ADOT Joins Cross-Country Convoy

The State of Arizona will be represented along part of a cross-country trip to help mark the 50th Anniversary of the nation’s Interstate Highway System.

The national “Celebrate the Interstate” convoy, from San Francisco to Washington D.C. started yesterday (Friday, June 16) through June 29, will retrace the cross-country route taken by then Lt. Colonel Dwight D. Eisenhower as part of an Army convoy in 1919.

That difficult trip was one of the reasons President Eisenhower later pushed for funding the modern interstates, now officially called the “Dwight D. Eisenhower System of Interstate & Defense Highways.” Eisenhower signed the Federal Aid Highway Act on June 29, 1956, allowing the massive construction program to move forward.

The Az Dept. of Transportation (ADOT) is sending one of its maintenance trucks, specially marked for the occasion, to join the convoy when it reaches Salt Lake City, Utah, on Sunday (June 18). The ADOT truck will drive in the convoy to Laramie, Wyoming on Monday (June 19) & to Cheyenne, Wyoming on Tuesday (June 20) before returning home through Colorado & New Mexico.

"A lot of Arizona's residents weren't here to see all the hard work that went into building our interstates, especially during the 60s & 70s," said ADOT Director Victor Mendez. "Arizona has a network of more than 1,150 miles of interstate highways. They've been a primary factor in the state's economic growth & have provided people with a quicker & safer way to travel from region to region."

The initial construction of Arizona’s Interstates involved many years of planning, designing & building, often under harsh conditions. ADOT, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and other agencies worked to lessen the impact the interstates might have on local communities.

"The impact of the interstates has been absolutely enormous," said Bill Ordway, who served as ADOT director from 1974 to 1985. "It's a good thing we built them because look at all the growth the state has experienced. The interstates tied the whole state together. They tied the whole country together."

Phoenix is the site of the “Final Mile” of Interstate 10 built across the United States. When that section, including the Deck Park Tunnel north of downtown Phoenix, was completed on August 10th, 1990, I-10 was officially completed between Santa Monica, California & Jacksonville, Florida.

Ken Davis, a senior engineer with the Federal Highway Administration’s Arizona Division, said the interstates opened up travel around the country. "Now it doesn't take that long to get to the California coast or take a ski trip to northern Arizona," said Davis. "People now have the ability to go on trips that would have too long if the interstate highways weren't there."

Mendez says the state & federal governments face the challenge of maintaining & funding improvements along the nation’s interstate highways, especially in a fast growing state like Arizona. "These highways have been vital to Arizona. It's important to have the resources to keep them in good shape," said Mendez.

The cross-country caravan is sponsored by the American Association of State Highway & Transportation Officials (AASHTO). For more information about the 50th Anniversary of the Interstate Highways System, visit: www.interstate50th.org.