The End of the Great American Highway

Rosenberg gives a brief history of the highway and how its role has changed and been used far beyond its capacity:

"This is the era of the worn-out highway, of the traffic jam, of endless commutes, of road rage. Beltways and bypasses will not help you. We demand more, far more, than the interstates were built to withstand."

"Now massive sections of the interstate, including almost all of  them near major ­cities, have reached the end of their useful life; the interstates were designed to last 20 or 30 years, but now some areas are pushing 50 years and handling far more traffic than their planners anticipated. But as we reach into our wallets, we run into our generation's big dilemma: We're nearly broke. "