I-35
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Love it or hate it, Interstate 35 is a presence that is difficult to ignore. As part of America's major interstate highway system, I-35 has left an indelible impact on the city of Waco, prompting dramatic shifts in Waco's economy, neighborhoods, and aesthetic landscape.
While construction on I-35 did not start until 1957, the beginnings of this interstate system trace back to 1919 when Dwight D. Eisenhower, then a young lieutenant colonel, took part in a cross-country military convoy. The sixty-two-day haul covered 3,242 miles of dirt roads, ditches, and all-but-impassable terrain and convinced Eisenhower of the need for federal investment in building and maintaining adequate roads. The future politician's plan for a national highway system crystalized after he observed the German Autobahn system while stationed in Europe during World War II. In 1956, President Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act. The proposed interstate highway system, he argued, would create thousands of jobs, make roads safer and routes more efficient, and allow for quick transport of people and resources in the wake of a nuclear attack. The act allowed for the construction of a 41,000-mile system of highways and earmarked $26 billion in federal aid to cover 90 percent of construction costs, to which individual states were expected to contribute the remaining amount.
One such stretch of highway was the proposed Interstate 35, which would run from Texas to Minnesota, passing through Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, and Iowa along the way. The commission appointed to oversee construction through Waco aimed to take into consideration the effect that highway placement would have on the city's future growth and prosperity. While some lobbied for the building up of the pre-existing route on La Salle Avenue, the commission settled on a mid-city route for the interstate. Many believed that this mid-city route would rejuvenate property values along the thoroughfare, an appealing idea as downtown Waco still reeled from the destructive tornado that tore through the area in May 1953. Planners hoped the $17 million mid-city expressway would alleviate traffic congestion as the straightest route from Potts Interchange-now the intersection of Waco Drive and Highway 77-to Waco's traffic circle. One local newspaper hailed the "graceful expanse" as "a sight to the eyes of every traffic-harried motorist who journeys north to Dallas or South to San Antonio."
The mid-city route, however, would displace many homes and businesses along the proposed path. The Texas Highway Commission began informing residents and business owners in the interstate's path of the upcoming construction plans. Not all were pleased. While the city provided affected residents and businesses with the funds to relocate, the new highway veritably erased several historic neighborhoods and disrupted deep-rooted communities.
Construction of I-35 officially began in South Waco in 1962, when building crews began the first of eight sections. The work of planning, staging, and construction, however, stretched on for several years. The subsequent seven sections were offered to independent contractors and were completed incrementally until construction finally ceased in 1972. Together, the eight contracts totaled a sum of $24,906,000. Initially, experts predicted that the new I-35 would see 68,000 vehicles a day by 1975. While the number of cars per day would later rise, the number hovered around 60,000 during the interstate's first decade, in part due to rising gas prices during the 1970s. Today, the portion of I-35 just north of Waco's traffic circle carries 138,689 cars per day.
New plans to widen the eight-mile stretch of I-35 within Loop 340 are currently slated to begin in 2019. Although the interstate has brought significant change to the communities along its path, I-35's perennial construction has proven to be a constant for Central Texas drivers since the highway's inception.
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Relocation Project:
When it became evident that construction would require the demolition of the Earle-Napier-Kinnard House, one of Waco's most historic homes, citizens successfully lobbied to have the path slightly shifted. Most residents and businesses, however, had no choice but to relocate.
New Roads, New Laws:
Just as national road improvement lagged behind America's adoption of the automobile, automobile-related laws came into effect slowly and unevenly. At the time that the Federal-Aid Highway Act was passed in 1956, it had been only two years since South Dakota had become the final state to require drivers to possess a license.
Early I-35:
Upon completion of the interstate, the city began the process of selling property along highway once right-of-way had been purchased from the federal government. Several years passed before a string of fast-food restaurants and the like dotted the interstate access roads. In this photo, Baylor University is visible from the Fourth Street overpass looking east.
Highways and Byways:
The final segment of I-35 opened in Minnesota in 1992. Traffic on I-35 greatly increased with the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement between the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The interstate has since served as the primary north/south route for large trucks transporting goods between the participating countries. Here, an aerial photograph facing north toward Bellmead shows I-35 under construction, as well as what was once Highways 81, 84, and 77. | Source: Waco Tribune-Herald, Waco, Texas, 14 June 1959, page 7.
Before the Interstate:
Texas Highway Commissioner Jack Kultgen was instrumental in securing the Texas Highway Commission's approval of the interstate's route through the city. The section of the freeway running through Waco was promptly named after Kultgen upon completion. This aerial photograph, looking westward from LaSalle Avenue (in the foreground) depicts Waco before the advent of I-35.
Interstate Controversy:
Robert Aguilar discusses the ill-will that the interstate's construction provoked among Wacoans who were forced to relocate. | Source: Aguilar, Robert. Interview by Thomas L. Charlton, October 3, 2005. Baylor University Institute for Oral History, Waco, TX. View the full interview.Travel Before the Interstate:
Thomas Wayne Harvey remembers Waco as a point of convergence for several major highways before the advent of I-35. | Source: Harvey, Thomas Wayne. Interview by Sandra Denise Harvey, February 25, 1995. Baylor University Institute for Oral History, Waco, TX. View the full interview.Neighborhood Memories:
Julia Calderon Wilhelm recalls her childhood in a neighborhood displaced by I-35 and offers her thoughts on the interstate's construction. | Source: Wilhelm, Julia Calderon. Interview by Claudia Tijerna, November 11, 2006. Baylor University Institute for Oral History, Waco, TX. View the full interview.