The federal interstate highway system

The federal interstate highway system is so much a part of our lives and has been for so many years that it is hard to imagine a time in America when long- distance car and truck travel was limited to two-lane roads. Before the interstate, car travel and commercial truck transportation was painfully slow and fairly dangerous. Accidents at crossroads were frequent. Innumerable access points to and from businesses, schools, and homes continually disrupted the flow of traffic.

Congestion increased in population centers, where stoplights and stop signs were common. Legislation for a new federal transportation system of limited-access multilane highways was proposed by Republican president Dwight Eisenhower and passed by Congress in 1956. Planned construction was completed in the early 1980s, but more miles of interstate have been added each year since. Today the length of the U.S. interstate system is nearly 48,000 miles and it carries about one-fourth of all traffic in the United States.

The system is funded by a tax of 18.4 cents per gallon on gasoline-unchanged since 1993-with most outlays paying for maintenance and repair. Now construct a brief argument for or against this proposition: The federal government should not provide funds to support large infrastructure projects, such as the construction and expansion of interstate highways.