America’s Main Street: I-80 is the story of the people of eleven states, linked by a common road and common dreams. The journey begins at a bakery in San Francisco’s historic Chinatown and ends at a Dominican rotisserie chicken restaurant in New York. In between, you’ll visit a cowboy poetry gathering, a horseback riding school, an old-fashioned chocolate shop, meet volunteer firefighters, snowplow drivers, a state trooper, a rest stop manager, and ghost hunting tourists, plus experience a family oriented mountain resort and the world’s biggest truck stop.
Photos courtesy Nafen Wu
The term “interstate highway” usually conjures up images of concrete, asphalt and steel. But it is the people who travel these roads, and those whose lives are connected to it, that give it vitality and life. America once saw itself as a nation of small towns, each of which was anchored by a main street, inevitably called “Main Street.” Sprawling suburbs, along with shopping malls and big-box stores, erased much of that. Remarkably, the 21st century has seen interstate highways emerge as America’s new “Main Streets,” stitching together a fragmented nation.
America's Main Street: I-80 offers a snapshot of America and Americana, a look at the variety of its people and places, stretching from coast to coast. It includes original on-location footage shot in California, Nevada, Utah, Iowa, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York, as well as rare archival film unseen for decades.
America’s Main Street: I-80 will premiere on Public TV stations across the United States during November 2026, just prior to Thanksgiving, as nationwide millions of Americans get ready to drive “home for the holidays.” It’s anticipated it will also be available on VOD platforms, like the free PBS App. Click on the “Where to Watch” tab above for details.
Tell Us Your I-80 Story!
Share your I-80 story; good, bad, funny, sad or just plain strange… Stories should be submitted through our email address. A selection of them will be posted on this website! Click on the “Contact Us” tab.
Educators: Don’t Miss Out On Free Educational Resources
Click on the Educational Resources tab above to access classroom ready materials, including short clips from the full program suitable for use during standard instructional periods.
Photo courtesy Iowa 80 Group