• I-44 (Laclede County, Missouri) – first contract to be let for an Interstate Highway using Interstate Highway funds (08/02/1956)
  • I-70 (St. Charles County, Missouri) – first contract to be awarded and to start construction (08/13/1956)
  • I-70 (west of Topeka, Kansas) – contract awarded 08/31/1956, construction with new contract began 09/26/1956, construction completed and road opened 11/14/1956
  • I-70/76 (Pennsylvania Turnpike from Irwin to Carlisle) – first section of Interstate Highway to be constructed (but not with Interstate Highway funds); road opened on 10/01/1940 but was not signed as Interstate until 1960s
  • Finally, Nebraska was the “first state in the nation to complete its mainline Interstate System at a cost of
    $435 million. Work began in 1957 and the final link was dedicated October 19, 1974.” (Source: Nebraska Department of Roads Fast Facts http://www.nebraskatransportation.org/docs/facts-roads.pdf)