Yes, Dwight Eisenhower in 1956, when the Interstate Highway Act was passed, was really worrying about race riots in inner cities.
Perhaps this urban legend was created because one justification for the interstate highway system was to help mobility of military units in case of an invasion of the continental United States. The designed were such that linear lengths of the interstate could also be used a fighter jet runways. Some liberal kook then took this legitimate need (national defense) and warped it into some jack-boot thug tin foil hat conspiracy theory still being spouted off by hygenically challenege hippie professors.
What a visionary!!!
LOL! Just to be safe: /sarcasm
He was more worried about the time it took the military to deploy coast to coast and he had the model of the German Autobahnen in mind. The bridges were made just high enough that tank transporters could get under them.
The road beds were made just strong enough to hold the weight of tanks. There were a lot more concerns about what would happen if the Ruskies dropped a -bombs on out cities