138-514: Interstate 40 ( I-40 ) is a major east–west transcontinental Interstate Highway in the southeastern and southwestern portions of the United States. At a length of 2,556.61 miles (4,114.46 km), it is the third-longest Interstate Highway in the country, after I-90 and I-80 . From west to east, it passes through California , Arizona , New Mexico , Texas , Oklahoma , Arkansas , Tennessee , and North Carolina . Its western terminus
276-522: A concurrency or overlap. For example, I‑75 and I‑85 share the same roadway in Atlanta ; this 7.4-mile (11.9 km) section, called the Downtown Connector , is labeled both I‑75 and I‑85. Concurrencies between Interstate and US Highway numbers are also allowed in accordance with AASHTO policy, as long as the length of the concurrency is reasonable. In rare instances, two highway designations sharing
414-571: A 10-lane (five in each direction) facility replaced the former I-40 Crosstown Bridge ; the former I-40 alignment will be replaced with an urban boulevard currently designated as Oklahoma City Boulevard. I-40 enters the west-central part of the state and runs for 285 miles (459 km) in Arkansas. The route passes through Van Buren , where it intersects the southbound I-540 / US 71 to Fort Smith . The route continues east to Alma to intersect I-49 north to Fayetteville, Arkansas . Running through
552-637: A 28-year-old brevet lieutenant colonel, accompanied the trip "through darkest America with truck and tank," as he later described it. Some roads in the West were a "succession of dust, ruts, pits, and holes." As the landmark 1916 law expired, new legislation was passed—the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1921 (Phipps Act). This new road construction initiative once again provided for federal matching funds for road construction and improvement, $ 75 million allocated annually. Moreover, this new legislation for
690-652: A 580-foot (180 m) section of the I-40 bridge to plunge into the Arkansas River . Automobiles and semitrailers fell into the water, killing 14 people. On May 11, 2021, the Hernando de Soto Bridge carrying I-40 over the Mississippi River was closed when inspectors discovered a crack on a tie girder. A subsequent investigation revealed that the crack had existed since at least May 2019, and reports later surfaced that
828-476: A change in the numbering system as a result of a new policy adopted in 1973. Previously, letter-suffixed numbers were used for long spurs off primary routes; for example, western I‑84 was I‑80N, as it went north from I‑80 . The new policy stated, "No new divided numbers (such as I-35W and I-35E , etc.) shall be adopted." The new policy also recommended that existing divided numbers be eliminated as quickly as possible; however, an I-35W and I-35E still exist in
966-402: A household in the city was $ 26,108, and the median income for a family was $ 33,264. Males had a median income of $ 39,688 versus $ 19,483 for females. The per capita income for the city was $ 15,156. About 21.2% of families and 26.1% of the population were below the poverty line , including 38.2% of those under age 18 and 11.3% of those age 65 or over. Major employment in the city is supported by
1104-401: A maximum of 100 °F (37.8 °C) or higher, 175 days with a maximum of 90 °F (32 °C) or higher, and 2.7 days with a minimum of 32 °F (0 °C) or lower. Official record temperatures range from 18 °F (−8 °C) on January 22, 1937, to 125 °F (52 °C), last recorded on June 20, 2017. Annual normal rainfall is 4.32 in (110 mm), and there
1242-687: A more east–west alignment upon merging with US 74 at the eastern terminus of the Great Smoky Mountains Expressway . From there, the highway passes through Asheville , Hickory , and Statesville before reaching the Piedmont Triad . Just east of the Triad City of Greensboro, North Carolina , it merges with I-85 , and the two roads split again just west of the Research Triangle area, passing through Durham and Raleigh . From
1380-630: A new channel for the Colorado River that would straighten out a river bend that caused serious silt problems after the Hoover Dam was completed. Needles is a tourism and recreation center. The city is the eastern gateway to the Mojave National Preserve , a scenic desert area. The city has a desert climate with a subtropical temperature range, with a mean annual temperature of 76.2 °F (24.6 °C). Needles, like Death Valley to
1518-448: A new record for the hottest rain in world history. The air temperature was 118 °F (48 °C), tying Needles's record high for the date. Since the humidity was only 11%, the rain evaporated so that "only a trace of precipitation was recorded in the rain gauge". Weather records researcher Maximiliano Herrera reported that this was the lowest humidity at which rain has occurred on Earth in recorded history. On May 4, 2014, Needles reached
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#17328514109251656-443: A number of Native American trails existed within the vicinity of what is now Interstate 40. In 1857, an expedition led by Edward Fitzgerald Beale was tasked with establishing a trade route along the 35th parallel north from Fort Smith, Arkansas , to Los Angeles . This route, which became known as Beale's Wagon Road , was constructed by a team of about 100 men and 22 camels led by Lt. Edward Fitzgerald Beale . Completed in 1859, it
1794-576: A numbering scheme in which primary Interstates are assigned one- or two-digit numbers, and shorter routes which branch off of longer ones are assigned three-digit numbers where the last two digits match the parent route. The Interstate Highway System is partially financed through the Highway Trust Fund , which itself is funded by a combination of a federal fuel tax and transfers from the Treasury's general fund. Though federal legislation initially banned
1932-474: A plan to extend I-40 from Research Triangle Park to I-95 , a distance of 41 miles (66 km), at a cost of $ 75 million (equivalent to $ 432.36 million in 2023). Most of the highway would be four lanes, though six lanes were likely near Raleigh , where I-40 would extend the Beltline . Several routes were being considered, but, at the time, the most likely route would have ended north of Smithfield . When
2070-481: A proposal for an interstate highway system, eventually resulting in the enactment of the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 . Unlike the earlier United States Numbered Highway System, the interstates were designed to be all freeways, with nationally unified standards for construction and signage. While some older freeways were adopted into the system, most of the routes were completely new. In dense urban areas,
2208-645: A reconstruction, the expressway was renamed Salem Parkway and redesignated as part of US 421 . The " Big I " interchange in Albuquerque between I-40 and I-25 was reconstructed between 2000 and 2002 in a project that eliminated left-hand entrance ramps and added lanes. This project was given an honorable mention by the United States Department of Transportation and the FHWA for excellence in urban highway design in 2002. The Oklahoma City Crosstown Expressway
2346-421: A record high low temperature of 100 °F (38 °C) at 6:00 am with a high temperature exceeding 120 °F (49 °C), making it one of the few locations on Earth that have recorded an overnight minimum temperature higher than 100 °F (37.8 °C). On August 13, 2012, Needles experienced a thunderstorm that deposited rain at a temperature of 115 °F (46 °C) starting at 3:56 pm, setting
