Interstate 19 in Arizona Retains Unique Status as America's Only Metric Highway
Driving along Interstate 19 in Southern Arizona, travelers encounter a unique feature not found anywhere else in the United States. Spanning 63 miles from Nogales to Tucson, which is also marked as 102 kilometers, this stretch of road stands as the nation's solitary metric highway. As reported by ABC15, metric signs are used to indicate distances, a holdover from a nearly bygone era when there was a national push to adopt the metric system.
Constructed initially in 1962 and completed fully in 1978, I-19's embrace of the metric system coincided with President Jimmy Carter's efforts to move the United States toward metrication. "We didn't do it because there (was) so much push back,", as former traffic reporter Allen "Big Al" Kath described in a statement obtained by ABC15, it remains the only interstate to have converted.
Even the planned conversion to imperial units about a decade ago was met with resistance from daily I-19 commuters, leading to the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) declaring, "And so ADOT pushed back and said we're going to leave it metric," Kath told KGUN 9.
Though metric units dominate the highway signs, a secret lies just at a glance, as pointed out by Kath. Hidden mile markers, turned at a 90-degree angle from the public eye, are used by ADOT and the Department of Public Safety to maintain consistency across Arizona's highway system. "All signed in metric, but it's also signed in imperial units," said Kath.
With upcoming infrastructural developments, the future of I-19's unique metric distinction might see changes. ADOT's proposed Sonoran Corridor aims to divert a significant amount of truck traffic from the highway's northern section. Meanwhile, the anticipated Interstate 11 could offer an alternative route for semis, potentially reshaping the I-19 corridor's role. In a world where the United States joins only Myanmar and Liberia in not using the metric system on a grand scale, I-19's metric identity, for now, persists as a singular testament to a once-national ambition of conversion.
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