Interactive Site Highlights Blueprint for Action on Interstate Highway System

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has created an interactive web page centered around the findings of its Congressionally mandated report, "Renewing the National Commitment to the Interstate Highway System: A Foundation for the Future".

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and MedicineReleased in December 2018, the report found that the future of the U.S. Interstate Highway System is threatened by a persistent and growing backlog of structural and operational deficiencies and by various looming challenges, such as the progress of automated vehicles, developments in electric vehicles, and vulnerabilities due to climate change. It concluded that unless a commitment is made to remedy the system’s deficiencies and prepare for these oncoming challenges, there is a risk that the nation's interstates will become increasingly unreliable and congested, far more costly to maintain, less safe, incompatible with evolving technology, and vulnerable to the effects of extreme weather.

The report went on to call for a 20-year “blueprint for action,” which includes creating an “Interstate Highway System Renewal and Modernization Program,” increasing the federal fuel tax to help pay for it, and allowing tolls and per-mile-charges on more interstate routes.

The web page provides a quick overview of the challenges outlined within the report, featuring images, maps, graphs, downloadable graphics, videos and other content which visually highlights the issues the interstate highway system is facing, plus outlines the blueprint for action and its benefits. Links to the original report and additional resources, as well as committee meeting materials, are also provided.

Click here to access the web page. 

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