2484-644: A regular public school), Vista Colorado Elementary School (grades K–5), Needles Middle School (grades 6–8), Needles High School (grades 9–12), and the Educational Training Center (grades 9–12). Needles High School, due to its distance from other California schools, is a member of the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association , along with four other similarly placed California schools: Truckee , North Tahoe, South Tahoe, and Coleville . Needles also has two private schools:
2622-540: A report called Toll Roads and Free Roads , "the first formal description of what became the Interstate Highway System" and, in 1944, the similarly themed Interregional Highways . The Interstate Highway System gained a champion in President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was influenced by his experiences as a young Army officer crossing the country in the 1919 Motor Transport Corps convoy that drove in part on
2760-409: A single digit prefixed to the two-digit number of its parent Interstate Highway. Spur routes deviate from their parent and do not return; these are given an odd first digit. Circumferential and radial loop routes return to the parent, and are given an even first digit. Unlike primary Interstates, three-digit Interstates are signed as either east–west or north–south, depending on the general orientation of
2898-420: A solid bottom. A bridge was built, but it was of poor quality. Not only was it a "flimsy looking structure", but it was an obstacle to navigation on the river. Flooding on the Colorado River destroyed the bridge three times – in 1884, 1886 and 1888. The railway built Red Rock Bridge , a high cantilever bridge , at a narrower point with solid rock footings, ten miles downstream near today's Topock . The bridge
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#17328514109253036-769: A speed limit of 45 mph (70 km/h) because it is a parkway that consists of only one lane per side of the highway. On the other hand, Interstates 15, 80, 84, and 215 in Utah have speed limits as high as 70 mph (115 km/h) within the Wasatch Front , Cedar City , and St. George areas, and I-25 in New Mexico within the Santa Fe and Las Vegas areas along with I-20 in Texas along Odessa and Midland and I-29 in North Dakota along
3174-456: A speed limit of 80 mph (130 km/h). Other Interstates in Idaho, Montana, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Wyoming also have the same high speed limits. In some areas, speed limits on Interstates can be significantly lower in areas where they traverse significantly hazardous areas. The maximum speed limit on I-90 is 50 mph (80 km/h) in downtown Cleveland because of two sharp curves with
3312-467: A suggested limit of 35 mph (55 km/h) in a heavily congested area; I-70 through Wheeling, West Virginia , has a maximum speed limit of 45 mph (70 km/h) through the Wheeling Tunnel and most of downtown Wheeling; and I-68 has a maximum speed limit of 40 mph (65 km/h) through Cumberland, Maryland , because of multiple hazards including sharp curves and narrow lanes through
3450-454: A temperature of 102 °F (39 °C) with a dewpoint of −38 °F (−39 °C), for a relative humidity of 0.33%, the lowest value ever recorded on Earth. In the winter, temperatures are typically mild, with December, the coolest month, having a normal mean temperature of 54.7 °F (12.6 °C). The hottest month, July, has a normal mean temperature of 98.5 °F (36.9 °C). On average, there are 119 days annually with
3588-506: A vice mayor from among its members. The city council also appoints a city manager who is responsible for the operation of city departments. As of October 2023, the current city manager is Patrick J. Martinez. In the California State Legislature , Needles is in the 16th Senate District , represented by Democrat Melissa Hurtado , and in the 33rd Assembly District , represented by Republican Devon Mathis . In
3726-590: Is a city in eastern San Bernardino County, California , in the Mojave Desert region of Southern California . Situated on the western banks of the Colorado River , Needles is located near the California border with Arizona and Nevada . The city is accessible via Interstate 40 and U.S. Route 95 . The population was 4,959 at the 2020 census , up from 4,844 at the 2010 census . Mojave Indians first inhabited
3864-534: Is also commonly believed the Interstate Highway System was built for the sole purpose of evacuating cities in the event of nuclear warfare . While military motivations were present, the primary motivations were civilian. The numbering scheme for the Interstate Highway System was developed in 1957 by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). The association's present numbering policy dates back to August 10, 1973. Within
4002-509: Is an annual normal of 23 days with measurable precipitation. The wettest year was 1939 with 13.33 in (339 mm) of rainfall and the driest year was 2006 with 0.70 in (18 mm). The most rainfall in one month was 7.61 in (193 mm) in September 1939. The most rainfall in a calendar day was 3.49 in (89 mm) on August 19, 1906. Snowfall is very rare in Needles, with
4140-758: Is at I-15 in Barstow, California , while its eastern terminus is at a concurrency with U.S. Route 117 (US 117) and North Carolina Highway 132 (NC 132) in Wilmington, North Carolina . Major cities served by the interstate include Flagstaff, Arizona ; Albuquerque, New Mexico ; Amarillo, Texas ; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma ; Little Rock, Arkansas ; Memphis , Nashville , and Knoxville in Tennessee; and Asheville , Winston-Salem , Greensboro , Durham , Raleigh , and Wilmington in North Carolina. I-40 begins in
4278-414: Is at the head of Tijeras Canyon east of Albuquerque at approximately 7,040 feet (2,150 m). Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas are the five states where I-40 has a speed limit of 75 mph (121 km/h) instead of the 70 mph (110 km/h) limit in California, Tennessee, and North Carolina. In the west Texas panhandle area, there are several ranch roads connected directly to
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4416-616: Is four lanes for the entirety of its length in the state. A sign in California showing the distance to Wilmington, North Carolina , has been stolen several times. I-40 is a main route to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon , with the exits leading into Grand Canyon National Park in Williams and Flagstaff. I-40 covers 359 miles (578 km) in Arizona. Just west of exit 190, west of Flagstaff,
4554-592: Is generally considered the first federal highway in the Southwestern United States. In the early 20th century, a number of auto trails were established by private organizations to aid motorists in traveling between major cities. Among these was the National Old Trails Road , which roughly followed the western part of present-day I-40 to Albuquerque, and the Lee Highway , which followed much of
4692-584: Is its highest elevation along I-40 in the US, as the road crosses just over 7,330 feet (2,230 m) at the Arizona Divide near milepost 190. I-40 also passes through the Navajo Nation , the largest Indian reservation in the US. Like California's segment, the highway is four lanes for the entirety of its length in the state. I-40 covers 374 miles (602 km) in New Mexico. As in other states it parallels or overrides
4830-525: Is to have the highway route extend from Tamaulipas , Mexico to Ontario , Canada. The planned I-11 will then bridge the Interstate gap between Phoenix, Arizona and Las Vegas, Nevada , and thus form part of the CANAMEX Corridor (along with I-19 , and portions of I-10 and I-15 ) between Sonora , Mexico and Alberta , Canada. Political opposition from residents canceled many freeway projects around
