WisDOT officials celebrate 60th anniversary of interstate system

In celebration of the 60th anniversary of the U.S. Interstate highway system, Wisconsin Department of Transportation officials recently highlighted some of the system’s contributions to the the state.

Wisconsin has 876 miles of interstate, accounting for less than 1 percent of its 115,000 miles of the state’s total roadway, according to a department news release. Those 876 miles, however, carry more than 17 percent of the state’s roughly 60 billion vehicle miles traveled each year.

WisDOT officials said nearly 70 percent of the state’s distribution centers and warehouses, as well as 40 percent of its industrial parks are within five miles of an interstate corridor.

The interstate system was born on June 29, 1956 after President Dwight Eisenhower signed the Federal Aid Highway Act, which authorized the construction of a 41,000-mile national highway system. Since then, the system has increased to about 47,000 miles, according to WisDOT.

Most of Wisconsin’s interstate network was built between 1959 and 1969, beginning with a 7-mile segment of Interstate 94 in southwest Wisconsin.

The most recent addition to the state’s interstate system is Interstate 41 between Green Bay and the Wisconsin-Illinois border. The roadway, formerly known as Wisconsin Highway 41, was added to the interstate system in 2015.