The Federal Highway Beautification Act requires that the State Department of Transportation regulate outdoor advertising along all Interstate and NHS highways. The National Highway System (NHS) includes highways important to the nation’s economy, mobility and defense. The Federal Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) required the creation of the NHS and identified certain strategic routes to be part of the network. Over the next several years additional routes were added with the corporation of state transportation departments, metropolitan planning organizations and other local partners. In 1995 Congress approved the approximate 160,000 mile nationwide NHS, with Illinois’ portion of about 5,600 miles. Congress developed the concept of the NHS as a way for states to focus federal resources on the nation’s most important roads. The NHS consists of a combination of State, Toll Way, and local jurisdiction miles. The 2012 Federal legislation, Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21), expanded the miles of NHS by creating an enhanced NHS network. On October 1, 2012 the NHS was expanded to about 230,000 miles nationwide. This expansion added about 2,100 miles to Illinois’ existing NHS network, for a total of 7,885 miles statewide. Currently Illinois has about 7,852 miles of NHS; of this mileage 7,083 miles are under the jurisdiction of IDOT, but IDOT is required to regulate outdoor advertising along all of the 7,885 miles. Additional information regarding the National Highway System can be found on the Federal Highway Administration’s NHS website: http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/national_highway_system/