4968-721: Is water. The once smaller nearby communities of Bullhead City, Arizona , Lake Havasu City, Arizona , and Laughlin, Nevada have in recent years become larger communities than Needles. The 2010 United States Census reported that Needles had a population of 4,844. The population density was 154.9 inhabitants per square mile (59.8/km ). The racial makeup of Needles was 3,669 (75.7%) White (65.4% Non-Hispanic White), 95 (2.0%) African American , 399 (8.2%) Native American , 35 (0.7%) Asian , 9 (0.2%) Pacific Islander , 323 (6.7%) from other races , and 314 (6.5%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1,083 persons (22.4%). The Census reported that 4,839 people (99.9% of
5106-463: The Atlantic Ocean . Much of the western part of I-40, from Barstow to Oklahoma City , parallels or overlays the historic U.S. Route 66 . East of Oklahoma City, the route generally parallels US 64 and US 70 . I-40 was established by the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 , and the numbering was subsequently approved on August 14, 1957, along with most of the rest of the system. The eastern terminus
5244-623: The BNSF Railway (formerly the Santa Fe Railroad ). The depot has been a terminal (crew change point) for the railway since the late 19th century. The railroad company has been the city's main employment source for over a century. According to the United States Census Bureau , the city has a total area of 30.2 square miles (78 km ). 29.8 square miles (77 km ) of it is land and 0.4 square miles (1.0 km ) of it (1.36%)
5382-474: The Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex in Texas, and an I-35W and I-35E that run through Minneapolis and Saint Paul , Minnesota, still exist. Additionally, due to Congressional requirements, three sections of I-69 in southern Texas will be divided into I-69W , I-69E , and I-69C (for Central). AASHTO policy allows dual numbering to provide continuity between major control points. This is referred to as
5520-538: The Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 into law. Under the act, the federal government would pay for 90 percent of the cost of construction of Interstate Highways. Each Interstate Highway was required to be a freeway with at least four lanes and no at-grade crossings. The publication in 1955 of the General Location of National System of Interstate Highways , informally known as the Yellow Book , mapped out what became
5658-536: The Fred Harvey Company built the elegant Neoclassical and Beaux-Arts style El Garces Hotel and Santa Fe Station in 1908, which was considered the "crown jewel" of the entire Fred Harvey chain. The landmark building is on the National Register of Historic Places and is being restored. Needles was a major stop on the historic U.S. Route 66 highway from the 1920s through the 1960s. For migrants from
Interstate 40 - Misplaced Pages Continue
5796-603: The Grand Forks area have higher speed limits of 75 mph (120 km/h). As one of the components of the National Highway System , Interstate Highways improve the mobility of military troops to and from airports, seaports, rail terminals, and other military bases. Interstate Highways also connect to other roads that are a part of the Strategic Highway Network , a system of roads identified as critical to
5934-515: The Lincoln Highway , the first road across America. He recalled that, "The old convoy had started me thinking about good two-lane highways... the wisdom of broader ribbons across our land." Eisenhower also gained an appreciation of the Reichsautobahn system, the first "national" implementation of modern Germany's Autobahn network, as a necessary component of a national defense system while he
6072-511: The Mississippi River on the Hernando de Soto Bridge and enters Memphis, Tennessee . The State of Tennessee has the longest segment of I-40 at 455 miles (732 km). The Interstate goes through all of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee and its three largest cities: Memphis , Nashville , and Knoxville . Jackson , Lebanon , Cookeville , Crossville , and Newport are other notable cities through which I-40 passes. Before leaving
6210-820: The Mojave Desert in California, and then proceeds through the Colorado Plateau in Arizona and the southern tip of the Rocky Mountains in New Mexico. It then traverses the Great Plains through the Texas Panhandle and Oklahoma, and passes south of the Ozarks in Arkansas. The freeway crosses the Appalachian Mountains in Tennessee and North Carolina, before terminating in the Atlantic Coastal Plain near
6348-585: The Ozark Mountains , I-40 serves Ozark , Clarksville , Russellville , Morrilton , and Conway . The route turns south after Conway and enters North Little Rock , which brings high volume interchanges with I-430 , I-30 / US 65 / US 67 / US 167 , and I-440 / Highway 440 (AR 440). The Interstate continues east through Lonoke , Brinkley , and West Memphis on the eastside. I-40 briefly overlaps I-55 in West Memphis before it crosses
6486-499: The US Department of Defense . The system has also been used to facilitate evacuations in the face of hurricanes and other natural disasters. An option for maximizing traffic throughput on a highway is to reverse the flow of traffic on one side of a divider so that all lanes become outbound lanes. This procedure, known as contraflow lane reversal , has been employed several times for hurricane evacuations. After public outcry regarding
6624-464: The US Highways , which increase from east to west and north to south). This numbering system usually holds true even if the local direction of the route does not match the compass directions. Numbers divisible by five are intended to be major arteries among the primary routes, carrying traffic long distances. Primary north–south Interstates increase in number from I-5 between Canada and Mexico along
6762-540: The United States House of Representatives , Needles is in California's 25th congressional district , represented by Democrat Raul Ruiz . In 2008, claiming the county had been unwilling to help keep the city's troubled hospital open as a full-service medical facility, the city considered seceding from California and becoming part of neighboring Nevada , only a few miles away. The options of attaching itself to
6900-541: The West Coast to I‑95 between Canada and Miami, Florida along the East Coast . Major west–east arterial Interstates increase in number from I-10 between Santa Monica, California , and Jacksonville, Florida , to I-90 between Seattle, Washington , and Boston, Massachusetts , with two exceptions. There are no I-50 and I-60, as routes with those numbers would likely pass through states that currently have US Highways with
7038-855: The 20th century, the United States Congress began funding roadways through the Federal Aid Road Act of 1916 , and started an effort to construct a national road grid with the passage of the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1921 . In 1926, the United States Numbered Highway System was established, creating the first national road numbering system for cross-country travel. The roads were state-funded and maintained, and there were few national standards for road design. United States Numbered Highways ranged from two-lane country roads to multi-lane freeways. After Dwight D. Eisenhower became president in 1953, his administration developed
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#17328514109257176-643: The City of Needles and houses two Type 1 Engine companies, one Type 7 Engine company, one Water Tender and one 28-foot fireboat. The station is staffed full-time with career firefighters. Since December 1989 the City of Needles has been patrolled by the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department under the command of Captain Ross Tarangle from the Needles Patrol Station. Colorado Medical Center
