Title: Interstate 5 is completed in Washington on May 14, 1969. - HistoryLink.org
Headings: Interstate 5 is completed in Washington on May 14, 1969.
Interstate 5 is completed in Washington on May 14, 1969.
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The Final Piece
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Content: The Final Piece
As the automobile gained traction in America during the early twentieth century, so did a network of expanding highways across the country. Individual states handled road construction, and though the federal government provided matching funds in many cases, it still was not enough to fund sufficient construction to keep up with the soaring numbers of automobiles. By the 1950s bigger and better highways were needed, and in 1956 the federal government became more actively involved in funding them when it passed the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, which provided 90 percent funding for a nationwide network of high-speed, limited access roads. This led to the beginning of Interstate 5 (I-5) in Washington. The first segment of I-5 formally opened in Tacoma in December 1960, and despite some protests, construction proceeded apace through the decade. In January 1967 the final freeway section from Everett to Tacoma was completed, linking the greater Seattle metropolitan area. But just north of Everett, another segment of I-5 remained incomplete, and would turn out to be the last piece of the freeway to be finished in Washington. This last segment stretched four miles, from the southern end of Marysville to the northern edge of Everett at the Snohomish River. The four-mile section cost $9.8 million (approximately $58 million in 2010 dollars) to build, and included 11 bridges in its short stretch. More than 1.7 million cubic yards of dirt was moved during its construction.