The Dwight D. Eisenhower System of Interstate and Defense Highways was actually the idea of an earlier president, according to this history of highways posted on The Infrastructurist.
Earl Swift, author of "The Big Roads: The Untold Story of the Engineers, Visionaries, and Trailblazers Who Created the American Superhighways", explains.
"The bureau instead proposed a more ambitious web of highways in and between cities, arguing that it might not only ease the country's worsening urban traffic, but replace its slums. Voila: We had a rough blueprint for today's Dwight D. Eisenhower System of Interstate and Defense Highways.
Thing is, that White House meeting took place in 1938. Eisenhower was in the Philippines at the time, working for Douglas MacArthur. He wouldn't take the oath of office for another 15 years.
The guy who drew those lines on the map was Franklin Roosevelt."
Read the full story: The Secret History of America’s Interstate Highway System
The Foundational Myth of America's Interstate Highway System
The erroneous belief that the negative impacts of interstate highways are simply "unintended consequences" fails to demand accountability for the project's failures.
When Discussing Racist Monuments, Don't Forget Urban Freeways
The racist history of planning in Los Angeles is particularly evident in the way Interstate freeways were planned in the region.
What Infrastructure Crisis?
Interstate highways are actually improving, according to a recent analysis. What if the infrastructure crisis is a matter of perspective, and not some universal truth?
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
Los Angeles just elected an urban planner as its mayor
Transportation analysts are optimistic that Raman will be more aggressive in addressing transit issues than Bass.
Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax survives legal challenge
A panel of judges found that the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate injury as a result of New York City's implementation of the tax.
Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity
Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority