Divided Highways: Building the Interstate Highways, Transforming American Life

I was eager to learn about the history of the interstate highway system and I did, along with a lot of other stuff I was not interested in at the time, such as the Whiskey Insurrection of 1794. This book could have been shorter and still told the story effectively. Yes we need some background, but we don't even get to the groundbreaking until Chapter 6, page 125. And after that, he keeps going on tangents, Do we really care what Emily Post thought of North Platte when she visited in 1915?Updated on 03/23/2020, after I read Earl Swift's "Big Roads", which tells basically the same story, but not as well as this book does. Here is some of what I wrote about that book, in comparison to this one:I prefer “Divided Highways” by Tom Lewis."Big Roads" is subtitled “The Untold Story” – but in fact, was published in 2011, 14 years after the first edition of Tom Lewis’ book, “Divided Highways”, which tells basically the same story. They are almost the same size. Lewis wrote 318 pages and Swift wrote 324 (excluding acknowledgments, endnotes, indexes, etc.) And, honestly, both are too long. I feel that the story of the interstate highway system could be told more concisely. It’s as if they each wanted to write about 320 pages, came up short, and then had to go back and add filler. First, each author tends to go on irrelevant tangents, and it can be hard to maintain interest. Second, there is too much prelude. In the Lewis book, we do not even get to the signing of the bill until page 121. In the Swift book, this does not happen until page 187, well past the halfway mark. No, we don’t want to start there, because we do need some background – but certainly not that level of detail.Swift starts with the story of Carl Graham Fisher, a pioneering motorist and highway advocate who helped found the Lincoln Highway Association, which created the first transcontinental road, the first highway prototype. All this is of little interest. On page 51 we are finally introduced to Thomas MacDonald, the key figure in the development of the pre-interstate federal highway system. This is where Lewis begins his book, and that is a great place to start. MacDonald is important. Although in both books we do learn a little more about him than we really need to know.Swift’s book is poorly edited. The writing style is too casual, there is too much slang and mild profanity. I am not offended: I just can’t take it as seriously as Lewis’ book, which seems more professional.Another distraction is all the irrelevant information in both books. For example, Lewis talks about the Whiskey Insurrection of 1794. Seriously?I am surprised that Route 66, possibly the most famous highway in the country, is not discussed in either book.One of the most important themes is that interstate construction was initially done without regard for the social consequences, and in urban areas, these consequences could be catastrophic. But this would change. The first highway project that was canceled due to local resistance was the Vieux Carre Expressway in New Orleans in 1969. Shortly thereafter new laws were passed. Lewis devotes an entire chapter to this episode, which may be a bit of overkill, but this is important. Swift, on the other hand, barely mentions New Orleans, in passing, as if it were of no significance. He instead bores me with the tedious politics in Baltimore, where their project was not canceled until 1977.Lewis ends his book with a reference to Walt Whitman. Swift ends his book with a weird, irrelevant story about some guy who claimed to make fuel from water.

I was originally going to rate this book 4 stars like the other reviewers but had to knock it down a notch because of a couple of issues. First, I'm a Libertarian so I'm not here to try to defend the Republicans but the author went out of his way to bash Republicans (always referred to as conservative Republicans) throughout the book. If I wanted a biased editorial of historical Republicans I could have purchased biographies to cover the matter. The author really seemed to have a problem with Eisenhower who was portrayed as a feckless leader who never paid attention to details in anything he did. Another problem I had with the book was the way the author went off on tangents that weren't warranted. While I appreciate the historical perspective, I didn't feel the need for devoting an entire chapter to the history and nightlife of New Orleans just to show the opposition to some of the planned routes the highway would take around the city.After reading the book I came away with the feeling that the author thinks our Interstate Highway System has done more harm than good for the nation's progress and economic growth. He implied that we would be better off with 2-lane roads that still go right through town so no family-owned gas stations go out of business or so we don't have to uproot anyone from inner-city slums.I was hoping for more stories on the trials and tribulations of the actually building the highways. Also, it would have been very useful to have before-and-after pictures of areas in major cities served by the Interstates.Overall, I was hoping for better.

