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Today in Interstate History

President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

January 12, 1944

President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in a major step towards establishing what would become the Interstate Highway System, submitted to Congress a proposal for creating a national network of approximately 34,000 miles. The proposal had been developed by the National Interregional Highway Committee, which was chaired by Commissioner of Public Roads Thomas H. MacDonald. The committee's proposal laid the groundwork for the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1944. That law authorized the designation of a 40,000-mile Interstate Highway System, but did not earmark any funds for its construction.