How does your morning begin? Do you get caught in the rush hour crush as you drive to your office, shop or factory? Maybe you pull off at a rest stop or interchange for a cup of coffee and a quick fill-up? Odds are you'll spend at least part of your commute on one of the interstate highways crisscrossing the nation. Maybe you'll use the freeway to pick up groceries before heading home to your suburban development. On the weekend, do you cruise down the interstate to the ballpark, or maybe to see family in some other city?

Now try to imagine the U.S. without the interstate highway network. Not easy, is it? Virtually every aspect of American life has been impacted, from jobs to housing, dining, shopping, even our religious practices.  We likely wouldn't have McDonald's or Starbucks, nor big box stores.

Of course, there was a time when the nation was only loosely linked by a patchwork of local roads. That's what a young Army officer by the name of Dwight David Eisenhower discovered when he was assigned to a truck convoy trying to wend its way from Washington to San Francisco , back in 1919. The trip took 60 days, and gave President Dwight D. Eisenhower the idea for the most significant piece of legislation to emerge from his two terms in the White House.

On June 29, 1956, the president signed into law the Federal Aid Highway Act, popularly called the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act of 1956. To help sell the costly project - the eventual price tag for the 43,000-mile interstate system would come to about $114 billion - sponsors sold it as a security blanket for Cold War jitters. Indeed, interstate bridges across the country had to be tall enough to let pass a Minuteman Missile launcher.

The missiles now hide in their own silos, but the freeways have become more essential than ever to car-crazy America . And so, TheCarConnection.com has created this special section to both honor the interstate, and to look at the oft-controversial impact it has had while reshaping the very face of the country.

Interstates: Life in the Vast Lane (6/26/2006)
Celebrating - and rethinking - a half-century of interstates.

Yoostabees: How the Interstates Were Born (6/26/2006)
The long and winding road started right along with man.

Interstates: The Future, Divided (6/26/2006)
Rising traffic demands require a new vision for the mile markers ahead.

Cargirl: On The Not-So-Legal Uses of Interstates (6/26/2006)
A confession, but no penance asked.

TCC's Speeding Excuses Contest! (6/26/2006)
Send yours in - and win a new navigation system or XM radio!

TCC Tip: Hints for Speeders (6/26/2006)
What to do when you're pulled over for speeding

TCC's Top Picks: Interstate Rides (6/26/2006)
The best car for your next long trip.

TCC Trivia: Interstates Edition (6/26/2006)

Car Cartoons: American Gothic (6/26/2006)