding role is in technology. Intelligent Transportation Systems are being looked at as a cost-effective way to address congestion.

Basic 511 systems are starting to roll out across the country. The $1.67 billion T-Rex project in Denver is among the new projects that include ITS, using cameras and sensors to monitor traffic while alerting drivers of congestion via dynamic message signs.

This year, Florida became the 23rd state to activate 511 service on its roads.

But the 50-year vision of ITS is more far-reaching. The Vehicle-Infrastructure Integration initiative under U.S. DOT is working with vehicle manufacturers to create information exchanges between vehicles and traffic managers. Data from cars could be collected to identify congestion, and traffic alerts could be sent directly to drivers in their cars rather than via signs.

Mike Walton, professor of civil engineering at University of Texas in Austin, said automated guideway systems could also be created to help manage traffic.

"Fifty years down the road, I think we'll have much of the system in place," he said.
e-America links to the national system.

On Aug. 2, 1956, Missouri became the first state to award a contract with the new interstate construction funds, inking a deal for work on U.S. Route 66 - now Interstate 44 - in Laclede County.

Also that day, Missouri awarded a contract for work on U.S. 40 - now Interstate 70, the Mark Twain Expressway - in St. Charles County. Cameron & Joyce Inc. of Keokuk, Iowa, began construction on Aug. 13, 1956.

For the 50th anniversary, a ceremony and unveiling of a sign commemorating this first construction project under the federal highway act was held June 28, 2006, in St. Louis.

Also, as part of 50th anniversary plans, a public policy forum was held June 22 at the University of Missouri at Columbia. Three panels discussed the past, present and future of the state's highway system.

Even though the interstate system accounts for less than 4 percent of Missouri's total roadway, it carries 38 percent of the state's total traffic volume.

Transportation Dedication

To handle growing traffic concerns, planners are looking increasingly at dedicated lanes. Urban areas continue to look at HOV and HOT lanes to help address congestion. Last year, Virginia DOT signed a $900 million deal with Fluor to construct four HOT lanes on portions of Interstate 495.

With significant growth in truck traffic in recent decades, many experts are pushing for dedicated truck lanes on Interstates.

"Truck traffic has become such a big part of our economy, we'll have to separate them from automobiles in the near future," said Kumares Sinha, a professor of civil engineering at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind.

Bridging the Gap

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