Highway See

Almost 100,000 miles of roads and interstate highways span across the state of Tennessee. Today, it’s easy to take for granted the system that connects rural and urban communities to each other and the rest of America. But 200 years ago, almost none of that existed. Highway See gives an indepth look at how roads in Tennessee came to be, starting with the collective drive of citizens and public officials to better the lives of everyone in the state.

Show Notes

Highway See is brought to you by the Tennessee Infrastructure Alliance, which advocates for sustainable funding for road-building and other infrastructure needs in the state. TIA works with public and private interests to promote “safety, mobility, economic competitiveness, and overall quality of life” through well thought out infrastructure projects.

In this episode, host Chris Hill explains the factors of how Tennessee roads came to be.
  • The evolution of roads: from Native people’s footpaths and wildlife’s buffalo traces, to wagon trails and eventually paved interstate highways.
  • The evolution of roadbuilding: from “road-making bees” enlisting rural men and women with pick axes to a more industrial and bureaucratic system complete with federal environmental standards. 
  • Economic drivers for roadbuilding, including agricultural transport that demanded farm to port access. 
  • President Eisenhower's Federal Highway Act of 1956, which was the first major impetus to get federal money to states to build an interstate system across the country.
  • How roads are paid for in Tennessee through a “pay as you go” system of taxes.

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What is Highway See?

How did we get our roads? What prompted their creation? What effort goes into maintaining them? This is Highway See. In every episode, we’ll answer those questions and get you to “see” Tennessee’s highway system for the engineering marvel that it is. Subscribe now, and we’ll see you on the highway!