https://peertube.dngr.us/videos/watch/bca9af76-c446-4b76-a98e-e9b4293e5429 Support Our Channel : https://www.patreon.com/PeriscopeFilm Produced in 1957 by the American Road Builders Association, “We’ll Take the High Road” is presented as a public service announcement, the films touts the ever-increasing number of cars on the nation’s roads and how builders are moving to meet an increasing need for more roads and highways. Because the existing roads were not originally engineered for safety or the number of cars using them, President Dwight D. Eisenhower (shown at mark 02:05) signed the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act in June 1956, when signed the bill into law. It authorized $25 billion for the construction of 41,000 miles of an Interstate Highway System and was the largest public works project in American history at the time. As a result, the Interstate Highway System was soon developed and Federal Highway Administrator Bertrum D. Tallamy explains, starting at mark 02:53, how the proposed system will work. (Began in 1956, the system had a total length of 47,856 miles as of 2013). Presented as part of a “town meeting” skit beginning at mark 05:15, the film launches into a detailed explanation of what would officially be known as the “Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways.” He notes that “it will be possible to drive from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and from Canada to Mexico on safe, multi-lane, divided highways without a single stoplight or stop sign” and is designed “for the traffic of the future.” Although residents in some smaller town feared that highways would divert traffic from their roads and cause them to become ghost towns, the narrator says those are “dark suspicions.” At mark 10:30, the film delves into the large amount of planning and engineering involved in mapping out the highway system, with “electronic brains” doing much of the work. Revisiting the concern that a highway system would take business away from “mom and pop establishments,” the film claims near mark 16:08 that a highway system would result in an increase in business and property value. “Travelers can get into town, move around, find a place to park, and buy what they want,” we are told. The system would also improve smaller, local, “farm-to-market” roads, and provide for “expert landscaping” along highways to keep the journey one that is aesthetically pleasing. Following further discussion of design plans and construction details, Although some businesses and residences would have to be acquired to construct the highway system, the audience is told at mark 28:50 that “anyone with any sense at all knows that this system of roads will be a good thing for his country and for all of us. It’s something we really need. We’ve got to have it if we’re going to move ahead in this country the way we always have.” Motion picture films don't last forever; many have already been lost or destroyed. We collect, scan and preserve 35mm, 16mm and 8mm movies -- including home movies, industrial films, and other non-fiction. If you have films you'd like to have scanned or donate to Periscope Film, we'd love to hear from you. Contact us via the link below. This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnrqUHF5bH8 Mirrored from Periscope Film (https://www.youtube.com/@PeriscopeFilm) Fri, 12 Jun 2026 03:19:51 GMT https://validator.w3.org/feed/docs/rss2.html PeerTube - https://peertube.dngr.us https://peertube.dngr.us/lazy-static/avatars/41a6fee9-7f57-42d0-a5fc-5db4f1af2e31.png https://peertube.dngr.us/videos/watch/bca9af76-c446-4b76-a98e-e9b4293e5429 All rights reserved, unless otherwise specified in the terms specified at https://peertube.dngr.us/about and potential licenses granted by each content's rightholder.