Lieutenant Colonel Dwight D. Eisenhower crossed the country by Army convoy in 1919. The purpose was to find out how long it would take the military to make a long-distance deployment. It took two months and 6,000 repairs. Many of the roads were known as “auto trails.” That was being generous. As the Army learned the hard way, many of these auto trails were rugged. When he became President, Eisenhower was determined to create an interstate highway system. In North Dakota, that ambitious plan came to include Interstates 94 and 29.
On this date in 1962, the North Dakota State Department of Transportation announced that low bids totaling $7.7 million were opened in Bismarck for ten projects on Interstate 94 in western North Dakota. The largest involved 13.1 miles of concrete paving near Richardton.
I-94 follows a storied route. It began as the Red Trail, a time when roads were designated by color names. It originally extended from Seattle to New York City. Eventually it became Highway 10 from Seattle to Ludington, Mich.
Just like the Old Red Trail and Highway 10, I-94 connects the towns that sprang up along the mainline of the Northern Pacific Railroad. It carries the westbound traveler from the flat land of the Red River Valley across the hills of central North Dakota to the notorious Badlands at the western edge of the state. Central Time yields to Mountain Time at the line between Stark and Morton Counties.
The interstate system was a marked improvement over the roads that came before. When the weather was dry, choking dust could plague the old auto trail. And when the weather was wet, vehicles got mired down in mud. Despite those drawbacks, the roads were wildly popular. In 1922, the Fargo Forum boasted that North Dakota had “eleven highways – eleven of the best automobile dirt trails to be found in the country.” Cities and towns across the state set up campsites for the growing number of tourists.
The first section of North Dakota’s interstate system to be completed was a twelve-mile stretch between Valley City and Jamestown. It was finished in 1958. The last part of the system was completed nineteen years later, in 1977, between Pembina and Drayton.
Dakota Datebook written by Carole Butcher
Sources:
NDTourism. “Interstate 94 Tour.” https://www.ndtourism.com/best-places/interstate-94-tour Accessed 29 September 2018.
Bismarck Historical Society. “It Happened in Bismarck.” http://www.bismarckhistory.org/?id=55&offset=700 Accessed 29 September 2018.
Bismarck Tribune. “I-29, I-94 Completed in North Dakota 40 Years Ago.” 8 July 2017. Bismarck, ND.
