The Best Counter to Critics
At the peak of the Interstate System's greatest decade, Interstate openings occurred all over the country. The following list was compiled from news clippings gathered by the Bureau of Public Roads for the second half of 1964. ederal Highway Administrator Rex Whitton, who believed that the new highways were the best counter to critics, participated in many of the openings (those with an asterisk). Deputy Federal Highway Administrator Lawrence Jones was among the BPR officials who participated in the other openings.
Some Late 1964 Interstate Openings Included:
July 16: A 35-mile section of I-95 between Fredericksburg and Ashland in Virginia.
July 16: A 4.2-mile stretch of I-70 from the Blue River to the Blue Ridge Mall in Kansas City, Missouri.
August 13: 11-mile stretch of I-75 south of Findlay, Ohio.
August 16: Completion of the Capital Beltway, with ceremony in Maryland*
August 18: First Interstate expressway across Illinois, a combination of I-80 and I-55
September 25: The Butte Urban segments of I-15 and I-90 in Montana*
October 2: A twin-bridge segment of I-20 (the R. L. Thornton Freeway) in Dallas, Texas
October 5: I-74 between Galesburg, Illinois, and Knoxville, Tennessee*
October 5: A 112-mile stretch of I-94 west of Mandan, North Dakota.*
October 7: Dartmouth Avenue Bridge across the Mississippi River for I-94 in Minneapolis, Minnesota*
October 9: I-95 between Thurbers Avenue and Elmwood Avenue in Providence, Rhode Island
October 11: I-25 from Wellington, Colorado, to Cheyenne, Wyoming*
October 14: I-90/94 between Wisconsin Dells and Tomah, Wisconsin.
October 14: The final section of I-94 in St. Clair County, Michigan*
October 15: Atlanta's Downtown Connector and interchange, including the I-20 West Expressway in Georgia*
October 15: I-465 between U.S. 31 and Ind. 100, giving Indianapolis, Indiana, its first belt route around the city.
October 19: I-80 from the George Washington Bridge to the Garden State Parkway in New Jersey
October 23: 15.5-mile segment of I-55 southwest of the Dan Ryan Expressway, with ceremony at the Damen Avenue interchange*
October 24: The Southwest Expressway (I-55, now the Stevenson Expressway) in Chicago from the Dan Ryan Expressway to U.S. 66 at the Cook-DuPage County line in Illinois*
October 27: Burns Harbor interchange of the Indiana Toll Road (I-90) near east Gary and 5.1-mile section of I-80/94 between the toll road and Broadway in Gary.
October 29: I-15 from 5th South and 2nd West to 24th North and Beck Street in Salt Lake City, Utah
October 29: Section of I-95 through Smith Hill in Providence, Rhode Island*
October 30: I-89 Bolton to Richmond, Vermont*
October 31: I-95 between Woodbridge and Quantico, Virginia
November 1: I-80 over Donner Summit in California
November 1: I-95 from Fairfield-Newport, Maine*
November 4: I-80 from Fernley to Wadsworth in Nevada
November 10: I-17, the Black Canyon Freeway, north of Dunlap Avenue in Phoenix, Arizona
November 11: I-93 from New Hampton through Holderness, New Hampshire.
November 11: I-35 from Mission Creek to Pine City, Minnesota
November 16: I-64 between the Watterson Expressway and the Jefferson Freeway in Louisville, Kentucky
November 19: I-71 between Columbus and Cincinnati, Ohio*
December 14: I-40 between Memphis and Braden, Tennessee
December 15: I-95 from Hopkinton to Groton, Rhode Island
December 18: The final 22-mile segment of I-95 between Washington, DC, and Richmond, Virginia, opened from Fredericksburg and Triangle*
December 21: I-81 in the Roanoke area of Virginia
December 30: 6.5 segment of I-77 in Wood County, West Virginia.
Last updated: Friday, June 30, 2023