On 29-Jan-12 02:52, Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 00:28:59 on Sun, 29 Jan
2012, Stephen Sprunk remarked:
At least originally, the "free" in "freeway" referred to traffic moving
freely, not the cost.

But presumably the "park" in "parkway" doesn't imply a constant traffic
holdup

No, it implies that the roadway goes through a park-like area, i.e.
there is nice scenery to look at while your car is stuck in traffic.

[One of my favorite USA-isms has always been how y'all park on the
driveway, and drive on the parkway]

A driveway is where you drive to get to the parking area, eg. a parking
lot or garage. Of course, if the parking lot/garage is missing and one
parks at the end of the driveway, its name doesn't change...

S

--
Stephen Sprunk "God does not play dice." --Albert Einstein
CCIE #3723 "God is an inveterate gambler, and He throws the
K5SSS dice at every possible opportunity." --Stephen Hawking

On 29-Jan-12 09:43, Graeme Wall wrote:
On 29/01/2012 14:37, Robert Neville wrote:
wrote:
I don;t see how that is possible, considering that neither of them are
on any contiguous territory with other parts of the United States.

Are there any underwater tunnels between islands in Hawai'i?

Even if there were, it wouldn't matter as it would still be one state.
And of course were talking about the Interstate Highway System...

Trivia question (no fair Googling the answer): What was the primary
justification/purpose of the Interstate Highway System?

Movement of troops? That's often the reason for improving transport
routes.

Movement of tanks. That is the origin of the clearance, lane width and
bridge-strength requirements--and in turn limits the height, width and
weight of new US tanks.

When Eisenhower finally fought his way to the German border, he loved
how easy it was to finish the war because the Autobahns made it so fast
and easy to move the army from place to place for battles. So, when he
returned home, making it similarly easy to invade the US was one of his
top priorities.

FWIW, the full name is the "Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of
Interstate and Defense Highways".

S

--
Stephen Sprunk "God does not play dice." --Albert Einstein
CCIE #3723 "God is an inveterate gambler, and He throws the
K5SSS dice at every possible opportunity." --Stephen Hawking

Trivia question (no fair Googling the answer): What was the primary
justification/purpose of the Interstate Highway System?

Military, like the German Autobahns


--
Cheers.

Roger Traviss


Photos of the late HO scale GER: -

http://www.greateasternrailway.com

For more photos not in the above album and kitbashes etc..:-
http://s94.photobucket.com/albums/l9...Great_Eastern/

Roland Perry wrote:

Then there are airports such as "Gary/Chicago International" which as
well as having no scheduled flights at all currently, never did have any
customs and immigration facilities.

I expect we could find some trains which are actually buses (all the
time, not just when disrupted) - we have them in UK too.

We have Rockford International Airport, too: The Concorde landed there once.

Roger Traviss wrote:

But presumably the "park" in "parkway" doesn't imply a constant traffic
holdup

[One of my favorite USA-isms has always been how y'all park on the
driveway, and drive on the parkway]

And how they have "Interstate" Highways in Hawaii and Alaska.

There are interstate highways that serve significant peninsulas, never
crossing a state line, in Michigan and Florida.

Movement of tanks.

The DOT's interstate highway web site disagrees with you. Eisenhower
was certainly a big supporter, having seen how well Hitler's autobahns
worked, but the origins of the plan bo back to 1939 and it was
partially authorized by 1947:

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/interstate/interstatemyths.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interst...ystem#Planning

Don't forget that Interstate-style highways were hardly unknown in
1956. The PA Turnpike was authorized in 1937 and parts were open in
1940 (with no speed limit, descreased to 70 mph in 1941, wheee.) The
NJ Turnpike was authorized in 1948 and opened in 1952. The NY Thruway
was authorized in 1950 and opened in 1954.

They also disconfirm the myth about straight places to be used as runways.

R's,
John

Robert Neville wrote:
" wrote:

I don;t see how that is possible, considering that neither of them are
on any contiguous territory with other parts of the United States.

Are there any underwater tunnels between islands in Hawai'i?

Even if there were, it wouldn't matter as it would still be one state. And of
course were talking about the Interstate Highway System...

Trivia question (no fair Googling the answer): What was the primary
justification/purpose of the Interstate Highway System?

Those of you who answered movement of military troops within the
continental United States are good on the justification but wrong on
the purpose. It was the height of the Cold War. If you wanted to spend
humongous bucks on internal improvements, you called your program "defense".
The highway bill that authorized interstate highways even had the word
"defense" in its title.

It was never funded by military nor civil defense monies.

There were several reasons, among them, break the railroad monopoly on
freight and passenger transportation, another popular myth in America
where the Granger Movement never ended.

Eisenhower always claimed that he wanted interstates to go around
metropolitan areas and not through them, but major cities and metropolitan
counties had already constructed freeways before the federal highway
bill became law, so it's impossible to believe him. This is the same
guy whose farewell address lamented the power of the military-industrial
complex, even though his administration gave it its power during peacetime.

Why cities wanted them is bizarre, aside from the usual desire to spend
massive amounts of money. There was pent-up demand for suburbanization
and sprawl, which had started in earnest in the late '20's, coming to
a screaching halt with the start of the Great Depression. This took the
cork out of the bottle, resulting in dilapidated housing in cities not
being replaced as populations increased in metropolitan areas as a whole
but mainly at the fringes.

Whoops.

John Levine wrote:

Movement of tanks.

The DOT's interstate highway web site disagrees with you. Eisenhower
was certainly a big supporter, having seen how well Hitler's autobahns
worked, but the origins of the plan bo back to 1939 and it was
partially authorized by 1947:

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/interstate/interstatemyths.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interst...ystem#Planning

Don't forget that Interstate-style highways were hardly unknown in
1956. The PA Turnpike was authorized in 1937 and parts were open in
1940 (with no speed limit, descreased to 70 mph in 1941, wheee.) The
NJ Turnpike was authorized in 1948 and opened in 1952. The NY Thruway
was authorized in 1950 and opened in 1954.

They also disconfirm the myth about straight places to be used as runways.

I've got to agree with John Levine. By that time, Moses' boys were already
influential in the Bureau of Public Roads and other federal agencies that
became FHwA, and had been guiding federal policy for a long time.

Adam H. Kerman wrote:

The highway bill that authorized interstate highways even had the word
"defense" in its title.

Hm. According to the Web page John Levine pointed out, that highway
bill did not have the word "defense" in its title.

On 29/01/2012 14:37, Robert Neville wrote:
wrote:

I don;t see how that is possible, considering that neither of them are
on any contiguous territory with other parts of the United States.

Are there any underwater tunnels between islands in Hawai'i?

Even if there were, it wouldn't matter as it would still be one state. And of
course were talking about the Interstate Highway System...


I was incidentally asking about the underwater tunnels, as I know that
they have them in Iceland and Faroe Islands, the latter of which is an
archipelago of inhabited islands.

So, how do people in Hawai'i get to other islands without flying, then?
Are there ferries that carry cars or bridges of any sort?

Trivia question (no fair Googling the answer): What was the primary
justification/purpose of the Interstate Highway System?

Military. (Not Googled).