1.
Massachusetts Department of Transportation
–
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation oversees roads, public transit, aeronautics, and transportation licensing and registration in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It was created on November 1,2009, as an executive department, the Governor of Massachusetts appoints the state Secretary of Transportation, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of the Department. The governor also appoints a five-person Board of Directors which approves major decisions, the Department directly administers some operations, while others remain semi-autonomous. Made up of the former state entities MassHighway and the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority Interstate Highways, state highways, toll bridges and tunnels, the Tobin Bridge, Sumner Tunnel, Callahan Tunnel, and Ted Williams Tunnel. It is the equivalent of the Department of Motor Vehicles in most states, all public transportation agencies are administered independently. However, the DOT Board of Directors is also the Board of Directors for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, the remaining 15 public transit authorities are called Regional Transit Agencies, and they provide public bus services in the remainder of the state. DOT retains oversight and statewide planning authority, and also has a Rail section within the Mass Transit Division, intercity passenger trains are operated by the federally owned Amtrak, and freight rail is privately operated. MassDOT is a member of the Northeast Corridor Commission, the Department of Transportation does not own any airports, the state-owned airports are controlled by the independent Massachusetts Port Authority. Government regulation of aviation in the United States is dominated by the Federal Aviation Administration, airline passenger and baggage screening is provided by the federal Transportation Security Administration, but airport security is provided locally. The Massachusetts Port Authority remains independent from the Department of Transportation, Massport owns and operates the maritime Port of Boston, Bostons Logan International Airport, Hanscom Field and Worcester Regional Airport, which was transferred from the City of Worcester in 2010. The Authority has a monopoly on car ferry service. In 2009, Governor Deval Patrick proposed merging all Massachusetts transportation agencies into a single Department of Transportation, legislation consolidating all of Massachusetts transportation agencies into one organization was signed into law on June 26,2009. The newly established Massachusetts Department of Transportation assumed operations from the conglomeration of state transportation agencies on November 1,2009. This change included, Merging the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority and MassHighway into the Highway Division, transferring the Tobin Bridge from Massport. Transferring ownership of bridges from the Department of Conservation and Recreation, merger of the MBTA Board of Directors into the DOT Board of Directors. Removal of the veto from the MBTA Advisory Board. Local cities and towns also receive vehicle excise tax revenues, both state and municipal agencies can levy fines for parking and traffic violations. Transportation is thus a net recipient of state funds
2.
Interstate 93
–
Interstate 93 is an Interstate Highway in the New England region of the United States. It begins in Canton, Massachusetts, in the Boston metropolitan area, at I-95 and it is one of three mainline Interstate highways located entirely in New England, the other two being I-89 and I-91. The largest cities along its route are Manchester, New Hampshire and Boston and it also passes through the New Hampshire state capital of Concord. For most of its length, I-93 indirectly parallels U. S. Route 3, particularly in New Hampshire, the two highways have several interchanges with each other, as well as a concurrency through Franconia Notch State Park. I-93 follows the Southeast Expressway south of downtown Boston and the Northern Expressway from Boston to the New Hampshire state line, Interstate 93s southern terminus is at exit 12 of I-95 in Canton, co-signed with U. S. Route 1 North. At this junction, I-95 North heads to the northwest, to serve as the beltway around Boston, the southernmost 3 miles of I-93 run east through Bostons southern suburbs, passing through Canton and Randolph. In Randolph, I-93 meets the end of Route 24 at Exit 4. I-93 continues east into Braintree, interchanging with Route 3, the freeway linking Boston to Cape Cod. Route 3 North joins I-93 and US-1, and the highway north toward Boston. Upon turning northward, the highway is known as the Southeast Expressway passing through Quincy, after the Massachusetts Avenue connector exit, the highway officially becomes the John F. Fitzgerald Expressway, which is also known as the Central Artery, and passes beneath downtown Boston. A major intersection with the Massachusetts Turnpike/Interstate 90 takes place just south of downtown Boston, after the massive interchange, motorists use the Thomas P. ONeill Jr. Tunnel to travel underneath the city and then use Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge to cross the Charles River. Two exits are located in the tunnel, where the limit is 45 miles an hour. Route 3 leaves the Artery just before the Zakim bridge via Exit 26, from Boston through the rest of Massachusetts, Concord, NH appears as the control city on northbound overhead signs. The Artery ends as I-93 continues north out of the city, I-93 continues through the northern suburbs of Boston, coming in Woburn to a second intersection with Interstate 95 and Route 128, which run in a concurrency. Travelers going north can either change over to I-95 north to eventually reach Maine, farther north, in Andover, I-93 meets I-495, providing access to Worcester to the southwest and New Hampshires seacoast region to the northeast. Just south of the line, I-93 crosses the Merrimack River into Methuen. Prior to August 2016, the Route 110 and 113 junction beneath I-93 was a rotary, work began in July 2014 on the project, and with the rotary now closed, demolition of the rotary will be underway in late 2016. The full project is scheduled for completion in June 2018, I-93 then interchanges with the western end of Route 213, a connector between I-93 and I-495
3.
