The Interstate Didn't Just Bypass Radiator Springs, It Bypassed My Hometown

The major plot point of the movie Cars is hotshot NASCAR rookie Lightning McQueen accidentally ending up in a tiny desert town called Radiator Springs on his way to a tie breaker race in California. The construction of an Interstate highway near Radiator Springs changed the little town. Instead of the new stretch of road boosting business like everyone hoped it would, it had the opposite effect. Because the new freeway was so efficient compared to Route 66, less and less people traveled through Radiator Springs. Eventually, the townsfolk got so desperate for customers, whenever one DID roll through their town (which was a rare occurence for quite a while), they acted like it was an air raid. They had their sales pitches memorized and were ready to jump into action at the drop of a hat. I digress, let me talk about how this whole Interstate thing applies to my hometown…

This change of life caused by the construction of a new highway also happened to have an impact on my hometown, Spokane Valley. I happened to see a very local newspaper for free at a local Dairy Queen after some tennis and volleyball at the nearby high school. I picked up a copy and started to read what was the cover story “The Valley: Pre-Freeway”.

Interstate Highway 90 being built in the 1950's

“Drivers preferred (the Interstate) because they could travel faster with fewer stops.”

“Interstate 90 had just 23 accidents reported in 1956, compared to 322 on Sprague and 125 on Trent,”

“While the interstate may have saved lives, it destroyed agricultural operations and businesses. ‘People’s farms were no longer,’ said Singleton ‘Irrigation was very big in the Valley. For a long time you could see irrigation ditches that stopped right at the side of the freeway because they had been cut off.’”

“Valley businesses also suffered and not just the ones that had been in the route of I-90. ‘The impact on the businesses was more negative because they were being bypassed,’ Singleton said of the companies located along Highway 10. ‘When the freeway came through it made a great deal of difference to those businesses along Sprague Avenue, economically,’ said Bobby Lynch ‘It probably cut business in half.’”

“There were other issues too. Infrastructure such as power lines and poles also had to be moved to make room for the freeway…”

If you want to read the full news story, here is a link to the newspaper issue (it starts on page 8)

Concluding Thoughts

Construction of speedy super highways in places throughout the world, including the United States, changed culture, our driving habits and the cars we drive. I found it fascinating that what happened to Radiator Springs in the movie Cars also happened to the place I called home decades earlier. While people can get to their destinations faster and safer, it’s not the most fun way to do it. If petrolheads had their way, there would be more curvy mountain passes instead of straight through tunnels, you know, because it’s fun.