The Interstate Highway System, officially the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, is the national network of freeways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. The system consists of 72 Primary Interstates and extends throughout the contiguous United States with routes in Hawai'i, Alaska, Cuba and Puerto Rico.
They are assigned one or two-digit numbers (ex. I-4, I-95), with spurs or loops of Primary Interstates receiving a three-digit number (ex. I-310, I-495); with Routes assigned with odd numbers run north and south, while even numbered run east and west; for north-south routes, the lowest numbers begin in the west (ex. I-5 from La Paz, Baja California, to Blaine, Washington & I-95 from Calusaville, Pantanosa to Boston, Massachusetts), while the lowest numbered east-west routes are in the south (ex. I-10 from Santa Monica, Colorado, to Saint John's, Florida & I-90 from Camosook, Victoria to Boston, Massachusetts).
With General Dwight D. Eisenhower becoming president in 1953, his administration started a proposal for a national system of freeways, of which resulted in the passage of the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956.
Unlike the earlier U.S. Federal Highway System created in 1926, The Interstate System was designed to be an all-freeway system, with national standards for construction and signage. With many older freeways from the 1940s and 1930s being adopted into the system (such as some freeways in New York City and Los Angeles) and being completely rebuilt in most circumstances, these freeways greatly expanded the freeway network in the United States; especially in densely populated urban areas.
Although, these new freeways were often controversial as the building of them required the destruction of a plethora of older, well-established neighborhoods; and resulted in many of the freeway revolts during the 1960s and 1970s causing several planned Interstates to become abandoned or re-routed to avoid urban cores, although there are a few Interstates that were built after compromises even-though protests called for their cancellation.
If you would like to view the entire Interstate System on a map (which is a massive W.I.P,) you can look here.
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Primary/Mainline Interstate Highways[]
Map of Biscayne, Pantanosa, in August of 1973; showing the various proposed Interstates there at the time