Adverse Impacts of the Washington Beltway on Residential Property Values

Abstract

ment of passenger, commercial, and government vehicles by highway. A major response by the federal government was the passage in 1944 of the FederalAid Highway Act, which provided for the selection of a system of limitedaccess highways to be known as the System of Interstate and Defense Highways. The Highway Revenue Act of 1956 created the Highway Trust Fund into which were to be paid the proceeds of the federal motor-fuel tax and other user taxes. Payments were to be made from this fund to finance the regular federal-aid-to-highways program, and to meet the costs of the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, now known as the Interstate Highway System. In recent years, however, certain interest groups have voiced strong objections to the planned completion of particular segments of the Interstate System (particularly in urban areas), and public sentiment in general has shifted considerably so that the need for additional construction of such types of highways has been seriously questioned. Planning and research agencies at all levels of government have become very concerned with the need to accurately assess the overall feasibility of proposed projects involving highway construction or improvement. The Federal Highway Administration has recently sponsored many research projects in its attempts to gain a better understanding of the nature and potential magnitudes of all benefits and costs which may be associated with highway improvements.' Of particular recent interest have been environmentrelated social costs which are frequently related to highway use. Among the most clearly identified of such costs have been annoyances due to increases in the levels of noise and air pollution in a particular