Page:Needs of the Highway Systems, 1955–84.pdf/20

16 A highway program to meet all needs in 10 years would get under way gradually, and taper off at the end. The needs to be met in 1955 and in 1964 would be less than the $8 billion and $12 billion annual areroys indicated by the first two bars. Thereafter, the needs for replacement and expansion would start with about $4.3 billion in 1965 and increase gradually to about $7.5 billion in 1984. For the intervening years, the annual rates of increase would vary somewhat due to cyclical effects of replacement of the relatively large amount of construction placed in service during the initial 10-year period 1955–64.

Thus an attempt to meet the goal of adequacy of all highways by 1964 would produce a heavy concentration of construction expenditures in the 1955–64 decade and a sharp drop in the immediately following years (see figs. 3 and 4). A more uniform rate of expenditures, however, would appear more consistent with overall economic and fiscal policies. Because of its importance in the national economy and in national defense, the interstate system undoubtedly should be of first priority in any overall highway program of the future. The generally less urgent needs of the other systems could be met more gradually.