Of 1956. This is about 25 minutes. This is the American Dream of freedom on wheels. An automotive age traveling on timesaving superhighways, futuramas freeflowing channels of concrete and steel. But these wide lanes of reality actually measure out to just a few miles, scattered far apart, across the friendly face of our land. We have become the nation on wheels. With more motorized mobility than ever dreamed of before. Though we have the greatest highway system in all the world, it cannot carry the mounting traffic of our growing greatness. We are running out of roads. We did not dream big enough. Here is the problem. 3,300,000 miles of it, unimproved, improved, paved, superhighway, entry roads, small roadserhighway, country small city streets, big city , streets, state highways networking the nation. And here is the crisis, two thirds of the way is now obsolete. Worn out, inadequate in width, inferior in condition, capacity , and safety. Safety. Sure these were good sure these were good roads 30 years ago, when they were laid out, but nothing lasts forever. The waiting line forms on the right and at the head of the waiting line is your local highway engineer. Listen to what he thinks about our roads. All over the county, our farm to market roads are dying of old age, not anybodys fault, just a matter of time. Not enough money. Two keep them up and make the modern. Most were built in the 1920s. Along came the neglect of the war years, beat them up and broke them down. We have use them more and more ever since. What we need is to invest more money in new roads, instead of spending so much patching up worn out roads. Were not ones. Worn out ones. What do the people think who must use these roads . Asked the farmer. Sinkholes and wash boards, come every spring the bottom straw foul and the milk truck driver. We pay for roads, whether we have them or not. Only we pay more for them. Only we pay more for them when we dont have them. Dont have to have hard top, gravel is fine when it is treated to keep down the dust. All the gravel in the county cannot keep a road from caving in if it has not been graded proper for all weather wear. Wear and tear on equipment,waste equipment, waste of time. Soaks everybody from the farmers right up to the family budget. We are growing more crops, more people, growing more cars and trucks. Trouble is, we have not in growing enough more good roads. Your accident good roads. Your accident rate goes up to. Goes up too. Ask the school bus driver. Yep, you have to be careful driving the kids over these roads sharp curves, soft shoulders, narrow bridges, railroad crossings. Spring rains wash out these roads, winter frost rips them up, see you can count on no them up, so you can count on no school those days. Other times you do not know what to expect. Ask the smalltown merchant. Our town has a population of 4002, except on weekends. On friday night and saturday, congestion hits our main arteries like a heart attack, but customers pass us by. Us by if they cannot find a place to stop. What brings up store sales today is parking space. It is as important to volume as shelf space and display windows. The best investment a town could make, lots of parking. In small town and suburb and cities of all sizes, the situation is the same. All snarled up. The best investment has yet to be made. This is america. Every day it gets worse shopping. It is not just a matter of getting through the congestion, it is impossible to find a place to park. [music] what can i do . Morning and night, around the clock, the sound of our time keeps blasting for a way out of the bottle making. The bottlenecking. Three quarters of everything for American Families travels at some time on the backs of our 10 million trucks. And what are you planning for dinner, mother . Here it is, expensively bottlenecked. [whistling] hey, pal. Load and unload, buddy. Thats whats to do, like a bunch of sheep. With 54 with 54 million vehicles on our roads today, 50 more than before the war. By 1975, we will be driving 85 million. 5 00, usa. [horns honking] for the life of the traveling salesman, late for every appointment. [horn honking] will you stop honking, we aint going nowhere. This is agony alley. Morning rush, and evening wait. Fight your way home from work. You think you got it made. Good job, car nearly paid for. So you get a little home in the suburbs away from the city , smoke, out from the shadows of the factory, into the sun and clean air. Raise a few kids, flowers and vegetables. A big green coming through. But it backfired into a pipe dream. Exhaust pipe dream. Every night, it takes longer to get home. Wasting more time on gasoline. No wonder everybody is acting so nervous. What is a citizen going to do . What can a citizen do . What can a citizen do . To help find out, a better highways contest was recently conducted. Purpose, how to plan, and pay for the safe and adequate highways we need. Highway experts wrote essays, along with tens of thousands of others who already recognize the highway dilemma as one of our nations most critical problems. I am privileged to present the winner of the grand national award, robert moses of new york. [applause] robert moses, new york City Construction coordinator, is a worldfamous highway planner. A man who knows his business. Your stroke of genius no your stroke of genius, no brilliant advice, no magic will suddenly produce roads. We have fallen far behind. The remedies are neither easy nor cheap, nor immediately realizable. But the past you will set is not beyond the capacity of the aroused american people. You may be sure that we are not you may be sure that they will not stop short of the goal. [applause] mr. Moses went on to compose a 10 year construction program. The cost, 5 billion a year. He stressed there was no one new solution for the entire nation, but rather, a combination of many solutions. And there is a solution for each community, within its own capacity to accomplish. [music] a good parking space any space, close enough. A good road is any road, able to carry as traffic flow safely and adequately. It does not have to cost a 1 million amount to be a good 1 million a mile to amount to be a good investment. A mile to the a good investment. It earns profit for all the nation. It is just Good American enterprise to put part of the