April 5
| 1932 | The first stage of the final Bates Road Test, near Springfield, IL, is completed when the loaded trucks used in the test had made 1,000 round trips over the 63 test sections on the 2-mile road. The tests, which are sponsored by the Illinois Division of Highways and BPR, demonstrated the need for control of wheel loads and result in the use of a thickened edge on concrete pavements. |
| 1962 | In an important message to Congress, President John F. Kennedy recommends that approval of Federal-aid highway projects in any metropolitan area should be contingent on a finding by the Secretary of Commerce, via BPR, that the projects are consistent with adequate, comprehensive development plans for the area or are based on a continuing planning process carried on cooperatively by the States and local communities. The recommendations are largely based on a joint report on urban transportation submitted to the President on March 28 by Secretary of Commerce Luther Hodges and Housing and Home Finance Administrator Robert C. Weaver.
"An efficient and dynamic transportation system is vital to our domestic economic growth. Affecting the cost of every commodity we consume or export, it is equally vital to our ability to compete abroad." |
