Nate Sizemore, a spokesman for DOT, said the agency is looking to remeasure I-19, which runs for 63 miles, with mile makers in an effort “to restore American standards and ensure our infrastructure is easy to understand and navigate.”
“When you’re driving in the United States, it should be unmistakably American—not modeled after foreign systems,” Sizemore told the Wall Street Journal.
I-19 is the only continuous highway in the United States to be measured in kilometers. It was used as a test after former President Gerald Ford signed legislation in 1975 that established the U.S. Metric Board and designated the metric system to be the U.S.’s preferred measuring system.
Former President Ronald Reagan scrapped the metric board when he took office, but I-19 kept its kilometer readings.
I-19’s signage has remained in kilometers because of “strong interest expressed by communities and businesses,” Steve Elliot, a spokesman for the Arizona Department of Transportation, told the Washington Examiner.
“ADOT proposed switching to mile markers in 2009 but withdrew the idea based on local feedback wanting to keep kilometers as part of the area’s character,” he added, likely in reference to the highway exits matching up with with their kilometer marker and the difficulties in needing to change marketing signs such as “Get off at Exit 63.”
Elliot also said ADOT has “received no communication from our federal partners on this matter.”
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I-19 was primarily paid for by the federal government, but it is owned and operated by Arizona, which could create difficulties over control if ADOT decides it doesn’t agree with the U.S. DOT about making the change.
Some travelers are less enthusiastic about the change than others.
“I can see a lot of people saying: ‘No, it’s not what America is. America is miles,’” Joan Schneidmiller said to the Wall Street Journal. “Why does America have to have everything be American?”
The push to re-measure I-19 in miles falls in line with President Donald Trump’s “America First” agenda. Trump signed an executive order in January that renamed the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
Ross O’Keefe contributed to this report.