7314-559: The Congress Hotel in Chicago. In the plan, Mehren proposed a 50,000-mile (80,000 km) system, consisting of five east–west routes and 10 north–south routes. The system would include two percent of all roads and would pass through every state at a cost of $ 25,000 per mile ($ 16,000/km), providing commercial as well as military transport benefits. In 1919, the US Army sent an expedition across
7452-506: The Interstate Highway System. Assisting in the planning was Charles Erwin Wilson , who was still head of General Motors when President Eisenhower selected him as Secretary of Defense in January 1953. Some sections of highways that became part of the Interstate Highway System actually began construction earlier. Three states have claimed the title of first Interstate Highway. Missouri claims that
7590-424: The Interstate Highway program. The Interstates of Alaska and Puerto Rico are numbered sequentially in order of funding without regard to the rules on odd and even numbers. They also carry the prefixes A and PR , respectively. However, these highways are signed according to their local designations, not their Interstate Highway numbers. Furthermore, these routes were neither planned according to nor constructed to
7728-465: The Interstate. I-40 goes through the heart of the state, passing through many Oklahoma cities and towns, including Erick , Sayre , Elk City , Clinton , Weatherford , El Reno , Yukon , Oklahoma City , Del City , Midwest City , Shawnee , Okemah , Henryetta , Checotah , Sallisaw , and Roland . I-40 covers 331 miles (533 km) in Oklahoma. In Downtown Oklahoma City , I-40 was rerouted one mile (1.6 km) south of its former alignment and
7866-462: The Interstate. The only major city in Texas that is directly served by I-40 is Amarillo , which connects with I-27 that runs south toward Lubbock . I-40 also connects to US 287 that runs southeast to Dallas–Fort Worth and US 87 /US 287 north to Dumas and then on into Oklahoma. I-40 has only one welcome center in the state, which is located in Amarillo at the exit for Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport , serving both sides of
8004-417: The Las Vegas National Weather Service. As of the census of 2000, there were 4,830 people, 1,940 households, and 1,268 families residing in the city. The estimated population in July 2006: 5,330 (+10.4% change). The population density was 162.3 inhabitants per square mile (62.7/km ). There were 2,551 housing units at an average density of 85.7 units per square mile (33.1 units/km ). The racial makeup of
8142-453: The Midwest Dust Bowl in the 1930s, it was the town that marked their arrival in California. The city is lined with motels and other shops from that era. The "Carty's Camp", which appears briefly in The Grapes of Wrath as the Joad family enters California from Arizona , is now a ghost tourist court, its remains located behind the 1940s-era 66 Motel . In 1949, the United States Bureau of Reclamation began an extensive project to dredge
8280-561: The Needles Assembly of God Christian School and the Needles Seventh-day Adventist School. Interstate 40 , known locally as the Needles Freeway, is the major highway through Needles, connecting Barstow to the west and Arizona to the east. U.S. Route 95 also enters the city from the east on former Route 66 as a concurrency with the I-40 freeway, then splits with the Interstate west of the city, and heads north to Nevada . The Colorado River Bridge connects Needles directly with Mohave County, Arizona , and Arizona State Route 95 . Amtrak ,
8418-402: The Pigeon River Gorge section along the Tennessee and North Carolina border. Here, the roadway was cut into the slopes of several steep mountains. Accidents on the winding road are also common especially during bad weather. On October 25, 2009, I-40 was closed at the North Carolina and Tennessee border due to a landslide at milemarker 2.6 just east of the Tennessee state line. All traffic
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#17328514109258556-409: The Triangle to its eastern terminus in Wilmington , it once again takes a more north–south alignment. A standard distance sign existed near the start of the westbound section of I-40 in Wilmington that indicated the distance to Barstow, California, as 2,554 miles (4,110 km). In 2009, NCDOT said it would not be replaced after frequent thefts . During the colonial and westward expansion eras,
8694-400: The US government considered a plan, part of Project Plowshare , to use atomic bombs to excavate a path for I-40 through California. The project was canceled largely due to the cost of developing the explosives and due to the unavailability of a "clean bomb". The first sections of I-40 reused freeways that had been constructed prior to the Interstate Highway System or were under construction at
8832-506: The US to determine the difficulties that military vehicles would have on a cross-country trip. Leaving from the Ellipse near the White House on July 7, the Motor Transport Corps convoy needed 62 days to drive 3,200 miles (5,100 km) on the Lincoln Highway to the Presidio of San Francisco along the Golden Gate . The convoy suffered many setbacks and problems on the route, such as poor-quality bridges, broken crankshafts, and engines clogged with desert sand. Dwight Eisenhower , then
8970-631: The United States, including: In addition to cancellations, removals of freeways are planned: The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) has defined a set of standards that all new Interstates must meet unless a waiver from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is obtained. One almost absolute standard is the controlled access nature of the roads. With few exceptions , traffic lights (and cross traffic in general) are limited to toll booths and ramp meters (metered flow control for lane merging during rush hour ). Being freeways , Interstate Highways usually have
9108-413: The act was signed, and paving started September 26, 1956. The state marked its portion of I-70 as the first project in the United States completed under the provisions of the new Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956. The Pennsylvania Turnpike could also be considered one of the first Interstate Highways, and is nicknamed "Grandfather of the Interstate System". On October 1, 1940, 162 miles (261 km) of
9246-419: The area. Needles was founded in May 1883 during the construction of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , which originally crossed the Colorado River at Eastbridge, Arizona three miles southeast of modern Needles. Needles was named after "The Needles" , a group of pinnacles in the Mohave Mountains on the Arizona side of the river. The crossing was a poor site for a bridge, lacking firm banks and
9384-414: The bus leaves at 6:15 and arrives at Victorville at 10:30 am. On the reverse trip, buses leave Victorville at 2:30 pm and arrives at Barstow at 7:15 pm. Vegas Airporter provides service between Lake Havasu City , Needles, and Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas . On July 1, 2016, San Bernardino County Fire Department annexed the City of Needles. Fire Station 32 provides fire protection to
9522-399: The cancellation of the Somerset Freeway . This situation was remedied when the construction of the Pennsylvania Turnpike/Interstate 95 Interchange Project started in 2010 and partially opened on September 22, 2018, which was already enough to fill the gap. However, I-70 remains discontinuous in Pennsylvania , because of the lack of a direct interchange with the Pennsylvania Turnpike at
9660-406: The choice of routing destroyed many well-established neighborhoods, often intentionally as part of a program of " urban renewal ". In the two decades following the 1956 Highway Act, the construction of the freeways displaced one million people, and as a result of the many freeway revolts during this era, several planned Interstates were abandoned or re-routed to avoid urban cores. Construction of
