Interstate 80 and Primary Road System Selected Iowa's Top Transportation Infrastructure Projects of 20th Century

1/8/2003

From: Kelly Meachum, 202-289-4434; e-mail: kmeachum@artba.org Matt Jeanneret, 202-289-4434; e-mail: mjeanneret@artba.org Both of the American Road & Transportation Builders Association Web site: http://www.artba.org/

WASHINGTON, January 8 -- Interstate 80 and the Primary Road System have been selected as Iowa's top transportation infrastructure projects of the 20th century by the Washington, D.C.-based American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA). Former State Highway Commission member Anson Marston and former Chief Engineer Fred White were named the state's top transportation public officials of the past century for their advocacy of transportation development and investment.

ARTBA, which is celebrating its 100th Anniversary, conducted a national survey to help identify the top transportation infrastructure projects and public officials of the past century in all 50 states. The survey was sent to members of Congress, the nation's governors, state transportation department heads, newspaper editors, state and local chambers of commerce executives and college history professors.

Interstate 80 (I-80), stretching nearly 300 miles across the state, has been a key corridor in helping improve safety, promote economic development and increase personal mobility.

Built over 14 years, I-80 included several innovative construction techniques, including the world's first welded aluminum girder-type highway bridge. Also, a section of I-80 near Iowa City built in 1964 is thought to be the first section of Interstate highway having hot mixed asphaltic concrete as the full-depth of the pavement with no other base.

Today, the highway has assumed an increased responsibility for the delivery of goods in an expanding economy. Since 1986, total traffic on I-80 in Iowa has increased by 80 percent. Usage is highest where I-80 intersects with Interstate 29 on the Missouri River, peaking at more than 68,000 vehicles a day. Daily traffic is more than 60,000 vehicles in Des Moines and nearly 41,000 a day in the Davenport area.

The Primary Road System was selected because it got Iowa out of the mud, provided new access to markets and stimulated business growth. The system was responsible for changing the structure of agriculture in Iowa from largely subsistence farming to an industry that grows food shipped to many parts of the world.

In 1919, the Iowa General Assembly took an action with far-reaching implications for the state when it designated this interconnected transportation network. The Primary System was envisioned as a system of about 6,400 miles of paved roads distributed among the state's 99 counties and linking every county seat with towns of 1,000 or more in population.

The Primary System grew in 1940 to 8,555 miles with the Iowa Highway Commission recommended that every town should have a dependable year-round road and every primary road a dustless surface. Further expansion brought the system to today's 9,700 miles.

ARTBA also recognized two former public officials.

Anson Marston, the first dean of Iowa State's College of Engineering at the beginning of the 20th century, vigorously promoted the creation of a state road agency during the "good roads movement." In 1904, the state did just that-creating the Iowa State Highway Commission and he served as a member. He has been called the "catalyst for modern highway construction and research." Marston also helped create the state's Highway Research Board in 1920.

Fred R. White served a chief engineer for the Iowa State Highway Commission from 1919 until 1952. His initial work focused on carrying out state laws pertaining to the building of primary and secondary roads. White guided the commission through hard-surfaced paving and the building of roads during the Great Depression and World War II. Under White's direction, the state built a first-rate road system and prepared for the birth of four-lane highways.

For 100 years, ARTBA has exclusively represented the U.S. transportation construction industry in the Nation's Capital. The association has played a key leadership role in the development and passage of every major piece of federal transportation legislation enacted by Congress over the past century.

The transportation construction industry the award-winning ARTBA represents generates $200 billion in U.S. economic activity annually and sustains the employment of 2.5 million Americans. Additional information about the association can be found online at http://www.artba.org.