March 5, 2008
John C. Mackie, who served as Michigan’s state highway commissioner, passed away in Warrenton, Virginia, at the age of 88. He was also the 51st president of the American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO), which is now known as the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO).
Mackie was born on June 1, 1920, in Toronto, Canada. In 1924, his family immigrated to the United States and settled in Detroit. He graduated from Southeastern High School in that city and went on to attend the Michigan-based Lawrence Institute of Technology (since renamed Lawrence Technological University) before transferring to Michigan State University (MSU). In 1942, Mackie graduated from MSU with a B.S. degree in engineering. (He received an LL.D. from this educational institution in 1965).
By the time Mackie completed his undergraduate studies, the United States was engulfed in World War II. Mackie’s contributions to the war effort included working on airplane engine design in Detroit and then serving in the U.S. Army Air Corps as an aircraft control officer in the Pacific Theater. He was discharged from military service in 1945 as a first lieutenant. Mackie worked for an engineering firm in the Flint area until 1952, when he organized the Flint Surveying & Engineering Company. At this time, he also became the Genesee County surveyor in that part of Michigan and served in that position until 1956.
In 1957, Mackie took charge of the Michigan Highway Department when he became its state highway commissioner. At this point in time, Michigan’s state highway commissioner was the only person holding that type of position to be elected on a statewide basis. Mackie was reelected in 1961 and would become the last person chosen in such a manner to lead the Great Lakes State’s highways agency.
More than 1,000 miles (1,609.3 kilometers) of Interstate and state highways were built in Michigan during Mackie’s tenure as commissioner. Michigan, as a matter of fact, ranked first in entire country when it came to the construction of the Interstate Highway System during that period. Under Mackie’s leadership, Michigan also became the first state to build a cross-state Interstate route, I-94, and to create a highway exit numbering system.
During his tenure as commissioner, Mackie also became significantly involved in AASHO’s activities. He served on the association’s Executive Committee and then stepped into the role of first vice president. Mackie was elected AASHO president at the association’s annual meeting in Miami Beach, Florida, in December 1962.
As AASHO president, Mackie played a major role in efforts to improve the nation’s vast network of highways. He championed the progress made nationwide on building the then-new Interstate Highway System, but also emphasized the mushrooming need to keep pace with and address the various challenges posed by this nationwide network. Mackie also underscored the importance of not allowing the progress on the Interstate Highway System to shortchange what he called “equally great achievements within individual states” when it came to other roadwork efforts.
Mackie also used his time as president to promote the importance of more modern highways in improving traffic safety and encouraging economic growth. He also gave voice to the need for increased public information programs promoting the work on highways at the state level. During his time as AASHO president, Mackie served as well as presiding officer of the Pan American Highway Conference in Washington, D.C.
A little over a year after completing his term as AASHO president, Mackie resigned as state highway commissioner as the result of his election as U.S. representative from Michigan’s seventh congressional district. He served a single two-year term as a Democratic lawmaker in the 89th U.S. Congress. Mackie, who was inducted into the Michigan State Department of Transportation Hall of Fame in 1972, spent much of the remainder of his years living in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area and working as an engineering consultant.
Photo Credit: Public Domain
For more information on John C. Mackie, please check out https://www.michigan.gov/mdot/about/history/transportation-hall-of-honor/john-mackie and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_C._Mackie
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