9798-562: The city was 77.9% White , 1.6% African American , 7.0% Native American , 1.4% Asian , 0.1% Pacific Islander , 6.4% from other races , and 5.6% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 18.4% of the population. There were 1,940 households, out of which 31.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.5% were married couples living together, 16.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.6% were non-families. 29.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.1% had someone living alone who
9936-650: The city. In some locations, low speed limits are the result of lawsuits and resident demands; after holding up the completion of I-35E in St. Paul, Minnesota , for nearly 30 years in the courts, residents along the stretch of the freeway from the southern city limit to downtown successfully lobbied for a 45 mph (70 km/h) speed limit in addition to a prohibition on any vehicle weighing more than 9,000 pounds (4,100 kg) gross vehicle weight . I-93 in Franconia Notch State Park in northern New Hampshire has
10074-401: The collection of tolls, some Interstate routes are toll roads , either because they were grandfathered into the system or because subsequent legislation has allowed for tolling of Interstates in some cases. As of 2022 , about one quarter of all vehicle miles driven in the country used the Interstate Highway System, which has a total length of 48,890 miles (78,680 km). In 2022 and 2023,
10212-497: The construction and improvement of highways. The nation's revenue needs associated with World War I prevented any significant implementation of this policy, which expired in 1921. In December 1918, E. J. Mehren, a civil engineer and the editor of Engineering News-Record , presented his "A Suggested National Highway Policy and Plan" during a gathering of the State Highway Officials and Highway Industries Association at
10350-407: The contiguous United States, primary Interstates—also called main line Interstates or two-digit Interstates—are assigned numbers less than 100. While numerous exceptions do exist, there is a general scheme for numbering Interstates. Primary Interstates are assigned one- or two-digit numbers, while shorter routes (such as spurs, loops, and short connecting roads) are assigned three-digit numbers where
10488-493: The country. The longest stretch of the highway is in Tennessee, and the shortest is in California. The busiest stretch of I-40 is in Knoxville, concurrent with I-75 , which has an annual average daily traffic volume of more than 210,000 vehicles. The lowest traffic volumes are found on rural stretches in New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma, where the freeway carries fewer than 15,000 vehicles per day. I-40 in California crosses through
10626-422: The crack had likely existed since August 2016. An emergency contract to repair the beam was awarded six days after the closure, and the bridge reopened on July 31, 2021, to eastbound traffic, and to westbound traffic on August 2, 2021. The highway was badly damaged during Hurricane Helene in September 2024, with the road closed in multiple locations across western North Carolina due to landslides. The worst damage
10764-618: The discontinuity, but they have been blocked by local opposition, fearing a loss of business. The Interstate Highway System has been expanded numerous times. The expansions have both created new designations and extended existing designations. For example, I-49 , added to the system in the 1980s as a freeway in Louisiana , was designated as an expansion corridor, and FHWA approved the expanded route north from Lafayette, Louisiana , to Kansas City, Missouri . The freeway exists today as separate completed segments, with segments under construction or in
10902-448: The dissemination of public information. As a result, the 2005 evacuation of New Orleans, Louisiana, prior to Hurricane Katrina ran much more smoothly. According to urban legend , early regulations required that one out of every five miles of the Interstate Highway System must be built straight and flat, so as to be usable by aircraft during times of war. There is no evidence of this rule being included in any Interstate legislation. It
11040-492: The eastern end of the concurrency near Breezewood . Traveling in either direction, I-70 traffic must exit the freeway and use a short stretch of US 30 (which includes a number of roadside services) to rejoin I-70. The interchange was not originally built because of a legacy federal funding rule, since relaxed, which restricted the use of federal funds to improve roads financed with tolls. Solutions have been proposed to eliminate
11178-486: The eastern portion of the route. When the state governments established the United States Numbered Highway System in 1926, two of these most important highways, US 66 and US 70 were established within the present-day I-40 corridor. US 66, which followed the route from its western terminus to Oklahoma City, became arguably the most famous highway in the United States and has been recognized multiple times in popular culture. US 70, which roughly follows
11316-450: The economy. Not just as a public works measure, but for future growth. Clay's committee proposed a 10-year, $ 100 billion program ($ 1.13 trillion in 2023), which would build 40,000 miles (64,000 km) of divided highways linking all American cities with a population of greater than 50,000. Eisenhower initially preferred a system consisting of toll roads , but Clay convinced Eisenhower that toll roads were not feasible outside of
11454-488: The existing, largely non-freeway, United States Numbered Highways system. By the late 1930s, planning had expanded to a system of new superhighways. In 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave Thomas MacDonald , chief at the Bureau of Public Roads, a hand-drawn map of the United States marked with eight superhighway corridors for study. In 1939, Bureau of Public Roads Division of Information chief Herbert S. Fairbank wrote
11592-426: The federal government, Interstate Highways are owned by the state in which they were built. With few exceptions , all Interstates must meet specific standards , such as having controlled access, physical barriers or median strips between lanes of oncoming traffic, breakdown lanes , avoiding at-grade intersections , no traffic lights , and complying with federal traffic sign specifications. Interstate Highways use
11730-450: The first sections of I-40. The stretch between Memphis and Nashville, completed on July 24, 1966, was the first major stretch of interstate highway completed in Tennessee. On June 30, 1972, the final stretch of I-40 entirely within Arkansas, located between Clarksville and Ozark was opened; the last section to open in the state was the Hernando de Soto Bridge , which opened on August 2, 1973. The last segment in California to be completed
11868-507: The first three contracts under the new program were signed in Missouri on August 2, 1956. The first contract signed was for upgrading a section of US Route 66 to what is now designated Interstate 44 . On August 13, 1956, work began on US 40 (now I-70) in St. Charles County. Kansas claims that it was the first to start paving after the act was signed. Preliminary construction had taken place before
12006-594: The first time sought to target these funds to the construction of a national road grid of interconnected "primary highways", setting up cooperation among the various state highway planning boards. The Bureau of Public Roads asked the Army to provide a list of roads that it considered necessary for national defense. In 1922, General John J. Pershing , former head of the American Expeditionary Force in Europe during
