Then & Now: Interstate 90 transformed a region

The interstate highway is something baby boomers and younger people take for granted. And though President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed legislation to fund an interstate highway system June 29, 1956, some places didn’t see the results until the early 1960s. Before that, a road trip to Moses Lake or Seattle meant driving up the two-lane Sunset Highway and crossing the state on a mismatched series of two-lane roads that wound through small towns and past dusty rural gas stations. The interstate, with limited on- and offramps and higher speed limits, shaved time from long trips, but travelers now speed past towns that once were important wayside stops for motorists.

- Jesse Tinsley