U.S. Route 1 in Massachusetts
–
In the U. S. state of Massachusetts, U. S. Route 1 is a major north–south highway through Boston. US1 enters the state from Rhode Island at Attleboro and it closely parallels Interstate 95 as it goes through the towns of North Attleborough, Plainville, Wrentham, Foxborough, Walpole, Sharon, Norwood, and Westwood. US1 then has a concurrency with I-95 up to the junction with Interstate 93 then travels along with Interstate 93 from Canton through downtown Boston. The two highways separate just after passing through the Thomas P. ONeill Jr. Tunnel and crossing the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge. The route crosses the Tobin Bridge traveling over Chelsea and Revere as the Northeast Expressway, then as a four to six lane RIRO expressway through Malden, Saugus, Route 1A runs alongside Route 1 in four parts of the state. Route 1 in Massachusetts was constructed in sections throughout the 1930s, partly by widening existing roads, originally most of the highway was two or three lanes in each direction, with numerous widening and improvements made over the years. Most of US1 consists of two turnpike roads — the Norfolk and Bristol Turnpike and the Newburyport Turnpike. The older roads that these turnpikes were meant to bypass are now mostly Route 1A, in the early 1930s, Route C1 was designated as an alternate route of US1 through downtown Boston. The C indicated a city route, the C designation was apparently distinct to the Boston area. Route C1 ran along Brookline Avenue, Beacon Street, Embankment Road, Charles Street, Lowell Street, Merrimac Street, in East Boston, it went via Porter Street to Chelsea Street then shifted to the William McClellan Highway. As Storrow Drive and the Central Artery opened in the 1950s, the Route C1 designation was removed in 1971, with US1 taking over most of the alignment south of the Charles River, and Route 1A taking over most of the alignment north of the river. US1 was later moved onto the Southeast Expressway leaving most of the alignment of C1 south of the river as having no number. The Northeast Expressway was planned to extend north from Saugus, through Lynn, Lynnfield, the highway would bisect the Saugus Marsh and the Lynn Woods Reservation. The highway would connect with the present junction of I-95. The Northeast Expressway was planned to carry the I-95 designation from Charlestown to Peabody, the first section of the expressway built was the Tobin Bridge over the Mystic River, which opened in 1948. In various stages, the Chelsea and Revere portions opened from 1956 to 1958, the highway carried the I-95 designation from 1955 to 1973. It was among the canceled highways affected by Gov. Francis Sargents February 1970 moratorium on construction within Route 128. US1 replaced I-95 on the Northeast Expressway, in the 1970s after I-95 joined Route 128 from Westwood to Peabody around Boston, the project consisted of adding a twelve-foot travel lane and ten-foot shoulder in each direction
4.
