The Impact of Interstate Highways in Rural Areas

Interstate highways are a permanent and increasingly important feature of America’s rural landscape. Their impact on agriculture and rural living, which is already felt, w ill be greatly intensified in the next few years. Consider some of the overall dimensions of this new highway system. Of the 41,000 miles authorized, more than 35,000 miles are classed as rural. ( 1 ) * One-third of all counties in the United States w ill be crossed by one or more segments of the Interstate System. In Indiana, slightly less than 40 per cent of all counties w ill have some Interstate System mileage. Our studies indicate that right-of-way requirements for the new highways will take nearly a million acres of land which at the time of acquisition w ill be in farms. Some 75,000 farm operating units will give up part or all of their acreage for rights-of-way. If our crystal were a little clearer, we might estimate the number of interchanges that w ill be located in rural areas, the number of secondary roads that w ill be closed off, the tens of thousands of suburban houses that will rise in farm pastures, and the number of farmers who will commute to nonfarm jobs on interstate highways. But we have said enough to support the assertion that the building of the Interstate System will change dramatically both the face of the rural countryside and the lives of our 3^2 million farmers. The impact on rural America w ill be all the greater because inter­ state highways w ill be built to design standards scarcely dreamed of by rural highway builders ten years ago. The new roads will be w ide; they w ill be straight; they will frequently run on the bias; and access to them will be strictly controlled. For the highway user, the millennium