Interstate Highways
A Growing Need
Today interstate highway maintenance and construction are now a necessity to maintain the society that was created by our predecessors. And though “highway transportation is not generally regarded as a sufficient condition for economic development, most view it as a necessary factor for contemporary economic growth… Highways serve to alter the time-space ratio and the per unit cost of transportation, thereby facilitating the decentralization of industry, the expansion of trade areas, and the growth of the physical flow of people through an area.” [1]Interstate highways are not only important to the economic survival of Cleveland, but the whole country. Commercial freighting, tourism, even the increased affordability of automobiles is due to the construction of interstate highways, a reality more apparent in light of the 2003 Cleveland Innerbelt Study. The study determined that the projected 2025 level of congestion on existing highways requires the construction of extra lanes to accommodate traffic. Bridges with fewer lanes will create bottlenecks at peak hours causing severe travel delays. As suburban sprawl continues to reach far into once rural areas, congestion will persist on highways further from the city center. Unlike previous models, current plans for interstate construction will take accessibility and social cost into account.[2]
[1] Daniel T. Lichter and Glenn V. Fuguitt. “Demographic Response to Transportation Innovation: The Case of the Interstate Highway,” Social Forces, Vol. 59, No. 2 (Dec., 1980); 494.