48 Years Ago In TIME

The Senate's transportation bill would shore up the nation's INTERSTATE HIGHWAYS, which were just being built in 1957.

The program will be the largest public-works project in history, dwarfing the construction of the Roman road system and the Great Wall of China. The interstate network will reach into every corner of the U.S. to link 42 state capitals and 90% of all cities with more than 50,000 population. It will carry a fifth of the nation's traffic, provide vital defense routes in case of war ... The new roads will ease present congestion, be able to accommodate the nearly 90 million vehicles that are expected to speed over U.S. roads by 1972. With fewer curves, no crossroads and a wide center strip, the super system is expected to save 3,500 lives annually, reduce accident costs by $725 million, save commercial operators another $825 million by cutting delay ... Motorists will be able to drive from Los Angeles to New York over the federal network without passing a single traffic light or intersection. --TIME, June 24, 1957

Read the entire article at time.com/years