On Sep 25, 2005, at 11:52 AM, PAT MATHEWS wrote:
From: "Gary Nunn" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
My question is this: why didn't they require standards that would
allow current highway infrastructure to be used in time of war?
As I recall, they were. Back in 1952. It's been over 50 years since.
The "Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense
Highways", AKA the Interstate Highway System, was authorized by the
"Federal- Aid Highway Act of 1956".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_Highways
From that article, under the heading "Dual purpose design":
In addition to being designed to support automobile and heavy
truck traffic, interstate highways are also designed for use in
military and civil defense operations within the United States,
particularly troop movements.
One potential civil defense use of the Interstate highway system
is for the emergency evacuation of cities in the event of a
potential nuclear war. Although this use has never happened, the
Interstate Highway System has been used to facilitate
evacuations in the face of hurricanes and other natural
disasters. An option for maximizing throughput is to reverse the
flow of traffic on one side so that all lanes become outbound
lanes. Several Interstates in the South U.S., including I-16 in
Georgia, I-40 in North Carolina, I-65 in Alabama, and I-10 in
Louisiana, are equipped and signed for reverse flow, with
crossovers inland after major interchanges to distribute much of
the traffic. This is however not limited to Interstates; State
Road 528 has the same setup in central Florida.
A widespread but false urban legend states 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.[2] However, the Germans in World War II used the
Autobahns for just such a purpose.
Interesting that this description specifically covered the business
of contraflowing the freeways to increase outbound traffic flow...
Dave "2 years younger than the interstates" Land
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