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FHWA By Day

A Look at the History of the Federal Highway Administration
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August 13
1962 Maine Division Engineer R. D. Hunter, District Engineer W. P. Mitton, and Bridge Engineer R. W. Hove represent BPR at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Franklin D. Roosevelt Bridge between Lubec, ME, and Campobello, New Brunswick. Construction was financed by the Federal Government, the State, the Dominion of Canada, and the Province of New Brunswick. The Maine State Highway Commission designed the bridge, with BPR headquarters review.
1964 President Lyndon Johnson signs the Federal-Aid Highway Act in the White House. Authorizations include $1 billion a year for the FAP and FAS systems and extensions of these systems in urban areas (FYs 1966 and 1967).
Photo
Administrator Rex Whitton (right) receives one of the pens that President Lyndon B. Johnson used to sign the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1964. On Mr. Whitton's right is Commerce Secretary Luther Hodges, on his right is an unidentified gentleman (center), Representative Ed Edmundson (OK) and Representative Frank M. Clark (PA)-both members of the Committee on Public Works. Also at the ceremony were members of the Cabinet, the Congress, and representatives of the highway industry.
"For much too long, the man who owns and drives an automobile has been treated like a stepchild . . . . We complain about what he costs us but we never thank him for what he adds to the worth and wealth of our economy. We could not get along without him, but we often talk as though we can't live with him."
President Lyndon B. Johnson
August 13, 1964

1973 The Federal-Aid Highway Act, signed today, authorizes withdrawal of Interstate segments and substitution of urban mass transportation projects (expanded to allow substitute highway projects by the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1976). "The law," President Richard Nixon says, "will enable [localities] at last to relieve congestion and pollution problems by developing more balanced transportation systems where it is appropriate rather than locking them into further highway expenditures which can sometimes make such problems worse." An editorial in the Beacon Journal (Afron, OH, August 15) is headlined, "At Last Comes the Vital Step Toward Transportation Sanity."
1993 Administrator Rodney Slater delivers a symbolic check for $28.5 million to Governor Mel Carnahan and Chief Engineer Wayne Muri of the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department for emergency relief work as a result of the Great Flood of 1993. During the trip, Slater and Deputy Administrator Jane Garvey inspect a washed out section of I-635 in Riverside, MO, that has forced 42,000 cars to take a detour each day.
Photo
After receiving a symbolic check for $28.5 million in emergency relief funds from Administrator Rodney E. Slater (center), Missouri Governor Mel Carnahan (left) talks with reporters. Chief Engineer Wayne Muri of the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department looks on.
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