Everyone understood that the federal interstate system would have a tremendous impact on Vermont’s future. The exact nature of those changes couldn’t be predicted, though most Vermonters were optimistic, hopeful, and welcoming of the new highway. Construction began at Guilford in 1957 and ended in 1982 on a final stretch from St. Johnsbury to
New Hampshire. Interstates 89, 91, and 93 consist of 381 miles of limited-access highways. Like railroads in the previous century, this new transportation system was a major factor in the transforming of Vermont. It brought to the state economic development, urban growth, and new and different people. Unlike the railroads, however, the interstates led more people to settle in the state as permanent residents, reversing the trend of the past one hundred years.

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