European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 31, 1978, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Oge 20 the stars and stripes monday july 31, 1978 new York tymm 2 truck roars along interstate 80 on a poorly repaired Section near Minooka Illinois. The weakening links by Grace Liechtenstein new York times he whole interstate 80 in t Worth the powder and Lead you d need to blow it apart declared pocket rocket a trucker As he waited to Cash a Check at the huge Union 76 truck Stop just off the Highway a Bartonsville a. Though he was exaggerating he was echoing the sentiments that Many haulers business people and recreation motorists voice about interstate highways these Days. They along with state transportation officials have found parts of 1-80. Which stretches from the George washing ton Bridge to the san Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge to be As rutted soft shouldered and pot holed As the most battered Sid streets in Brooklyn. The problems with 1-80 Are symptomatic of the entire interstate net work of nearly 39,000 Miles begun in 195$ and designed to connect every major City in a web of smooth wide Safe roads. That web conceived As the nation s most ambitious Public works project is now almost Complete. Inevitably however the older segments have begun to Wear out. Many were built before the interstate system was created and have reached or exceeded the 20-year life expectancy of a Well travelled Road. This has come As no Surprise to Highway engineers. But so Many parts of the net work Are reaching serious stages of deterioration that in 1976 Congress for the first time appropriated $175 million a year specifically for the "3 r a rehabilitation restoration and reconstruction. Congress May increase the appropriation this year. Previously the Highway Trust fund maintained by Federal gasoline taxes and other Highway user taxes had been used solely for the construction of Federal roads. The "3 a program in which the Federal government pays 90 per cent of the costs and the states 10 per cent was the initial acknowledgement that the interstates needed major maintenance work More than the individual states could afford. Nevertheless states like Pennsylvania which Are most in need of rehabilitation funds May not be Able to take advantage of them because they cannot always come up with their 10 per cent share of the costs. Our financial situation is so precarious i Don t know if we re going to fund any of the 3 r projects said a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Highway department. He was referring specifically to 103 of the 313 Miles of 1-80 that the state has designated As needing rehabilitation. The Cost is estimated at $6.1 million. The state  a $15.7 million two year resurfacing project for a 32-mile Section of interstate 70 in Western Pennsylvania where truck ers staged  in March to protest the potholes. Meanwhile the Cost of such maintenance rises steadily. Not Only have la Bor costs risen dramatically in recent Yean but so has the Price of Oil a major component of Asphalt. The construction costs of the interstate system 90 per cent financed by the fed eral government have exceeded the original estimates by tens of billions of Dol Lars. The projected Cost at the outset was $27 billion now estimates of the eventual totals Range up to $100 billion. Now in Many cases rehabilitation work costs More than the original construction. In Illinois for example 41 Miles of 1-80 have been scheduled for repairs at a Cost of $20 million. The original Cost of those 41 Miles built around i960, was $17 million it s just a drop in the bucket Dale Janik an Illinois transportation depart ment unit chief said of the "3 a program. In the Early 1990 s. All interstates in our state will be coming of age for  the Story of 1-80 2,900 Miles of Good and bad roads that Cross major Rivers Cornfields Plains and deserts the Rocky mountains and the Serra nevadas is that of Only one link in a system that Rede fined the United states. As the transcontinental Railroad knit the country together a Century earlier so did the interstate system in the late 1950s and 1960s put american in closer touch with one another than they bad imagined was possible. Some say the Highway Trust fund and the roads it paid for made the trucking Industry what it is today by giving haulers an Ever spreading Choice of High Speed routes by which they could reach markets once served Only by rail or not at All. The roads also remade the living styles of americans in their paths. They made formerly arduous vacation and business trips simple and Safe. A new Roadside Industry fast food restaurants motels Gas stations and the like grew up in clusters around the Highway interchanges. The car oriented Gas con suming society of the Post world War ii Era could not Nave come into its own with out interstate highways. The roads also created controversy on occasion. Highways that sliced Thrity neighbourhoods or disrupted one Tine areas were not always built opposition. And critics said that interstate Between suburbs and inner cities facilitated the night of the White Middle class. Today with at least 600 Miles of the interstate system stir to be started some segments such As new York s West Way Are fraught with political and environmental complications. The trouble with roads like 1-80 is the they made car and truck travel so attractive that More vehicles than had been anticipated turned onto their Cloverleaf also the maximum Legal Load limits for trucks were raised. This along with studded Snow tires the scraping of Snow lows and the yearly Cycle of Rains and snows freezing and than ing ground the roads into deteriorating condition. Map shows sections of major East West artery badly in need of repair and parts already repaired. Author s note this is one of a series on How America vacations and How shots can help today s column deals with cruises cruises can Best be summed up by a slide presen tation of our trip to the Caribbean. The first slide is of a Martin carved out of ice holding 175 pounds of shrimp. The next one is picture of me stuffing pizza into every Hole in my face. The third slide is of a Buffet featuring 135 desserts. This one gives you bad skin just by looking at it. All 96 slides have food As a focal Point. The truth is most cruises Are floating cookies. Like Pavlov s dog you Are conditioned to a series of colmes. Ever time the Chimes ring you loosen your Bell unzip your Slacks if the Zipper is concealed under an Over Louse and announce let s go eat. They re playing  an Early Bird Roll and Coffee is followed by breakfast. This is followed by appetizers which precedes lunch. Mid afternoon snacks Are followed by cocktails and hours a oeuvres which precedes dinner which is followed by a Midnight Buffet and re Dawn  addition to eating there Are All kinds of games to be played aboard snip. There s the deck chair shuffle. On your first Day you Are assigned your own personal deck chair. This is Competition among All the women on the ship to see who can Tell the Saddest Story of Why her hair needs to be done before they reach port. Whimpering and threats of reprisals Are always effective watching one another grow. This is favorite. Once i asked my husband Why be was wearing a life preserver and he was t. I the irregularity Exchange hour in which Passen a Gers compare their degrees of nausea queasiness and frequency. I there Are Many pluses to a cruise. Clothes Are Hung up on hangers and stay there for the entire trip. The Passen Gers Are pampered and entertained and if they Don t relax it s their own fault. But a word of caution take maternity underwear. 1c it fam enl print inc