Highway to Russia (1959)
Tuesday, September 22, 2009 at 7:46PM ;)
The March 3, 1959 edition of Arthur Radebaugh's Closer Than We Think depicts a highway to Russia, as imagined by Senator Warren G. Magnuson. According to Wikipedia, (the only source for anything that my generation might care about) this was not a new idea. Joseph Strauss, designer of the Golden Gate Bridge, proposed something similar for railroads in the 1890s.
Sen. Magnuson of Washington has a bold new idea for linking our newest state, Alaska, with Siberia via a bridge or vehicular tunnel across the 30- to 40-mile stretch of shallow waters of the Bering Strait. It would go from Wales, on the tip of Seward Peninsula, to Little Diomede and Big Diomede Islands, thence to Peyak, Siberia.
The Senator forecasts this hook-up within the lifetime of the present generation, to create a rail and highway route between points as distant as New York and Paris. "I am convinced," he says, "that the tourists who one day will drive this route will be our best ambassadors!"
Next week: Plastic Schoolhouses
Previously on Paleo-Future:
- How Experts Think We'll Live in 2000 A.D. (1950)
- No Shooting War Before Year 2000 (1949)
- Highways by Automation (1958)
- Closer Than We Think (1958-1963)
- Closer Than We Think! Magic Beam Highway (1961)
- Magic Highway U.S.A. Publicity Stills (1958)