12144-483: The highest speed limits in a given area. Speed limits are determined by individual states. From 1975 to 1986, the maximum speed limit on any highway in the United States was 55 miles per hour (90 km/h), in accordance with federal law. Typically, lower limits are established in Northeastern and coastal states, while higher speed limits are established in inland states west of the Mississippi River . For example,
12282-542: The highly populated coastal regions. In February 1955, Eisenhower forwarded Clay's proposal to Congress. The bill quickly won approval in the Senate, but House Democrats objected to the use of public bonds as the means to finance construction. Eisenhower and the House Democrats agreed to instead finance the system through the Highway Trust Fund , which itself would be funded by a gasoline tax. In June 1956, Eisenhower signed
12420-607: The highway now designated I‑70 and I‑76 opened between Irwin and Carlisle . The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania refers to the turnpike as the Granddaddy of the Pikes, a reference to turnpikes . Milestones in the construction of the Interstate Highway System include: The initial cost estimate for the system was $ 25 billion over 12 years; it ended up costing $ 114 billion (equivalent to $ 425 billion in 2006 or $ 618 billion in 2023 ) and took 35 years. The system
12558-592: The highway that became I-40 was included in a plan released on August 2, 1947, by the Public Roads Administration of the now-defunct Federal Works Agency . The Interstate was officially authorized between Barstow and Greensboro by the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 , which created the Interstate Highway System. The numbering was subsequently approved by the American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO) on August 14, 1957, along with most of
12696-402: The inefficiency of evacuating from southern Louisiana prior to Hurricane Georges ' landfall in September 1998, government officials looked towards contraflow to improve evacuation times. In Savannah, Georgia , and Charleston, South Carolina , in 1999, lanes of I-16 and I-26 were used in a contraflow configuration in anticipation of Hurricane Floyd with mixed results. In 2004, contraflow
12834-407: The last portion of I-40, connecting Wilmington to Raleigh, was dedicated on June 29, 1990, CBS journalist Charles Kuralt stated: Thanks to the Interstate Highway System, it is now possible to travel from coast to coast without seeing anything. In Memphis , I-40 was originally planned to pass through the city's Overton Park , a 342-acre (138 ha) public park. Following a public announcement of
12972-431: The last two digits match the parent route (thus, I-294 is a loop that connects at both ends to I-94 , while I-787 is a short spur route attached to I-87 ). In the numbering scheme for the primary routes, east–west highways are assigned even numbers and north–south highways are assigned odd numbers. Odd route numbers increase from west to east, and even-numbered routes increase from south to north (to avoid confusion with
13110-769: The lightly populated northern part of the Inland Empire region of the state. Its western end is in Barstow, California . Known as the Needles Freeway, it heads east from Barstow across the Mojave Desert in San Bernardino County to Needles , before it crosses the Colorado River into Arizona southwest of Kingman . I-40 covers 155 miles (249 km) in California. Some signs show the control city for I-40 westbound to be Los Angeles , where drivers would follow I-15 south from its western terminus in Barstow. The highway
13248-450: The mainline. Some auxiliary highways do not follow these guidelines, however. The Interstate Highway System also extends to Alaska , Hawaii , and Puerto Rico , even though they have no direct land connections to any other states or territories. However, their residents still pay federal fuel and tire taxes. The Interstates in Hawaii, all located on the most populous island of Oahu , carry
13386-737: The maximum speed limit is 75 mph (120 km/h) in northern Maine, varies between 50 and 70 mph (80 and 115 km/h) from southern Maine to New Jersey, and is 50 mph (80 km/h) in New York City and the District of Columbia. Currently, rural speed limits elsewhere generally range from 65 to 80 miles per hour (105 to 130 km/h). Several portions of various highways such as I-10 and I-20 in rural western Texas, I-80 in Nevada between Fernley and Winnemucca (except around Lovelock) and portions of I-15 , I-70 , I-80 , and I-84 in Utah have
13524-421: The national passenger rail system, provides daily service to Needles station , operating its Southwest Chief between Chicago and Los Angeles . It arrives between midnight and 2 am. Local transit service to the Needles area is provided by Needles Area Transit . As of August 2, 2016, Victor Valley Transit Authority has service from Needles to Barstow and Victorville on Fridays. To Barstow and Victorville,
13662-480: The northern bypass route. The redesigned section now has additional lanes in each direction, is less congested, and has fewer accidents. In North Carolina , I-40 travels 420 miles (680 km). It enters the state as a winding mountain freeway through the Great Smoky Mountains , which frequently closes due to landslides and weather conditions. It enters the state on a mostly north–south alignment, turning to
13800-487: The northwest, is known for extreme heat during the summer. The Needles weather station is frequently reported by the United States government's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as the site of the highest daily temperature recorded in the U.S. during the desert summers. Needles occasionally sets national or world daily temperature records, along with other related records associated with extreme desert heat. For instance, on July 22, 2006, Needles experienced
13938-404: The number of fatalities on the Interstate Highway System amounted to more than 5,000 people annually, with nearly 5,600 fatalities in 2022. The United States government's efforts to construct a national network of highways began on an ad hoc basis with the passage of the Federal Aid Road Act of 1916 , which provided $ 75 million over a five-year period for matching funds to the states for
14076-417: The official Interstate Highway standards . On one- or two-digit Interstates, the mile marker numbering almost always begins at the southern or western state line. If an Interstate originates within a state, the numbering begins from the location where the road begins in the south or west. As with all guidelines for Interstate routes, however, numerous exceptions exist. Needles, California Needles
14214-479: The only month recording measurable snowfall being January 1949, when 15.2 in (38.6 cm) of snow fell, including 12.2 in (31.0 cm) inches on January 12, 1949. The city is also known for moderate to locally severe thunderstorms during the monsoon season as well as humid conditions. Needles is served by the National Weather Service 's NOAA Weather Radio operating on 162.50 MHz from
14352-561: The original Interstate Highway System was proclaimed complete in 1992, despite deviations from the original 1956 plan and several stretches that did not fully conform with federal standards . The construction of the Interstate Highway System cost approximately $ 114 billion (equivalent to $ 618 billion in 2023). The system has continued to expand and grow as additional federal funding has provided for new routes to be added, and many future Interstate Highways are currently either being planned or under construction. Though heavily funded by
