Interstate Highway System

(noun)

The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways (commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, Interstate Freeway System or the Interstate) is a network of limited-access roads, including freeways, highways, and expressways, forming part of the National Highway System of the United States.

Related Terms

Examples of Interstate Highway System in the following topics:

  • Suburbanization

    • Certain infrastructure changes encouraged families to leave urban areas for suburban ones, primarily the development of the Interstate Highway System and insurance policies favoring suburban areas.
    • Eisenhower launched an initiative to create federal highways to allow for expansion outside of urban areas.
    • Thus, the interstate highway project of the 1950s was developed with suburbanization in mind.

  • Shrinking Cities and Counter-Urbanization

    • Interstate Highway System was built and automobiles became affordable for middle class families.

  • Urban Decline

    • This trend became more permanent with the construction of the Interstate Highway System under President Dwight D.

  • Mapping the Earth

    • When giving directions, you usually use phrases like "100 yards east of the highway exit" -- defining places by how they relate to other places.
    • In most coordinate systems, the prime meridian passes through Greenwich, England.
    • Since latitude and longitude use the prime meridian and the equator as reference planes and do not use projections, 2-dimensional maps plotted in this system usually have a high degree of distance and shape distortion.

  • The Process of Urbanization

    • Suburbs grew dramatically in the 1950s when the U.S. interstate highway system was built, and automobiles became affordable for middle class families.