Travel

Construction on Most-Used Highway in the U.S. Almost Complete After Six Decades

I-95 has been a work in progress for 60 years thanks to New Jersey property owners.

MIAMI, FL - FEBRUARY 12: Heavy traffic is seen along I-95 on February 12, 2018 in Miami, Florida. President Donald Trump announced his infrastrucure proposal today in which he plans on investing at least $1.5 trillion on new projects, shorten permitting time to two years, invest in rural projects and improve worker training. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

By Evan Bleier / August 23, 2018 5:00 am

Passed in 1956, the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act established a 40,000-mile interstate highway system in the United States and allocated $25 billion to construct it.

Now, more than 60 years later, the last piece of infrastructure financed by that act – the most-traveled highway in America – is about to be complete.

And what was holding up the completion of I-95 for all of this time? Lawmakers and land-owners in Mercer County, New Jersey.

Thanks to their opposition, drivers have always been forced off the interstate in New Jersey near the Pennsylvania border and onto other roadways for a stretch that spans eight miles.

Following more than two decades of work, that situation will be rectified on September 24 when the gap in I-95 is filled by newly completed infrastructure including toll plazas, intersections, and six overhead bridges.

Once the I-95 Interchange Project is complete, drivers will be able to travel the 1,900 miles from Miami to Maine without leaving the interstate.