Massachusetts Route 3
–
Route 3 is a southward continuation of U. S. Route 3, connecting Cambridge, Massachusetts with Cape Cod. All of it, except for the northernmost end in downtown Boston, the section from Boston to Braintree is also marked as Interstate 93 and U. S. Route 1 and is known in downtown Boston as the Central Artery, and south of downtown as the Southeast Expressway. In Braintree, I-93 and US1 split to follow the Yankee Division Highway to Interstate 95 and this section extends to a junction with U. S. Route 6 in Sagamore, just before the Sagamore Bridge over the Cape Cod Canal where Route 3 originally ended at rotary. Replacement of this rotary with a flyover interchange was completed in November 2006. Because Route 3 and U. S. Route 3 are treated as the route by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. Route 3 can be said to have three segments, the Pilgrims Highway, its concurrency with Interstate 93, and its route after leaving I-93 in Boston and Cambridge. Pilgrims Highway is the part of Route 3 that stretches from the intersection with US6 in Bourne to the junction with Interstate 93 in Braintree, Route 3 runs concurrently with Interstate 93 and U. S. Route 1 from Exit 7 in Braintree to Exit 26 in Boston. Route 3 exits I-93 at Exit 26, passes through Leverett Circle and it is on Memorial Drive that the designation changes to U. S. Route 3, which continues northward toward New Hampshire. Route 3 began as a new designation for New England Highway 6 in 1927 when the U. S. Highway system was created and New England highway Route 3 was chosen to be US6. The former NE6 then took the route 3 number with U. S. Route 3 designated north of its intersection with U. S. Route 1 and Massachusetts Route 3 to the south. Before the road was rerouted, the road continued over the Cape Cod Canal via the Sagamore Bridge to the Bourne Rotary, to the south of the Bourne Bridge. The Plimoth Plantation Highway, a expressway that connects Route 3 with Route 3A, was once signed as Route 3 before the southernmost portion of the freeway to Cape Cod was finished. The first section of the Pilgrims Highway was built as a bypass of Plymouth in the early 1950s, the mid-1950s saw an extension of this bypass route south to the Sagamore Bridge and north to Kingston. The northern section of the highway was built next with a connection from Derby Street in Hingham to the Southeast Expressway opening in 1959, finally the last sections between Hingham and Duxbury were completed by 1963 when the Route 3 designation was moved onto the completed freeway. The former Route 3 highways became Route 3A in Quincy and from Kingston south, Route 3 was connected to the Southeast Expressway in Milton by using Granite Avenue as a link from Gallivan Boulevard. Until around 1965, the portion of the Pilgrims Highway, from current Exit 15 in Hingham, was also signed as Route 128. However, by 1966 the 128 designation was removed past its intersection with Route 3 in Braintree, Route 3 was then taken off its remaining pathway along surface streets in Boston and extended up the Southeast Expressway and Central Artery in 1971 to the Storrow Drive exit. The routing of Route 3 has changed little since that time, a re-signing project from 2006 to 2009 changed exit 20 to exit 20A for I-93 south and exit 20B for I-93 north
5.
Boston
–
Boston is the capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. Boston is also the seat of Suffolk County, although the county government was disbanded on July 1,1999. The city proper covers 48 square miles with a population of 667,137 in 2015, making it the largest city in New England. Alternately, as a Combined Statistical Area, this wider commuting region is home to some 8.1 million people, One of the oldest cities in the United States, Boston was founded on the Shawmut Peninsula in 1630 by Puritan settlers from England. It was the scene of several key events of the American Revolution, such as the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, the Battle of Bunker Hill, and the Siege of Boston. Upon U. S. independence from Great Britain, it continued to be an important port and manufacturing hub as well as a center for education, through land reclamation and municipal annexation, Boston has expanded beyond the original peninsula. Its rich history attracts many tourists, with Faneuil Hall alone drawing over 20 million visitors per year, Bostons many firsts include the United States first public school, Boston Latin School, first subway system, the Tremont Street Subway, and first public park, Boston Common. Bostons economic base also includes finance, professional and business services, biotechnology, information technology, the city has one of the highest costs of living in the United States as it has undergone gentrification, though it remains high on world livability rankings. Bostons early European settlers had first called the area Trimountaine but later renamed it Boston after Boston, Lincolnshire, England, the renaming on September 7,1630 was by Puritan colonists from England who had moved over from Charlestown earlier that year in quest of fresh water. Their settlement was limited to the Shawmut Peninsula, at that time surrounded by the Massachusetts Bay and Charles River. The peninsula is thought to have been inhabited as early as 5000 BC, in 1629, the Massachusetts Bay Colonys first governor John Winthrop led the signing of the Cambridge Agreement, a key founding document of the city. Puritan ethics and their focus on education influenced its early history, over the next 130 years, the city participated in four French and Indian Wars, until the British defeated the French and their Indian allies in North America. Boston was the largest town in British America until Philadelphia grew larger in the mid-18th century, Bostons harbor activity was significantly curtailed by the Embargo Act of 1807 and the War of 1812. Foreign trade returned after these hostilities, but Bostons merchants had found alternatives for their investments in the interim. Manufacturing became an important component of the economy, and the citys industrial manufacturing overtook international trade in economic importance by the mid-19th century. Boston remained one of the nations largest manufacturing centers until the early 20th century, a network of small rivers bordering the city and connecting it to the surrounding region facilitated shipment of goods and led to a proliferation of mills and factories. Later, a network of railroads furthered the regions industry. Boston was a port of the Atlantic triangular slave trade in the New England colonies
6.