As a frequent traveler of them, I've always been fascinated by the American interstate highway system and its history: the sheer magnitude of the accomplishment to build them in the first place and the fascinating stories that accompany their construction. So it was with great interest that I purchased Divided Highways and my expectations where rather high. But, for me, the book missed the mark somewhat. At times, I wondered about the theme of the book and tried to interpret the message it was sending. On one hand, a great amount of detail is given regarding the social/political ramifications of building the highways and changing consciousness of the 60s which thereafter changed how the interstate system was designed and built. But, then, at the same time, the book recounted stories of the engineers and the earliest developers of the interstate highway idea, providing a neat little history of how the interstate system "came to be." Oftentimes, it appeared that the author was critical of the "system," but, at times was critical of those who opposed it. It wasn't that the stories recounted in the book weren't interesting (they were), it's just I missed the theme here.In the end, I gave the book 4 stars because while it was very interesting and engaging, it missed the mark with respect to my expectations...but not necessarily in a bad way. I would recommend the book to anyone looking to gain a better understanding of our highway system and the challenges it faced, and still faces today, but nonetheless look somewhere else if you are expecting a "tell all" history of the highway system.

Divided Highways was a great history lesson for me of an event that took place in my lifetime! I enjoyed this book immensely. Having driven many of the Interstates over the years, it was fascinating to hear the stories—about the good things and the bad things—about their planning, building, and impact through the years. It was especially enlightening to read about the tremendous impact the building of these USA "arteries" had on cities, towns, neighborhoods and people through which they passed (and/or bypassed). I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in the history of the United States during the latter-half of the 1900's. Great book!

Mit rund 42.000 Meilen (= rund 64.400 km) ist das US-amerikanische Autobahnnetz (Interstate Highway System) eines der größten Ingenieur-Bauwerk der Welt. Dwight D. Eisenhower unterzeichnete 1956 das Bundesgesetz für den Autobahnbau (Federal-Aid Highway Act) unter dem Druck des Kalten Krieges und mit dem Leitgedanken, Arbeitsmöglichkeiten zu schaffen. Als er die Väter des kontinentalen Straßensystems als Pioniere besonders würdigte, konnte er nicht voraussehen, welche Folgen das Gesetz haben würde, z. B. eine enorme Zunahme des städtischen Verkehrs. Doch die ‚Pioniere‘ dachten nicht an die Bedürfnisse der Menschen, sondern agierten als technokratische Experten, die sich am Beispiel ihrer Vorgänger orientierten, allen voran der unbestechliche und einschüchternde Thomas Harris MacDonald, von 1919 bis 1953 Vorsitzender der Bundesbehörde für öffentliche Straßen (Federal Bureau of Public Roads). So wie Henry Ford (Ford Motor Company) oder Alfred Sloan (General Motors) bestimmte auch MacDonald maßgeblich die Entwicklung zur Massenmotorisierung in den USA.In seinen Betrachtungen greift Lewis öfters zu Allgemeinplätzen, z. B. über die Gleichförmigkeit und Seelenlosigkeit amerikanischer Vorstädte, weist jedoch andererseits darauf hin, dass das überregionale Straßennetz nicht allein durch eine Verschwörung von Gewerkschaften, Automobilverbänden und Straßenbau-Unternehmen entstand, sondern Amerikas tiefster Sehnsucht nach Tempo, Raumaneignung und Privatsphäre ausdrückt.Nach Lewis förderte der Autobahnbau das Glück von Afro-Amerikanern, die zuvor gezwungen waren, im Süden kleinste Nebenstraßen zu befahren, wo sie den Umtrieben rassistischer Eiferer ausgesetzt waren; ebenso nutzte er den Frauen, die auf den Schnellstraßen ihrer gesellschaftlichen Unterdrückung entfliehen konnten; und er begünstigte den rasanten Aufstieg von Unternehmern wie Ray Kroc, dem Gründer von McDonald’s.Andererseits bewirkten die Interstates viel Lärm, den Niedergang von Städten und den Abstieg der Eisenbahn, was zwangsläufig Widerstand hervorrief.