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
Happy Trails

Content: Miss Everett of 1968, Debbie Herivel, and Miss Marysville of 1968, Katherine Smith, snipped the ceremonial ribbon while the 1969 “royal court” from both cities looked on. Everyone was all smiles. The last traffic light on the freeway (located on temporary I-5 at Walnut Street in Everett) between Canada and California was symbolically taken down when the new segment of freeway opened at 11 a.m. District Engineer Bob Roberts, representing the state highway department employees, presented Highway Director Charles Prahl with the light at a luncheon at the Everett Elks Club after the ribbon-cutting ceremony. Prahl, who was resigning his position effective June 1, 1969, used the occasion to slam those who had criticized the department’s freeway construction, arguing in his speech: “We all recognize that cities need rapid transit, but people are not going to give up their automobiles, at least not for the next 15 or 20 years ... . The anti-highway people in the Seattle area are enjoying the freeways we have built but at the same time are complaining we shouldn’t build any more” ( Seattle P-I) . Sources: HistoryLink.org, The Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History, “Eisenhower signs National System of Interstate and Defense Highways Act on June 29, 1956” (by Paula Becker), "Interstate 5 is completed from Everett to Seattle on February 3, 1965” (by Phil Dougherty), “Interstate 5 is completed from Everett to Tacoma on January 31, 1967” (by David Wilma), http://www.historylink.org (accessed March 20, 2010); Washington State Department of Transportation, “Highway Map: 50th Anniversary of the Interstate,” website accessed March 23, 2008 (http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/publications/highwaymap); “