Anyone living in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex probably has a great deal of familiarity with Interstate 35. I know that the highway and associated beltways were a fairly broadly discussed and experienced topic in my own youth growing up in the Dallas area.
I-35 is a major north-south interstate highway that runs from its southern terminus in Laredo, TX all the way up north, ending in Duluth, MN. It’s a little over fifteen hundred miles long making it the third longest north south interstate in the country behind I-75 and I-95. The last section of I-35 to be completed in the late 1970’s is the section through central Iowa
Today, near the town of Blairsville, Iowa, I crossed under the I-35 overpass. It was a bit of a milestone since that road that was carrying cars, trucks, and busses just a few meters over my head had such a big impact on my experience down in Dallas. We used to head north on I-35 to visit my grandparents in Oklahoma, and I can still remember the welcome center on the TX-OK border like it was yesterday.
Today, the overpass provided some much needed shade.
Over the last one hundred days, or so, the time I’ve spent out on the road has reminded me how much these concrete rivers of commerce and communication shape our lives and our experiences. It’s almost unfathomable to me that I could have climbed up the grassy green embankment today and be connected with my hometown by an uninterrupted ribbon of concrete and asphalt.
Sure there’d be traffic, but a couple of days from now, I could be back in my Texas aving passed through the town in Oklahoma where I spent the summers with my grandparents. It’s an incredible legacy this road system that we’ve inherited bestows upon us. I’m grateful that we have it. Even with all the traffic, and the attendant frustrations associated with that bit of frustration.
Do any of you have stories about roadways that have shaped your life?
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