Massachusetts Turnpike
–
The Massachusetts Turnpike is a toll road in Massachusetts, maintained by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. The turnpike traverses the state, and connects Boston with the cities of Springfield. Construction of the Massachusetts Turnpike began in 1955, and was opened in 1957 and it originally travelled from the western border of Massachusetts, near Route 102, across the state until its interchange with Route 128 in Weston. The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, the agency that maintained the highway. This contributed to the formation of MassDOT in 2009, which consolidated state transportation agencies into a single entity. Further, the implementation and removal of tolls in some stretches of the turnpike have been controversial in their own right, presently, the Fast Lane electronic toll collection system was introduced alongside cash payment in 1998, it was later folded into the E-ZPass branding in 2012. The Massachusetts Turnpike is the major east-west highway in Massachusetts, connecting three of its cities, Springfield, Worcester, and Boston. It is also the easternmost portion of Interstate 90, the roadway terminates in East Boston at Route 1A, just outside Logan International Airport. Between the New York border and the I-84 junction, the roadway is a divided highway. Between I-84 and exit 17 in Newton, it is a divided highway which grows to eight lanes between the Newton and Copley exits where it drops back to six lanes. It stays as a six lane roadway until the Ted Williams Tunnel where it drops back to four lanes until the exit of the tunnel in East Boston. The highest point on the Turnpike is in the Town of Becket in the Berkshire Hills, at elevation 1,724 feet above sea level, plans for the Turnpike date back to at least 1948, when the Western Expressway was being planned. The original section would have connected Bostons then-proposed Inner Belt to Newton with connections with US20, later extensions would take the road to and beyond Worcester. From the beginning, the corridor was included in plans for the Interstate Highway System, stretching west to the New York state line. Also included in the route was the planned Springfield Bypass, which had proposed to provide a bypass of US20 in the Springfield area. Part of this used the grading from the never-opened Hampden Railroad. The enabling act was modeled upon that of the Mystic River Bridge Authority, Callahan served as chairman of the Authority until his death in April 1964. Construction began in 1955, and the whole road from Route 102 at the state line to Route 128 opened on May 15,1957
7.
Massachusetts Route 28
–
Route 28 is a nominally south–north route and highway in the U. S. state of Massachusetts, running from the town of Eastham via Boston to the New Hampshire state line in Methuen. Following the route from its southern end, Route 28 initially heads south to the town of Chatham then turns west to follow along the south shore of Cape Cod. In Falmouth, Route 28 turns north and continues through the western reaches of Plymouth and Norfolk counties and it then cuts through downtown Boston before heading north via Lawrence to the New Hampshire state line, where it continues as New Hampshire Route 28. Coincidentally, Route 28 travels through 28 municipalities, the original form of Route 28 was as a New England interstate route established in 1922 to run from Buzzards Bay to New Hampshire. The route itself was overlaid on several early turnpike roads constructed in the early 19th century, except for an extension into Cape Cod in 1926, the overall highway layout and routing is largely unchanged from its original design. Route 28 has been realigned in places when newer, higher quality roads were built. At a length of nearly 152 miles, Route 28 is the longest state-numbered highway in Massachusetts, Route 28 is supplanted by interstate highways throughout most of the state, and is used mainly as a secondary and local highway. Throughout Cape Cod, particularly in Hyannis and Yarmouth, it passes through heavy development and is the navigation route along the south side of the Cape. This causes congestion and gridlock, especially during the summer months, the dense development makes future plans to widen the highway difficult or impossible. Route 28 is a mostly an undivided highway, with several divided. The south end of Route 28 is at the Orleans Rotary just north of the Orleans-Eastham town line, northbound Route 28 initially heads south towards the town of Chatham before turning west to run along the south shore of Cape Cod until Falmouth. From there, Route 28 turns north, running for miles along a freeway. Route 28 crosses the Cape Cod Canal via the Bourne Bridge, North of Wareham, Route 28 heads north towards Boston passing through the southern suburbs of the city, including Middleborough, Bridgewater, Brockton, and Randolph. After crossing Interstate 93, Route 28 then goes through the Blue Hills Reservation and Milton before crossing into Boston over the Neponset River. In Boston proper, northbound Route 28 uses Columbus Avenue, Stuart Street, Charles Street South, at the junction with the Longfellow Bridge, Route 28 is joined briefly by Route 3 on a wrong-way concurrency until the Charles River Dam Bridge. Route 28 crosses the Charles River on the Charles River Dam Bridge into Cambridge, after crossing the river, Route 28 runs along the six-lane divided highway known as Monsignor OBrien Highway and McGrath Highway to connect to the Fellsway. The four-lane Fellsway crosses the Mystic River into Medford, Route 28A is a 7. 98-mile alternate route running from Falmouth in the south to the village of Pocasset in the north. Route 28A parallels the section of Route 28 in the Upper Cape, providing a scenic alternative for travelers
8.
Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge
–
The Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge across the Charles River in Boston, Massachusetts. It is a replacement for the Charlestown High Bridge, a truss bridge constructed in the 1950s. S. Route 1 concurrency between the Thomas P, tip ONeill Jr. Tunnel and the elevated highway to the north. Two additional lanes are cantilevered outside the cables, which northbound traffic from the Sumner Tunnel. These lanes merge with the highway north of the bridge. The bridge and connecting tunnel were built as part of the Big Dig, the northbound lanes were finished in March 2003, and the southbound lanes in December. The bridges unique styling quickly became an icon for Boston, often featured in the backdrop of news channels, to establish location. The bridge is referred to as the Zakim Bridge or Bunker Hill Bridge by residents of nearby Charlestown. The Leverett Circle Connector Bridge was constructed in conjunction with the Zakim Bridge, in a cable-stayed bridge, instead of hanging the roadbed from cables slung between towers, the cables run directly between the roadbed and the towers. Although cable-stayed bridges have been common in Europe since World War II, the bridge concept was developed by Swiss civil engineer Christian Menn and its design was engineered by American civil engineer Ruchu Hsu with Parsons Brinckerhoff. Wallace Floyd Associates, sub-consultants to Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff, was the lead architect/urban designer, the engineer of record is HNTB/FIGG. The lead designers were Theodore Zoli and W. Denney Pate, the bridge follows a new design in which, besides having its eight primary lanes running through the towers, a pair of northbound lanes are cantilevered outside of the cable-stays. The 1975-built MBTA Orange Lines Haymarket North Extension tunnel lies beneath the bridge, the bridges full name commemorates Boston civic leader and civil rights activist Leonard P. Zakim who championed building bridges between peoples, and the Battle of Bunker Hill. Originally, Massachusetts Governor A. Paul Cellucci sought to name it the Freedom Bridge, in 2000, however, local clergy and religious leaders, including Cardinal Bernard Francis Law, requested the Zakim name shortly after Zakims death from myeloma. Allegations of antisemitism were leveled against members of the white, Irish Catholic community as reasons for resistance to the Zakim name. Several local neo-Nazis also complained about the honor for Zakim and launched a petition drive to drop his name from the Bunker Hill one. Eventually a compromise between the Boston City Council, the Massachusetts State Legislature and community activists brought about the current name, as with the Hoover Dam, different communities call the bridge by different colloquial names. Many people in the Charlestown area refer to it as the Bunker Hill Bridge, while most, including the press and traffic monitoring services
9.
