One of the greatest accomplishments of the Presidency of Dwight Eisenhower was the creation of the Interstate Highway System. The part that passes fewer than 100 yards to the north of my property is called the “Toll Road” or I-80. The official name of this road system is the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways.
In a prior post, I mentioned that I live close enough to the Indiana Toll Road that my friend Terry Hanratty could toss a football to it. I also stated that Father Hesburgh had a role in the development of this highway.
Why did Ike create it? Several reasons. The idea had been around for 50 years or more to find a higher-speed way to link cities across the country. Travelers could now get to destinations much quicker. It also greatly expanded the viability of the United States regarding places to live, work, and play. Ike touted its benefit to the economy.
At one time, Ike was praised for leading the effort so America could build the Interstate Highway. He responded by saying “America did not build the Interstate Highway System; the Interstate Highway System built America.” Just think about how easy it is to get around today. Imagine what it was like before these roads and our faster moving cars.
My hometown of Gloucester, Massachusetts, is 925 miles from here. MapQuest says it takes 13 hours and five minutes to make the drive. That averages right about the 70 mph speed limits for all of these roads. Five interstates. Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and the Mass Pike, as we Massachusetts folks call it.
It’s a tribute to these roads that no time is lost along the way. Also a tribute to my I-Pass. Don’t have to even slow down to pay a toll. I have passed on having an I-Phone but I would never pass on having an I-Pass.
Besides greatly improving the ways we travel around our country, Ike had a military reason for wanting to build this nation-wide roadway. As a young lieutenant, he was distressed at how difficult it was for our troops to move distances. Later, while winning WWII, Ike noticed the impressive German roadway system, now called the Autobahn. It was created for the same two reasons Ike pushed a national highway system for the U.S.
In one of my earlier lifetimes, I spent quite a bit of time in Germany studying their response to terrorism. I became good friends with Dr. Manfred Schreiber, President of Police of Munich. He told me that the modern Autobahn had an additional (somewhat secret) purpose. It was to be a place where military aircraft could take off and land. He pointed out some areas where there was a “turn around” on the side of the Autobahn, facilitating using these roads as temporary airports.
There have been allegations that Ike also had mile-long straight road stretches placed along the Interstate Highway System. This has been debunked many times by the Interstate Highway System, the U.S. Army and the U.S. Defense Department. Methinks they debunk too much. Remember the word “defense” in the name of this highway system.
Ike was a West Point grad, class of 1915. He was a halfback on the 1912 football team. Two of his teammates were future General Omar Bradley and future College Football Hall of Fame Coach Bob Neyland. Ike was injured and was not on the team in 1913, when a guy from Norway took a ragtag bunch (15) of football players from South Bend to face the Black Knights of the Hudson and make football history. But I digress.
Anyway, that’s the history of the Indiana Toll Road, Chapter One. So, how does Father Hesburgh fit into this? A few years ago, Michigan State University honored Father Ted on a football weekend. I traveled with the team, riding home on the administrators’ bus. On this LATE night ride from East Lansing, nearly everyone was asleep. The front four on the bus were the driver, this scribe sitting right behind him, Father Ted seated directly across from me and Athletic Director Kevin White, sitting right behind Father Ted.
As we reached Elkhart, with only a little jaunt remaining, Father Ted started speaking. To nobody in particular. He was facing straight ahead. It was like a stream of consciousness. Kevin leaned forward and I tilted to my right. Both of us wanted to hear any words from this great man. He had a commanding presence and strong voice. You could use him as a plug and play PRESIDENT, of ANYTHING. I always felt that the actor who most looked like him and should portray him in a LONG-OVERDUE movie ….was Omar Shariff. But I digress.
It was if he were dictating part of his memoirs. “Whenever I get to this part of the Interstate, I remember when I got my first call about the highway. He said he was in charge of constructing the segment going from Elkhart to LaPorte. He said ‘You’ve got a piece of property we’re going to need for the road. We are prepared to pay you a generous amount, which has been agreed upon by three independent appraisers.’ When he told me what piece he wanted, I told him he could not have that parcel. I said we may have future plans for that land. He told me, ‘You don’t understand, Father Hesburgh, we have the authority of the Federal Government behind us and the power of eminent domain’. I told him YOU don’t understand. We are Notre Dame! I said I had another piece of land they could have, which was just a bit further north. He said they did not want to go further north. He said he would call again later. Whom did he think he was dealing with? The A&P? The man called back later and increased his offer. I again declined.”
Father Ted then took a pause… “You know what? He bought the other parcel AND gave us the bonus.”
At that point, Kevin White leaned closer to me and whispered, “We just heard a piece of history.”
So, Ike gave us Route 80, but Father Ted helped route it. Since we know where the road is now, my guess is that the parcel they originally wanted would likely have covered Douglas Road, cutting through today’s campus in the area of the Warren Golf Course, the Credit Union, Ave Maria Press, and a few other campus buildings. At the time of this discussion, Notre Dame did not have much of anything in those spaces, but Father Ted always had vision.
It’s noteworthy that there is a recently completed mansion complex approximately 100 yards north of the Ike & Ted Toll Road. They have a sign up over a pathway to the mansion. “Father Sorin House, est. 1860.” Since ND owned a parcel 100 yards south of it, it’s conceivable that Father Sorin may have had a (rumored) shed built a little further north.
Looking for documentation to back up the story Father Ted told me, here’s what a local newspaper (LOL) had in a great 1956 photo piece. This photo does makes it look like there is a big jog to the north which would fit Father Ted’s story.
