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The Roads Not Taken:
Boise and
the Interstate Highway, 1960 |
The
creation of the Interstate Highway System was one of the signal
achievements of the Eisenhower administration. President
Eisenhower's frustration with the nation's patchwork system of federal
and state highways went back to his Army days, when he was responsible
for transporting troops and supplies cross-country. When he became
President, he actively embraced
the proposal to build a system of multi-lane, controlled access freeways across America. Created by law in
1955, the Interstate system took decades to build. The law mandated that the
highways “shall be so located as to connect by routes, as direct as
practicable, the principal metropolitan areas, cities, and industrial
centers,” but that “local needs, to the extent practicable, suitable,
and feasible, shall be given equal consideration with the needs of
interstate commerce.” In Boise, the
Boise Metropolitan
Transportation Committee, made up of local governmental and
transportation officials, was assigned the task of recommending the
local route. |
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| The committee released
its findings and recommendations in a booklet
published in July 1960 entitled Metropolitan Boise & the Interstate Highway.
It
outlined three alternative
routes, known as the River Parkway route, the Railroad route, and
the Bypass route. The committee favored the River Parkway option, one that would have
routed the Interstate through Julia Davis Park and along the north bank of the
Boise River. In the
end, however, cost considerations prevailed, and the Bypass route, through
lightly-developed land south of town near the airport, became the Interstate’s
path. This website reproduces select pages from Metropolitan Boise & the
Interstate Highway, illustrating what might have been. |
The Map of the
Alternatives
Click on the Interstate Symbol
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What is now known as Interstate 84 was
originally designated I-80 North. A map of Boise with the three
alternative routes was published in the booklet. Click on the
highway marker on the left to see the map. The dark solid line
closest to the top of the map marks the River Parkway route; the orange line
in the middle is the Railroad route;
and the dotted line at the bottom of the map is what was known as the
Bypass route, the path that was ultimately chosen. |
Conceptual Drawings of the
Through-Town Routes
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From the East, the River Parkway route
would have brought the Interstate into town through southeast Boise,
crossed the river near Walnut Street, turned and followed the north bank of the
Boise River through Julia Davis Park, and proceeded
out of town close to the route of the present-day Connector. In the
heart of the city, four lanes
of concrete would have separated Boiseans from their river. |
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The Railroad route would have brought the Interstate
through town alongside the railroad tracks on the Bench. It would have passed just to the
south of the Boise Depot, where a cloverleaf interchange with Vista
Avenue would have been built. This option
would have required the destruction of many homes and businesses. |
The Advantages and
Disadvantages of Each Route
Click on the maps for the
committee's analysis of each route
The Recommendation of the Committee
Metropolitan Boise & the
Interstate Highway was donated to Boise State University in 2005
by Charles F.
Hummel, as part of the
Planning Boise
Collection (MSS 244)
This page last changed: 6
October 2006
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