Details:

Corporate Creators:
Iowa. State Highway Commission. Inforamtion Section
Corporate Contributors:
Iowa. State Highway Commission. Division of Planning
Subject/TRT Terms:
[+]
Highway Planning Highways Highway Safety History Iowa Video Location Pedestrian Safety Relocation (Facilities) SD Traffic Congestion Traffic Flow Traffic Safety Transportation Planning Transportation Safety Video WMV
Resource Type:
Video
Geographical Coverage:
Iowa
Corporate Publisher:
Iowa. State Highway Commission
Abstract:
By the late 1950s, it had become increasingly clear to Iowa transportation professionals that highways, roads and streets in the state needed to be redesigned to safely and efficiently carry ever-growing traffic volumes. This 16-minute film, produced in 1960 and titled Highway Relocations, was created by the Iowa State Highway Commission (ISHC), now the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT).

The film depicts period traffic congestion, sharp and winding sections of road, steep hills making trucks slow to a crawl, and dangerous vehicle and pedestrian crossings, all important reasons why highway design and safety improvements, and highway relocation were needed. In fact, when the film was produced, U.S. 30 or the Lincoln Highway was the busiest primary road in Iowa; and the section between State Center and Boone was deemed “critical,” meaning it was considered dangerous by the ISHC’s Efficiency Standards.

Prior to film production, the ISHC employed a rather unorthodox approach to installing a vehicle-mounted camera system on the film crew’s vehicle, a 1958 Ford Ranch Wagon. They attached a ladder to the rear of a station wagon to which a camera was mounted and the cameraman was perched, capturing a bird’s-eye view of the vehicle and roadway ahead. It is estimated that the ladder extended approximately 22 feet in the air from the roadway surface. The camera crew followed and filmed a lead car, a 1958 Plymouth Fury, throughout the filming process. The unidentified cameraman had the precarious task of trying to hold the camera steady and stay on the ladder, notably without a safety harness or other protective device. This all seems rather unbelievable considering today’s safety standards, but this photo and the film tell the story.

Filming started just east of State Center at the junction of Iowa 64 (now Iowa 330) and U.S. 30 (the Lincoln Highway). The production continued west along U.S. 30, passing through State Center, Colo, Nevada, and Ames, and ended just west of Boone, a total distance of 55 miles.

Also of special historic interest in the film is the appearance of the “No Passing Zone” signs, which were created in Iowa and first erected in December 1958. They later were adopted as a national uniform traffic device standard.


Format:
WMV
Collection(s):
US Transportation Collection
Main Document Checksum:
[+]
urn:sha256:29ee8f04b43cc2e0282ba10e76e2229cd2af5ab97eaf2322f633f33bfb5188c6
Download URL:
https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/24657/dot_24657_DS1.wmv
File Type:

Supporting Files

• No Additional Files

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