14490-586: The planning phase between them. In 1966, the FHWA designated the entire Interstate Highway System as part of the larger Pan-American Highway System, and at least two proposed Interstate expansions were initiated to help trade with Canada and Mexico spurred by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Long-term plans for I-69 , which currently exists in several separate completed segments (the largest of which are in Indiana and Texas ),
14628-630: The population) lived in households, 5 (0.1%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 (0%) were institutionalized. There were 1,918 households, out of which 650 (33.9%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 712 (37.1%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 331 (17.3%) had a female householder with no husband present, 159 (8.3%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 186 (9.7%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships , and 6 (0.3%) same-sex married couples or partnerships . 588 households (30.7%) were made up of individuals, and 238 (12.4%) had someone living alone who
14766-523: The population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 2,261 people (46.7%) lived in rental housing units. According to the 2010 United States Census, Needles had a median household income of $ 29,613, with 28.8% of the population living below the poverty line. The City of Needles was incorporated on October 30, 1913. It is a charter city, led by an elected mayor and a city council with six elected members. Mayors serve two-year terms of office, and councilmembers serve four-year terms. The council designates
14904-516: The post 1937 Route 66 route through the state. Notable cities along I-40 include Gallup , Grants , Albuquerque , Santa Rosa , and Tucumcari . I-40 also travels through several Indian reservations in the western half of the state. It reaches its highest point in the state of 7,275 feet (2,217 m) at the Continental Divide (Campbell Pass) in western New Mexico between Gallup and Grants. The last place that I-40 tops 7,000 feet (2,100 m)
15042-411: The prefix H . There are three one-digit routes in the state ( H-1 , H-2 , and H-3 ) and one auxiliary route ( H-201 ). These Interstates connect several military and naval bases together, as well as the important communities spread across Oahu, and especially within the urban core of Honolulu . Both Alaska and Puerto Rico also have public highways that receive 90 percent of their funding from
15180-489: The remainder of the Interstate, was also one of the most important highways for east−west travelers, and was considered part of the "Broadway of America" highway between California and New York . An east−west trans-continental freeway to serve the south-central United States was proposed in multiple plans throughout the 1930s and 1940s for what later became the Interstate Highway System . The general alignment for
15318-434: The route, eliminated several interchanges, added frontage roads, and reconstructed the congestion-prone cloverleaf interchange with I-75, which had earned the nickname "Malfunction Junction", into a three-level stack interchange. This was conducted as part of a larger $ 250 million (equivalent to $ 668 million in 2023) road improvement project in the Knoxville area in preparation for the 1982 World's Fair . Originally, I-40
15456-524: The route, without regard to the route number. For instance, I-190 in Massachusetts is labeled north–south, while I-195 in New Jersey is labeled east–west. Some looped Interstate routes use inner–outer directions instead of compass directions, when the use of compass directions would create ambiguity. Due to the large number of these routes, auxiliary route numbers may be repeated in different states along
15594-509: The routing, a group of community activists opposed to the routing founded an organization called Citizens to Preserve Overton Park in 1957, and collected 10,000 signatures in their support. After Secretary of Transportation John Volpe authorized the state to solicit bids for the construction of the interstate through the park in 1969, the organization filed a lawsuit, which culminated in the landmark Supreme Court ruling of Citizens to Preserve Overton Park v. Volpe in 1971, which ruled that
15732-419: The same numbers, which is generally disallowed under highway administration guidelines. Several two-digit numbers are shared between unconnected road segments at opposite ends of the country for various reasons. Some such highways are incomplete Interstates (such as I-69 and I-74 ) and some just happen to share route designations (such as I-76 , I-84 , I‑86 , I-87 , and I-88 ). Some of these were due to
15870-503: The same roadway are signed as traveling in opposite directions; one such wrong-way concurrency is found between Wytheville and Fort Chiswell , Virginia, where I‑81 north and I‑77 south are equivalent (with that section of road traveling almost due east), as are I‑81 south and I‑77 north. Auxiliary Interstate Highways are circumferential, radial, or spur highways that principally serve urban areas . These types of Interstate Highways are given three-digit route numbers, which consist of
16008-426: The state highway department had not adequately explored alternative routes for the interstate. This case is considered to have established the modern process of judicial review of infrastructural projects, and eventually resulted in the state rerouting the alignment of I-40 through the park onto a section of I-240 in 1981. Between May 1980 and March 1982, a major project was conducted on I-40 in Knoxville that widened
16146-806: The state of Arizona or even forming a new county were also considered. Proposals to change states would require approval from the United States Congress and both state legislatures. The city is in the Needles Unified School District . Needles' elementary schools and Needles High School are part of the district. The school district is one of the largest in the United States in terms of area with almost 6,000 square miles (16,000 km ) in its boundaries. The district runs from Amboy to Needles, and south to Parker Dam. As of 2022 it had 955 students enrolled. The local Needles schools include Katie Hohstadt Elementary School, formerly called 'D' Street School (new home of Needles Head Start, and no longer
16284-492: The state, I-40 enters the Great Smoky Mountains toward North Carolina . The section of I-40 which runs between Memphis and Nashville is often referred to as the Music Highway . During reconstruction, a short section of I-40 through downtown Knoxville near the central Malfunction Junction was completely closed to traffic from May 1, 2008, and not reopened until June 12, 2009, with all traffic redirected via I-640 ,
16422-748: The system. In 1957, the California Department of Highways, the predecessor agency to the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), proposed that the route be renumbered to I-30 instead because of the already existing US 40 in the state. This route was decommissioned in the state in 1964 as a part of a major revamping of California's overall highway numbering system. The California state government also submitted State Route 58 (SR 58) between Barstow and Bakersfield for I-40 extension potential in 1956 and 1968, but both of these requests were rejected. From 1963 to 1966,
16560-462: The tank. The leaking gas ignited in a massive fireball, and the tank was propelled 125 yards (114 m) from the crash site into a nearby duplex apartment. The incident killed six motorists and three occupants of nearby structures, and provided momentum for the eventual reconstruction of the interchange. The I-40 bridge disaster occurred on May 26, 2002, when a barge collided with a bridge foundation member near Webbers Falls, Oklahoma , causing
