National Highway System (United States)
| National Highway System | |
|---|---|
System map with Interstate Highways in blue and other components in red
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| System information | |
| Length: | 160,955 mi (259,032 km) |
| Formed: | November 28, 1995 |
| Highway names | |
| Interstates: | Interstate nn (I-nn) |
| US Highways: | U.S. Highway nn, U.S. Route nn (US nn, US-nn) |
| State: | Varies by state |
| County roads: | County Road nn, County Route nn (CR nn, Co. Rd. nn) |
| System links | |
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The National Highway System (NHS) is a network of strategic highways within the United States, including the Interstate Highway System and other roads serving major airports, ports, rail or truck terminals, railway stations, pipeline terminals and other strategic transport facilities. Altogether, it constitutes the largest highway system in the world.
Individual states are encouraged to focus federal funds on improving the efficiency and safety of this network. The roads within the system were identified by the United States Department of Transportation in cooperation with the states, local officials, and metropolitan planning organizations and approved by the United States Congress in 1995.
The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 provided that certain key routes such as the Interstate Highway System, be included.
The National Highway System Designation Act of 1995 (Pub.L. 104–59, 109 Stat. 568) is a United States Act of Congress that was signed into law by President Bill Clinton on November 28, 1995. The legislation designated about 160,955 miles (259,032 km) of roads, including the Interstate Highway System, as the NHS.
Aside from designating the system, the act served several other purposes, including restoring $5.4 billion in funding to state highway departments, giving Congress the power to prioritize highway system projects, repealing all federal speed limit controls, and prohibits the federal government from requiring states to use federal-aid highway funds to convert existing signs or purchase new signs with metric units.
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