Interstate 95

Interstate 95 stretches from the border of Maine with New Brunswick, Canada all the way to Miami. It connects the large metropolises of the Atlantic coast; Boston, New York, Washington D.C. and Baltimore.  It is one of the longest highways (holds the title for longest north to south), the most traveled, and the most dangerous. Currently, I-95 is 1,919.74 miles long and shared by fifteen states (Perrier). The I-95 corridor was carved out of many existing trails forged by early Native Americans as they made their way to coast to catch seafood. Some of these tribes included the Calusa, the Iroquois, and the Powhatan Confederation. Especially in Florida, but along the entire highway, names of roads, rivers, and other landmarks reflect this early influence.

Florida map of I-95 highlighting major cities.

 

Railroads were built before I-95, and in many places the interstate parallels these routes. The main attraction to travel along these railroads was leisure; I-95 opened up a world of coastal relaxation. Henry Flagler built the Florida East Coast Railway, which eventually stretched from Jacksonville to the Keys. Along the way, he built hotels to attract tourists to the coast. These included the Ponce de Leon Hotel, the Royal Poinciana Hotel, and the Palm Beach Inn (now known as the Breakers). While the Florida East Coast Railway used to bring tourists to Florida, now it primarily transports rocks. I-95, which runs parallel, brings business and tourism to Florida in the modern world.

I-95 was first signed off on in 1959, and the first portion opened in Jacksonville in 1960. In the 1960s, most work on I-95 was done in northern Florida, Jacksonville through Daytona Beach, though in 1961 a small portion of the interstate in Miami was completed. The construction of the interstate in Miami was fraught with the racism of the period. Some Miami officials had ulterior motives when it came to the planning of where I-95 would run through. As early as 1956, they plan was to use the interstate as a “slum clearance program” of sorts.

Golden Glades Interchange, Miami.

On December 19, 1956 The Miami News featured a special report discussing the plans of the proposed $193,000,000 highway. The article discussed which part of the interstate would be built first, whether or not the rough draft maps that had been released would match suggested plans, just how wide the downtown expressway would be, how long it would take to build, and other trivial questions. One question, however, stood out. “Will any downtown buildings be torn down?” The answer was yes, but overall the questioner shouldn’t worry, since those buildings scheduled for demolition would only be in “colored” quarters. Essentially, the city of Miami was planning to throw out its black residents, something that many in Miami had been working towards for a long time. The interstate was going to go through Overtown, the established center of the black community in Miami. To build I-95, 87 acres of Overtown disappeared.

Much of Interstate 95 outside of Florida, in the northeast, are comprised of portions of toll roads or have been in the past. Originally, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt planned on the interstate system being entirely toll roads. So, predating the Eisenhower interstate system, many roads had already been planned in the areas that now accommodate I-95, and many of them used tolls. Instead of destroying older construction and working from the ground up, I-95 was simply planned along these same routes. At one time in Florida, I-95 ran parallel to the turnpike, until it eventually adopted its own route. 

Florida welcome sign from U.S. Highway 1.

Interstate 95 in many places follows along old U.S. 1, and has virtually replaced it. U.S. 1 is still the most traveled Florida route, though I-95 has taken over much of its traffic. Though I-95 provides a direct and fast route along the eastern coast of the United States, many miss out on the scenic and historic opportunities provided by U.S. 1 and also a counterpart of the route, A1A. I-95 was seen as an upgrade to U.S. 1, though it has also taken some of the historic glimpses out of traveling along the eastern coast of the United States. I-95 and the accessibility it offers attract millions of travelers along the Atlantic coast, and many head south to Florida.