Ike's Baby Turns 50.

In July of 1919 a young Army Lt. Col. named Dwight D. Eisenhower joined the first automotive transcontinental convoy that traveled from Washington, DC to San Francisco, California. One of Eisenhower's responsibilities was to gauge the feasibility of transporting military troops and supplies cross-country. The trip was hardly a success and instead put the spotlight on the poor condition of the nation's roads. The 81-vehicle convoy completed the journey in 62 days at an average speed of 6 miles per hour over 3,251 miles of mostly unpaved roads.

In 1945 this same man was Supreme Commander Allied Forces Europe and in the the spring of that year as his British and American troops crossed the Rhine river and broke into the heart of Germany they used its famed Autobahn system of limited access roads to fan across the country at a much higher rate of speed than they had been able to achieve before.

In 1955 Eisenhower, then President, using these two experiences as his basis, drafted and signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 on June 29th, 1956. Under this act, the federal government agreed to finance 90 percent of the construction costs of the new interstate system, largely paid for by gas taxes. The state governments were responsible for the remaining 10 percent of the starting cost and the system's upkeep expenditures.

Ike's baby is now 50 although the seeds of its genesis are much older. The Eisenhower interestate highway system is perhaps one of the best examples of postive government investment spending as the returns on the original dollars invested to build the highways dwarf the monies spent on its behalf. Not only has this system given Americans greater access to the open road it has also brought major societal changes to our country. I'll let others chronicle that part. Below are some fun facts that perhaps you didn't know about our interstate system.

Interstates by the numbers
-- Total miles: 46,837
-- Interstates in California: 25
-- Miles in California: 2,456
-- Longest: I-90, Seattle to Boston. 3,021 miles
-- Shortest: I-110, El Paso. .92 of a mile
-- State with most miles: Texas, 3,233
-- Highest point: I-70, Eisenhower Memorial Tunnel, Colorado. 11,158 feet
-- Lowest point: I-8, El Centro (Imperial County), 52 feet below sea level
-- Bridges: 56,512
-- Tunnels: 82 (104 bores)
-- Interchanges: 14,750
Sources: Federal Highway Administration, Caltrans

One other fun fact. All East-West highways end in even numbers, North-South roads end in odd numbers and for what it's worth nobody ever wrote on ode to the interstates that compares to "Route 66"