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FHWA By Day

A Look at the History of the Federal Highway Administration
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June 2
1920 Chief Thomas MacDonald, National Park Service founder Stephen Mather, and other officials in Washington, DC, wish pathfinder and temporary BPR Special Agent A. L. Westgard success on his trip to identify the best route for the National Park-to-Park Highway loop of western National Parks.
Map: National Park-to-Park Highway
Map of the National Park-to-Park Highway.
1958 Today is moving day for Washington Headquarters employees who report for duty in their new offices in the Matomic Building (1717 H Street, NW)--521 employees from offices in the GSA Building, 26 from the United Steel Workers Building, and 3 from the National Association of Plumbing Contractors' Building. They join employees from the Defense Plans and Operations Division, who moved on May 12, and the Law Library (May 24). The move will be completed in 1960, with BPR occupying floors 5 through 10. ("Matomic" comes from the building's owner, Jerry Maiatico, and the Atomic Energy Commission, the first tenant.)
1979 FHWA announces that all future roadbuilding contracts will contain provisions to ensure effective control of water pollution from highway construction sites. "In the past," Administrator Frank Turner says, "these pollution controls were voluntary . . . . Henceforth, they will be spelled out in the contracts with provisions made for separate payment for the control work performed."
1988 Secretary of Transportation James Burnley and Administrator Robert Farris are among the guests participating in the opening of the 10-mile I-93 Franconia Notch Parkway in New Hampshire. Controversy, particularly related to the rock landmark known as the "Old Man of the Mountain," resulted in a compromise parkway design. The finished highway includes sections of Interstate highway, a four-lane parkway, a three-lane parkway, and a two-lane parkway.
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