16698-541: The time of the authorization of the system. The first stretch in Tennessee reused a short freeway in Knoxville called the Magnolia Avenue Expressway, which was opened in two segments in 1952 and 1955. The first stretches in North Carolina were a short controlled-access sections of US 421 in Winston-Salem, and from Kernersville , constructed between 1955 and 1958. By 1957, most states had begun construction on
16836-490: The war, complied by submitting a detailed network of 20,000 miles (32,000 km) of interconnected primary highways—the so-called Pershing Map . A boom in road construction followed throughout the decade of the 1920s, with such projects as the New York parkway system constructed as part of a new national highway system. As automobile traffic increased, planners saw a need for such an interconnected national system to supplement
16974-413: Was 39.3 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.0 males. There were 2,895 housing units at an average density of 92.6 units per square mile (35.8 units/km ), of which 1,015 (52.9%) were owner-occupied, and 903 (47.1%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 4.9%; the rental vacancy rate was 17.2%. 2,578 people (53.2% of
17112-447: Was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.5 and the average family size was 3.0. In the city, the population was spread out, with 27.6% under the age of 18, 7.5% from 18 to 24, 23.6% from 25 to 44, 25.6% from 45 to 64, and 15.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.2 males. The median income for
17250-413: Was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52. There were 1,202 families (62.7% of all households); the average family size was 3.12. The population was spread out, with 1,283 people (26.5%) under the age of 18, 401 people (8.3%) aged 18 to 24, 1,038 people (21.4%) aged 25 to 44, 1,357 people (28.0%) aged 45 to 64, and 765 people (15.8%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age
17388-598: Was a part of Grand Boulevard that had been built in compliance with Interstate Highway standards . In 1982, as part of Oklahoma's "Diamond Jubilee", I-44's western terminus was moved from the I-35/I-44 junction to the Texas–Oklahoma state line via the Belle Isle Freeway (connecting I-440 with I-35); I-440, the H. E. Bailey Turnpike; and the turnpike connector road on the eastern edge of Lawton, Oklahoma . The I-440 number
17526-569: Was a short stretch in Needles, opened on August 13, 1973. The last original planned stretch of the highway in Tennessee, located east of Knoxville, was partially opened on December 20, 1974, and fully opened on September 12, 1975. The last section of I-40 in Oklahoma, a 17-mile (27 km) stretch near Erick near the western end of the state, opened on June 2, 1975. In 1971, the North Carolina State Highway Commission approved
17664-513: Was accomplished in three phases between January 2001 and December 2016. A $ 203.7 million two-phase project dubbed "SmartFix 40" resulted in a complete closure of a short stretch of I-40 through Knoxville between May 1, 2008, and June 12, 2009. This was done in order to accelerate the construction timeline, and during this time, through traffic was required to use I-640 . Both phases of the project won an America's Transportation Award from AASHTO in 2008 and 2010, respectively. Landslides are common in
17802-484: Was completed in May 1890, and the old bridge was dismantled. At first it was a tent town for railroad construction crews, but the railway would eventually build a hotel, car sheds, shops and a roundhouse. Within only a month, Needles would have a Chinese laundry, a newsstand, a restaurant, several general stores, and nine or ten saloons. Needles quickly became the largest port on the river above Yuma, Arizona . The railway and
17940-423: Was constructed through downtown Winston-Salem , and it continued to follow that route until a new urban bypass route was built. After the bypass was completed around 1992, I-40 was relocated to the new freeway. The old highway was then redesignated as Interstate 40 Business (I-40 Bus.), establishing a business route that was actually an expressway for its entire length, a rarity among business routes. Following
18078-454: Was detoured via I-26 and I-81, and non-heavy-load traffic via US 25 and US 70. The roadway was reopened on April 25, 2010, with some remaining limitations on westbound traffic. On December 23, 1988, a tanker truck hauling liquefied propane overturned on a ramp in the interchange between I-40 and I-240 in the Midtown neighborhood of Memphis, rupturing a small hole in the front of
18216-664: Was dropped at the time. Interstate Highway System [REDACTED] The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways , commonly known as the Interstate Highway System , or the Eisenhower Interstate System , is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States . The system extends throughout the contiguous United States and has routes in Hawaii , Alaska , and Puerto Rico . In
18354-541: Was employed ahead of Hurricane Charley in the Tampa, Florida area and on the Gulf Coast before the landfall of Hurricane Ivan ; however, evacuation times there were no better than previous evacuation operations. Engineers began to apply lessons learned from the analysis of prior contraflow operations, including limiting exits, removing troopers (to keep traffic flowing instead of having drivers stop for directions), and improving
18492-582: Was initially planned to be located at I-85 in Greensboro, but the Federal Highway Administration later approved extending the route to its current eastern terminus in Wilmington. As a result, this was the last segment of I-40 to be completed upon its dedication in 1990. I-40 is the third-longest freeway in the United States, spanning 2,556.61 miles (4,114.46 km) across the southern half of
18630-422: Was proclaimed complete in 1992, but two of the original Interstates— I-95 and I-70 —were not continuous: both of these discontinuities were due to local opposition, which blocked efforts to build the necessary connections to fully complete the system. I-95 was made a continuous freeway in 2018, and thus I-70 remains the only original Interstate with a discontinuity. I-95 was discontinuous in New Jersey because of
18768-514: Was relocated and replaced with a new wider alignment in two phases between May 2002 and October 2012. The old alignment was replaced with Oklahoma City Boulevard , and at-grade thoroughfare. In Memphis, the cancellation of the Overton Park stretch of I-240, along with increased traffic volumes and safety hazards, rendered both interchanges with I-240 unable to effectively handle unplanned traffic patterns, thus necessitating their reconstruction. This
18906-488: Was seen near North Carolina's border with Tennessee, where a large portion of the highway was washed into the Pigeon River following a mudslide, resulting in it being indefinitely closed in both directions. On November 5, it was announced that the highway could reopen as early as the beginning of the 2025. In Oklahoma City, the designation I-440 had been given to a stretch of Interstate Highway from I-240 to US 66. It
19044-494: Was serving as Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe during World War II . In 1954, Eisenhower appointed General Lucius D. Clay to head a committee charged with proposing an interstate highway system plan. Summing up motivations for the construction of such a system, Clay stated, It was evident we needed better highways. We needed them for safety, to accommodate more automobiles. We needed them for defense purposes, if that should ever be necessary. And we needed them for
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