Editing Interstate 40 (section)

===Predecessors and planning===
[[File:Kingman-Beale Wagon Road Monument-1.jpg|thumb|A monument to [[Beale's Wagon Road]] in [[Kingman, Arizona]]]]
During the [[Colonial history of the United States|colonial]] and [[Territorial evolution of the United States|westward expansion]] eras, a number of [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] trails existed within the vicinity of what is now Interstate 40. In 1857, an expedition led by Edward Fitzgerald Beale was tasked with establishing a trade route along the [[35th parallel north]] from [[Fort Smith, Arkansas]], to [[Los Angeles]]. This route, which became known as [[Beale's Wagon Road]], was constructed by a team of about 100 men and 22 camels led by Lt. [[Edward Fitzgerald Beale]]. Completed in 1859, it is generally considered the first federal highway in the Southwestern United States.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-bealeroad/ |title = Beale's Wagon Road From Arkansas to California |first = Kathy |last = Weiser-Alexander |date = 2021 |work = Legends of America |access-date = January 15, 2023 }}{{self-published inline|certain=yes|date=January 2023}}</ref> 

In the early 20th century, a number of [[auto trail]]s were established by private organizations to aid motorists in traveling between major cities. Among these was the [[National Old Trails Road]], which roughly followed the western part of present-day I-40 to Albuquerque, and the [[Lee Highway]], which followed much of the eastern portion of the route.<ref>{{cite map |author = Rand McNally |title = Auto Road Atlas |year = 1926 |url = http://www.broermapsonline.org/members/ |location = Chicago |publisher = Rand McNally |via = Broer Maps Online |access-date = April 15, 2012 |archive-date = April 27, 2012 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120427035609/http://www.broermapsonline.org/members/ |url-status = live }}</ref> When the state governments established the [[United States Numbered Highway System]] in 1926, two of these most important highways, [[U.S. Route 66|US&nbsp;66]] and [[U.S. Route 70|US&nbsp;70]] were established within the present-day I-40 corridor.<ref>{{cite web |last = Weingroff |first = Richard F. |title = From Names to Numbers: The Origins of the U.S. Numbered Highway System |url = https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/numbers.cfm |work = Highway History |publisher = Federal Highway Administration |access-date = December 9, 2021 |archive-date = September 1, 2019 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190901182531/https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/numbers.cfm |url-status = live }}</ref> 

US&nbsp;66, which followed the route from its western terminus to Oklahoma City, became arguably the most famous highway in the United States and has been recognized multiple times in popular culture.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.nps.gov/articles/route-66-overview.htm |title = Route 66 Overview |author = <!--Not stated--> |date = June 27, 2022 |publisher = National Park Service |access-date = January 15, 2023 }}</ref> US&nbsp;70, which roughly follows the remainder of the Interstate, was also one of the most important highways for east−west travelers, and was considered part of the "Broadway of America" highway between California and [[New York (state)|New York]].<ref>{{cite news |author = <!--Staff writer(s)/no by-line.--> |title = Plan To Spend $8,000,000 On Route 1, Tennessee's Broadway of America |url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/69837346/plan-to-spend-8000000-on-route-1/ |page = 9 |work = Johnson City Chronicle |date = August 18, 1928 |access-date = February 10, 2021 |via = [[Newspapers.com]] }}</ref>

An east−west trans-continental freeway to serve the south-central United States was proposed in multiple plans throughout the 1930s and 1940s for what later became the [[Interstate Highway System]].<ref>{{cite magazine |last = Pfeiffer |first = David A. |date = Summer 2006 |title = Ike's Interstates at 50 |pages = 14–18 |url = https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2006/summer/interstates.html |magazine = [[Prologue (magazine)|Prologue]] |issn = 0033-1031 |access-date = April 11, 2022 |archive-date = March 2, 2011 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110302235254/http://archives.gov/publications/prologue/2006/summer/interstates.html |url-status = live }}</ref> The general alignment for the highway that became I-40 was included in a plan released on August 2, 1947, by the Public Roads Administration of the now-defunct [[Federal Works Agency]].<ref>{{cite map |url = http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Interstate_Highway_plan_August_2,_1947_big_text.jpg |title = National System of Interstate Highways |author = [[Public Roads Administration]] |scale = Scale not given |location = Washington, DC |publisher = Public Roads Administration |date = August 2, 1947 |access-date = September 4, 2010 |via = [[Wikimedia Commons]] }}</ref> The Interstate was officially authorized between Barstow and Greensboro by the [[Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956]], which created the Interstate Highway System. The numbering was subsequently approved by the [[American Association of State Highway Officials]] (AASHO) on August 14, 1957, along with most of the system.<ref name="AASHO57"/> 

In 1957, the California Department of Highways, the predecessor agency to the [[California Department of Transportation]] (Caltrans), proposed that the route be renumbered to [[Interstate 30|I-30]] instead because of the already existing [[U.S. Route 40 in California|US&nbsp;40]] in the state. This route was decommissioned in the state in 1964 as a part of a major revamping of California's overall highway numbering system.<ref name="cahighways">{{cite web |url = http://cahighways.org/033-040.html#040 |work = California Highways |title = Interstate 40 |access-date = November 27, 2011 }}{{self-published source|date=February 2017}}</ref> The California state government also submitted [[California State Route 58|State Route&nbsp;58]] (SR&nbsp;58) between [[Barstow, California|Barstow]] and [[Bakersfield, California|Bakersfield]] for I-40 extension potential in 1956 and 1968, but both of these requests were rejected.<ref>{{cite web |last = Waller |first = Jeff |url = http://we.got.net/~mapman/streets/California/I40/I40.html |title = Interstate 40 Extension and Bakersfield Freeway Network |work = California Streets |access-date = February 18, 2006 |archive-date = April 26, 2012 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120426050344/http://we.got.net/~mapman/streets/California/I40/I40.html |url-status = dead }}{{self-published source|date=February 2017}}</ref>

From 1963 to 1966, the US government considered a plan, part of [[Project Plowshare]], to use atomic bombs to excavate a path for I-40 through California. The project was canceled largely due to the cost of developing the explosives and due to the unavailability of a "clean bomb".<ref>{{cite news |first = Howard |last = Wilshire |title = Building a Radioactive Highway |publisher = Sierra Club |work = Desert Report |date = Spring 2001 |pages = 9, 14 |url = http://www.desertreport.org/media/DR_Spring2001.pdf |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090326112853/http://www.desertreport.org/media/DR_Spring2001.pdf |archive-date = March 26, 2009 }}</ref>