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FHWA By Day

A Look at the History of the Federal Highway Administration
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October 2
1946 Restrictions on highway construction with Federal funds, imposed on August 5, 1946, by the Director of War Mobilization and Reconversion to avoid conflict with the post World War II housing program, are lifted except for projects requiring structural steel.
1969 Regional Federal Highway Administrator John A. Hanson, who joined BPR in 1949, is killed in a car accident a block from his Albany, NY, office. Deputy Director E. H. Swick represents Administrator Frank Turner at the funeral. An annual award, given for outstanding performance in the transportation field in Region 1, is named for Hanson.
1976 Secretary of Transportation William Coleman, Jr., holds a public hearing to receive arguments on proposed I-66 between the Capital Beltway and Washington, DC. The hearing, held in the Departmental Auditorium in Washington, DC, provides the Secretary with an opportunity to hear arguments on whether he should approve construction of I-66 as a four-lane highway. (See January 5, 1977.) Following a public hearing on June 21, 1975, Secretary Coleman had rejected the State's six-lane proposal.
1993 Administrator Rodney Slater is keynote speaker at the opening of the Isle of Palms Connector in South Carolina. The project, built in part with emergency relief funds made available following the devastation caused by Hurricane Hugo in 1989, is hailed for environmental sensitivity in minimizing damage to delicate salt marshes.
PHOTO: Isle of Palms Connector in Charleston, SC.
Isle of Palms Connector in Charleston, SC.
2001 Mary E. Peters, former Director of the Arizona Department of Transportation (1998-2001), takes the oath of office as the 15th Federal Highway Administrator. The first woman to hold the title, she remains in the post until July 30, 2005. On September 5, 2006, President George W. Bush would nominate her to be Secretary of Transportation, saying that as Administrator, "Mary led efforts to improve safety and security, reduce traffic congestion, and modernize America's roads and bridges." (See October 17, 2006.)
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