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FHWA By Day

A Look at the History of the Federal Highway Administration
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January 18
1911 An OPR engineer begins a thorough study of roads in Mobile County, AL, particularly those under county supervision. During the review, which concludes March 6, he finds that except for a few shell roads, the county does not have any improved roads.
1912 The Kansas State Good Roads Association's 2-day 10th Annual Convention in Emporia concludes. Director Logan Page delivers an address on the value of good roads, stating that at present, road work is carried on inefficiently. Noting that about 100,000 township road offices exercise separate authority with no one to direct them, he asks, "What would a great railroad organization do if each of its section bosses were permitted to buy all of the material for the construction and maintenance of his division of the railroad?" At the close of his address, Page invites questions. Asked if a county surveyor, instead of a State engineer, could handle road work, Page responds, "It would be just as sensible to appoint an astrologer to build the good roads."
"The money that is appropriated for good roads should be judiciously spent or it will accomplish nothing."
Logan Page
Director, OPR
January 18, 1912

1961 1961 Maryland is the first State to enter into a "Bonus Agreement" on control of outdoor advertising under the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1958, providing for a 1-percent increase in the Federal share of Interstate highway projects.
Photo: Bert Tallamy, John B. Funk, Joseph D. Buscher, and Clifton W. Enfield.
With Administrator Bert Tallamy's signature, Maryland becomes the first State to execute a bonus agreement for regulating billboards along the Interstate System. Watching are John B. Funk (seated, left), Chairman-Director, State Road Commission; Joseph D. Buscher (standing, left), Maryland's Special Assistant Attorney General; and Clifton W. Enfield, BPR's General Counsel.
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