ABSTRACT
Walter Kohler's pioneering highway program followed a pattern similar to that of university integration, but was more politically complex for having two elements. The first was highway expansion, the second, road safety. Kohler was passionate about efficient roadways and the resulting benefits to all. In a number of speeches, he critiques State Highway, formerly the main thoroughfare linking Madison to Chicago and Minneapolis, commenting on the lack of banked curves, the "roller-coaster" hills, and the clogging of trucks by auto traffic and of autos by trucks. When Kohler or another politician proposed toll roads, increased vehicle fees, or higher gasoline taxes to pay for the increase of service, the small business lobbyists objected in unison. Kohler approached other leaders around the state in the fall of 1951 to ask them to serve on a commission to review problems in road safety and options for dealing with them.
