Texas, Nation Celebrate Interstate's 50th Anniversary

This month marks the official golden anniversary of the signing of the Federal Aid Highway Act on June 29, 1956. Coast-to-coast activities commemorating the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Interstate Highway System include the First Annual Texas Transportation Forum.

Congress Commemorates Intestate's 50th Anniversary

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta cuts the ribbon to launch the 50th Anniversary of the Interstate celebration earlier this year. Left to right: Gary Ridley, director, Oklahoma DOT; Gloria Jeff, director, Michigan DOT; Robert Skinner, executive director, Transportation Research Board; U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta; John Horsley, executive director, AASHTO; and Peter Ruane, president and CEO, American Road and Transportation Builders Association. (Photo courtesy of AAA.)

The U.S. Senate has passed a commemorative resolution recognizing the 50th Anniversary of the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways.

June 29 marks the day President Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, which created the pay-as-you-go financing system for the Highway Trust Fund that provides funds for the Interstate system and other federal-state highway and transit projects.

The Senate resolution, No. 427, was introduced by Senator James Inhofe (R-OK), Chairman of the Committee on Environment and Public Works, and all the committee members. It was approved on the Senate floor on April 6.

In the House, Representative Don Young (R-AK), Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure committee, sponsored a similar concurrent resolution, No. 372. The measure will go to the full House this month.

In his floor remarks, Inhofe said: "The committee as a whole would like to mark the momentous achievements made over the last 50 years that have provided for revolutionary advances in our nation's vital infrastructure.

"The current challenges facing the Highway Trust Fund - and hence the highway program - will be very difficult to resolve and not unlike the challenges faced by the authors of the 1956 Act. It will be up to policymakers to be as visionary as they were 50 years ago. A new vision is needed in what the highway program will stand for in the next 50 years and how to pay for it."

The resolutions recognize the vital role the system has played in transporting people and goods to make the U.S. the world's leading free society and economy. The resolution also recognizes the state transportation departments, private contractors, engineers, workers and the Federal Highway Administration who built and maintain the system, as well as encourages governments and educational institutions to participate in the 50th anniversary celebrations.

For more information on national and state celebratory events log on to: interstate50th.org.

First Texas Transportation Forum Celebrates Interstate 50th Anniversary

Texas Governor Rick Perry will give the keynote address at the first annual Texas Transportation Forum, and Norman Y. Mineta, secretary of the United States Department of Transportation, will be the headline speaker an awards luncheon.

The Texas Department of Transportation, the Associated General Contractors of Texas, the Texas Good Roads Transportation Association and the Texas Transportation Institute are co-hosting the first annual event in celebration of the Interstate Highway System's 50th anniversary.

The two-day event in Austin June 8 and 9 will celebrate the anniversary while looking ahead to the challenges of the next half century. The event brings together local government partners and the private sector to discuss a wide range of transportation issues.

The forum will provide opportunities for networking and a comprehensive look at the bold strategies that will lead Texas into a new era of infrastructure delivery. In addition to TxDOT's top leaders, distinguished scheduled speakers include: economist Ray Perryman of Waco-based The Perryman Group; Jack Schenendorf of the Commission on the Future of the Highway System; Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams; Texas State Senator John Carona (R-Dallas), chairman of the Senate Committee on Transportation and Homeland Security; Joe Krier of the Texas Study Commission on Transportation Financing; Steve Massie, Associated General Contractors of America, senior vice president; Eugene McCormick, American Road and Transportation Builders Association, president; and Harold Linnenkohl, American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, president.

The agenda includes an awards luncheon, a dinner and reception featuring Gov. Rick Perry as keynote speaker, and breakout sessions on everything from 'Regional Mobility Authorities' and 'The Future of Financing Transportation' to 'State and Federal Legislation' and 'Aviation Rail and Public Transportation.' Speakers scheduled for Thursday's panel, 'The Future of Road Building,' include Amadeo Saenz, assistant executive director for engineering operations, TxDOT; Zack Burkett of Zack Burkett Co.; Jim Andoga of Austin Bridge and Road; and Doug Pitcock of Williams Brothers Construction Co.

For registration and other information log on to dot.state.tx.us/ttf.