Eisenhower's 'autobahn' at 50

Christian Science Monitor ^ | June 28, 2006 | Editorial

[RVN Airplane Driver]

Transport was one of the only things about war Ike understood.

Little early in the day to have your nose in the slop jar isn't it?? Out of curiosity....just what shortcoming do you find in the General's ability to understand war that you take issue with??

[jern]

post 18 was pretty funny. people would be complaining that people who immigrated from NYC were moving into their communities

[x]

What they don't tell you is how closely tied in the Interstate system was with "urban renewal." A lot of people lost their homes in the vain hope of cutting commuting times for others. Some form of highway system was necessary and desireable, but it's unfortunate that safeguards weren't in place to protect those who were "in the way" and didn't have the power to fight back. If people really are upset about Kelo and other abuses of eminent domain, we might think twice about celebrating the Interstate system.

[BaBaStooey]

Is the article citing $50 billion amount as what was projected in 1956, meaning, 1956 dollars?

Because adjusted for inflation, that projection equals $344,900,356,595.71 (roughly $345 billion) which is much closer to that $425 billion amount.

[Rep-for-real]

You know the flip side is it makes it easier for an invading army to conquer you.

Conjures up memories of that Patrick Swayze classic "Red Dawn".

[Terpfen]

I already listed three case examples. Falaise, autumn 1944 stalemate, Ardennes.

[E Rocc]

I can see an argument against suburban sprawl

Sometimes even conservatives fall for the idea that "sprawl" is a bad thing, forgetting that it simply represents individuals living as they prefer.

The left objects because dense populations with limited mobility are easier to control.

-Eric

[Inspectorette]

I'm not too good at links, but found this:

hell-for-leather adv Also hell-bent for leather [Engl dial; cf EDD (at hell sb.

1. (9))] scattered, but esp West Cf hell-bent for election adv phr 1 At top speed, in great haste.1919 DN 5.76 wMA, Hell bent for leather is the expression to which I am most used. 1939 (1973) FWP Guide MT 414, Hell-for-leather—In great haste. " Ridin ' hell-for-leather " suggests very hard use of leather (i.e., whip). 1939 in 1984 Lambert- Franks Voices 46 OK, Many a time I ' ve seen a bunch of bandits come riding hell-for-leather past the camp, the Regulars (the soldiers) pounding along right behind. 1940 (1942) Clark Ox-Bow 81 NV, I saw that kid Greene, from down to Drew ' s, come by here hell-for-leather half an hour ago. 1950 WELS (To run very fast, especially running away from something) 1 Inf, seWI, Run hell-for-leather. 1954 Forbes Rainbow 181 NEng, " He ' s coming so Hell-for-leather, " says Jude, " he may shoot right by us. 1968 Adams Western Words 145, Hell-for-leather. 1988 DARE File, My Dad, who grew up in Idaho, uses the term " hell-for-leather " ; I was surprised when his cousin, who is from Nebraska, said he knew it as " hell-for-election. "

Source: Dictionary of American Regional English, Harvard University Press

[Inspectorette]

Mr. Inspectorette and I are hoping to take a month-long trip next year from West-East on I-80, then back home East-West on I-10, then I-5 north.

[Old Professer]

This planet would be a paradise if we could only get rid of the imperfect pesky, people.

[oyez]

Transport was one of the only things about war Ike understood.

Are you sure about that? So Ike didn't win the war fast enough for you? Maybe you should examine Field Marshal Montgomery a little closer. Or how about the parts of the Roosevelt administration that feared Allied forces would meet the Russians some where near what is now the western Polish boarder and start slugging it out with each other.

[dirtboy]

Soon after the system's first cross-country link (I-80) was completed in 1986, Al Gore declared, hyperbolically, that the automobile's environmental effects is "more deadly than that of any military enemy we are ever again likely to confront."

Well, the Interstate Highway System is 50 years old, and Al Gore's brain-dead environmental hyperbole is at least 20 years old.

[Terpfen]

I'm well aware of the political situation of WW2, and Montgomery's legendary aptitude for doing nothing. Problem is, Ike gave him the priority of supply throughout most of the European campaign.

[dirtboy]

You know the flip side is it makes it easier for an invading army to conquer you.

Yeah, but they'll get killed off trying to make it across Pennsylvania, where merge lanes are ten feet long.

[Old Professer]

AMC was running Anastasia this A.M.; the scenes outside the bedroom window where the jointed, mechanical millipede kept appearing in the dusky twilight, windows aglow, was made real when the long-lost princess boarded the true-life version a few scenes later as though there was only one important place to go on what was then a modern train with aerodynamically-shaped cars and comfortable seats for those who deserved to be transported in such grand style and she was whisked to claim her birthright.

Such memories; fifty years or five hundred, time is always only a bend in the road away.

(Here's comes the well-dressed hare in checkered gilet and flat-brimmed grille-pain chapeau.)

[Ditto]

Transport was one of the only things about war Ike understood.

So General Napoleon, why don't you tell us how much more you understand.

[Fraxinus]

As for the railroads, they did that to themselves. They priced themselves out of the markets years ago. People have found that hauling freight by truck is much cheaper and quicker. With a truck, you can take the load right to the location where it is needed

I believe that the Private railroads in this country are actually profitable, and have been for decades. CSX was bought by private firms after a bidding contest (about 6 years ago if I remember correctly).
What the interstates did was, with the connivance of the Automakers et al, to destroy passenger rail. Where if you are in a hurry take a plane and auto is often just as fast and much more convenient and normally cheaper (especially with a family).

[Ditto]

Falaise, autumn 1944 stalemate, Ardennes.

The German Army didn't have anything to do with that I suppose.

[Rte66]

"Future Home of I-66"

Ahem. I'll take this one. Perhaps there is some confusion? Last year, according to wikipedia, this happened:

"In 2005, as part of the reconstruction of the plaza in front of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, an entrance was opened from 25th Street, N.W., to westbound I-66. However, at least one sign in the vicinity misidentified the route as the unrelated (and no longer existent) U.S. Highway 66.

Harrumph!

[Rte66]

Couldn't have said it better myself!