1967: The Interstate highway system transforms New Orleans  The
Times-Picayune By The Times-Picayune Follow on Twitter on
December 10, 2011 at 11:59 PM  The Interstate highway system
changed New Orleans as it changed America. In the 1960s and the
early 1970s, the area was transformed by a whirlwind of
expressway construction, encouraging the growth of the suburbs
and tying New Orleans to neighboring cities.  Two of the
projects stand out: the destruction of North Claiborne Avenue as
a vibrant commercial district by the building of the elevated
I-10, and a campaign by preservationists to block a highway
along the Vieux Carre riverfront.  The Interstate highway system
was the idea of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who saw it as a
way to transport troops quickly across the country. Once the
program took hold, its math was irresistible to states. If a
highway was accepted into the system, the federal government
would pick up 90 percent of the cost. So states proposed an
endless series of spurs, designated by thr