profits back in the business. Builders have the knowhow to poor miracles of concrete through the air if supported by the proper financing. They can live traffic up over city congestion with elevated highways raised by an aroused public. The expressway feeds over a the expressway speeds over a densely populated area of brooklyn without disturbing life below. To deliver through traffic to the underwater tunnel to manhattan. Connecting from the north, a four story street will soon be open, with promenades for pedestrians on top, local traffic on the bottom and 21way and two one way expressways in between. Here is for story proof that our modern highway planners, with imagination, and public support can solve our traffic problems. We can have our superhighways in the sky, fabulous, futuristic forms, like this hollywood freeway interchange, which sorts of flowing traffic eight ways at once. If we start now, to give our engineers the go sign to Design Dreams instead of detours. This spectacular viaduct snaking along through seattles busiest section has cut a 20 minute traffic battle to three minutes travel time. And more miles are on the way. The people of the state of washington are using all of an increased gasoline tax, and auto license fund for the Faster Development of a better roads program. Many people favor told roads, favor told roads favor toll roads like the new jersey , turnpike finance by a bond. It is already paying itself off way ahead of schedule, proving that many of us who drive will pay extra by the mile, and pay every trip to travel a good road. Many states already have toll roads, and more are now under construction, or in the planning stage. Any roadway must keep pace with the changing character of its community. Dream big and act boldly. The best road of yesterday can become the worst road of today just a few miles down the way. Pittsburgh is moving mountains, even relocating a Railroad Yard to get out of its traffic jam. County, city, and tax take money is mapping federal funds to pave the way. When this boldly planned parkway is completely open to traffic, the Greater Pittsburgh airport, instead of being an hour away, will only be a 15 minute ride from the center of the city. As has been done and other cities, pittsburgh is digging a 4 million hole in the heart of the city to provide underground storage for thousands of cars. Above the surface, a beautiful park will camouflage the busy activity below. Or, if not underground, then stacked layer upon layer in structures. Roof engineered for easy access and maximum use of downtown space. In san francisco, the bayshore freeway is getting in shape for tomorrows traffic. As part of californias new 10 year 750 million highway program, financed by state tax on gasoline and auto license fees. Chicago is moving a city to build an eight mile log eight mile long expressway from the city limits to michigan avenue. Why does the city block into the heart of the loop, an eight lane miracle, a lane which will bring traffic to the middle of the Main Post Office building like a special delivery letter. Chicago has their share of the 92 Million Dollar cost by a bond issue. Interest in retirement to bepaid to be paid for by future revenue from motor fuel taxes, backed up by property taxes. Borrowing money to finance expansion is traditional with americans. The time and money saved, more than repays your investment. If you wait to pay as you go, you may not go at all. Detroit is borrowing funds to build more miles ofexpressway, and build them today instead of years from now. Limited access from now. [music] limited access highways, without stoplights cross traffic, pedestrians, left turn menace and danger. Spacious and dangerous intersections. Spacious roads of divided lanes where freeflowing traffic can see the time, tires, gas, as well as lives. But the way of the green light is not only on an expressway. The green light must shine along improved neighborhood streets. On the sunday way to church, and the pleasure drive to waters edge. The goahead must be fought for on the side streets. We must fight for it at every crossroad. Widening out congested intersections. Rounding squarecorners for the wheels of the automotive age. We must boldly attack bottleneck and traffic jams with left turn lanes and modern interchanges, service roads, and better loading facilities. Free ourselves from the route, and no place to park. Roads are dying of old age, and come every spring, the bottoms drop off. Drop out. You have to be careful driving the kids over these roads. What is a citizen going to do . Our American Dream of futurama on wheels can come true. Our highway engineers know the way. It is ours for the asking, if we ask and pay our way. Freedom of the road is as old as the first man. As new as this moment, once the once we fought for it, through forrest on river, wild animals and indians, across desert and mountain range. We won our right of way. Now there is another payment to be made on our freedom of movement. It is the price for going greater than our biggest dreams. Today, two miles of highway are wearing out for everyone being built. And tomorrow, we will have one million more drivers, not counting those in the backseat. The way ahead, is it to be a dead end, or the green light . [music] dont honk your horn. Raise your voice. Ask for better highways and more parking space. It is your country. To get the green light, write your state capital, write washington, d. C. , write your home town officials, postcard your newspaper editor, call your radio and tv commentators, support yourhighway officials, and when you vote, vote for your rightofway, do not honk your horn. Raise your voice, its your country. Give yourself the green light. [music] up next on American History tvs reel america, a look at the push for road and highway can sakshi and in the 1950s. Highway in the 1950s. Freedom of the american road is a halfhour Ford Motor Company film from 1955. It opens with remarks by henry ford ii, who introduces a ford Company Study of the nations road problems and calls for individual citizens to help solve those issues. Posted by the voice of the march of time radio and tv news reel series. The documentary features a variety of communities working to solve problems through kurdish options and awareness through construction and