Charlestown, Boston
–
Charlestown is the oldest neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Originally called Mishawum by the Massachusett, it is located on a north of the Charles River, across from downtown Boston. Charlestown was laid out in 1629 by engineer Thomas Graves, one of its early settlers and it was originally a separate town and the first capital of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Charlestown became a city in 1848 and was annexed by Boston on January 5,1874, with that, it also switched from Middlesex County, to which it had belonged since 1643, to Suffolk County. It has had a substantial Irish American population since the migration of Irish people during the Great Irish Famine of the 1840s, since the late 1980s the neighborhood has changed dramatically because of its proximity to downtown and its colonial architecture. In the 21st century, Charlestowns diversity has expanded dramatically, along with growing rates of the very poor, today Charlestown is a largely residential neighborhood, with much housing near the waterfront, overlooking the Boston skyline. Charlestown is home to historic sites, hospitals and organizations. Thomas and Jane Walford were the original English settlers of the peninsula between the Charles and the Mystic and they were given a grant by Sir Robert Gorges, with whom they had settled at Wessagusset in September 1623 and arrived at what they called Mishawaum in 1624. John Endicott, first governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony, sent William, Richard, Thomas Walford, acting as an interpreter with the Massachusetts Indians, negotiated with the local sachem Wonohaquaham for Endicott and his people to settle there. John Winthrops company stopped here for time in 1630, before deciding to settle across the Charles River at Boston. The territory of Charlestown was initially quite large, from it, Woburn was separated in 1642, Melrose and Malden in 1649, Stoneham in 1725, and Somerville in 1842. Everett, Burlington, Medford, Arlington and Cambridge also acquired areas originally allocated to Charlestown, on June 17,1775, the Charlestown Peninsula was the site of the Battle of Bunker Hill, named for a hill at the northwest end of the peninsula near Charlestown Neck. British troops unloaded at Moulton’s Point and much of the battle took place on Breeds Hill, the town, including its wharves and dockyards, was almost completely destroyed during the battle by the British. The town was not appreciably rebuilt until the end of hostilities but, in 1786, an 87-acre Navy Yard was established in 1800, Charlestown State Prison opened in 1805. The Bunker Hill Monument was erected between 1827 and 1843 using Quincy granite brought to the site by a combination of purpose-built railway, notable businesses included the Bunker Hill Breweries and Schraffts candy company. Around the 1860s an influx of Irish immigrants arrived in Charlestown, following the war, the city commissioned Martin Milmore to construct its civil war memorial, dedicated in 1872 and still standing in the communitys Training Field. Out of its 32,040 residents,2240 voted in support of the merger and 1947 opposed, Boston residents also approved the question,5, 960–1,868. Charlestowns separate city government was dissolved the next year, during the early 1960s, the city initiated plans to demolish and redevelop sixty percent of the housing in Charlestown
10.
Interstate Highway System
–
The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways is a network of controlled-access highways that forms a part of the National Highway System of the United States. The system is named for President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who championed its formation, construction was authorized by the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956, and the original portion was completed 35 years later, although some urban routes were cancelled and never built. The network has since been extended and, as of 2013, as of 2013, about one-quarter of all vehicle miles driven in the country use the Interstate system. In 2006, the cost of construction was estimated at about $425 billion, the nations revenue needs associated with World War I prevented any significant implementation of this policy, which expired in 1921. In the plan, Mehren proposed a 50, 000-mile system, the system would include two percent of all roads and would pass through every state at a cost of $25,000 per mile, providing commercial as well as military transport benefits. As the landmark 1916 law expired, new legislation was passed—the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1921 and this new road construction initiative once again provided for federal matching funds for road construction and improvement, $75 million allocated annually. The Bureau of Public Roads asked the Army to provide a list of roads that it considered necessary for national defense. A boom in construction followed throughout the decade of the 1920s. As automobile traffic increased, planners saw a need for such a national system to supplement the existing, largely non-freeway. 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. He recognized that the system would also provide key ground transport routes for military supplies. The publication in 1955 of the General Location of National System of Interstate Highways, informally known as the Yellow Book, 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. The Interstate Highway System was authorized on June 29,1956 by the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956, popularly known as the National Interstate, three states have claimed the title of first Interstate Highway. Missouri claims that 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, Missouri awarded the first contract based on new Interstate Highway funding, kansas claims that it was the first to start paving after the act was signed. Preliminary construction had taken place before the act was signed, 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, on October 1,1940,162 miles of 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, October 12,1979, The final section of the Canada to Mexico freeway Interstate 5 is dedicated near Stockton, California
I‑93 / US 1 / Route 3
I‑90 (Mass Pike) in Boston
Route 3 / Route 28 in Boston
Route 1A north – Logan Airport
