Solar- and atomic-powered cars that don’t need to be refueled. Lanes on the highway color coded for destination. Atomic tunnel boring machines that melt rock away and prefabricated bridges allow for infrastructure to be constructed in mere minutes. Cars with television screens that show maps of your present location as you drive. Decentralized cities linked by networks of highways that allow the commuter a longer reach. The view of the future through the visionary eyes of the Walt Disney Corporation (circa 1958) is uncannily accurate in many ways, although a few things do seem really out there. Here we link to a nearly nine minute video that is certainly entertaining no matter your opinion about the role of highways in our society.

I noticed several concepts that have made their way to reality in one form or another in the years since they were envisioned by the writers of this video:

• Electronic highway information boards
• GPS navigation systems w/realtime traffic conditions
• Heads-up display on windshield
• Rear-view cameras with in-dash monitor
• Decentralized cities
• Underwater tunnels
• Viaducts carrying highways through sensitive or scenic areas

What did I miss?

Watch Magic Highway USA