Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
December 2, 2018 In the state of Assam in northeastern India, a road-rail bridge began service when a freight train chugged across the newly built structure. Piyush Goyal, India’s minister of railways, used his Twitter account that same day to highlight this crossing. He tweeted that the inaugural train trip on December 2 was “a... Continue Reading →
November 25, 1999 The Süd Autobahn (designated as A2) in the Republic of Austria was officially completed. This motorway runs south from the outskirts of the capital city of Vienna to the market town of Arnoldstein along Austria’s border with Italy. (“Süd Autobahn” means “South Motorway” in German.) Construction on this controlled-access highway began in... Continue Reading →
October 30, 2007 The M1 motorway made its debut in northwestern Pakistan. This east-west highway was officially inaugurated by Syed Pervez Musharraf, the president of Pakistan from 2001 to 2008. The 96-mile (155-kilometer) M1 motorway connects the city of Peshawar (capital of the province of Khyber Pakhtunkwa) with the metropolitan area encompassing the cities of... Continue Reading →
Frank Sandoval, whose U.S. Army service during World War II included taking part in one of the most critical and formidable roadbuilding projects of that military conflict, grew up in a predominantly Hispanic American community on Second Street in the small town of Silvis, Illinois. That street is just a block-and-a-half long and consists of... Continue Reading →
October 7, 2010 (Image courtesy of Eastern Reporter Community News.) In Australia, Mandjoogoordap Drive (State Route 19) in the Peel region of the state of Western Australia was officially opened two months of schedule. (“Mandjoogoordap” is pronounced man-joo-goord-daap.) Western Australia’s Transport Minister Simon O’Brien officiated at the dedication ceremony for the dual carriageway (this class... Continue Reading →
August 30, 1925 Two officials of the American Automobile Association (AAA) headed out of Washington, D.C., for an ambitious transcontinental motor vehicle trip to California. AAA President Thomas P. Henry and Ernest N. Smith, general manager of that organization, undertook that long drive to participate in the festivities commemorating California’s 75th anniversary as a state. Both... Continue Reading →
August 2, 1947 About nine years before President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed into law the bill formally establishing the Interstate Highway System, the general locations of the first designated routes for that proposed network were announced. This announcement was made by Major General Philip B. Fleming, administrator of the Federal Works Agency (which included the Public... Continue Reading →
July 25, 2011 In Morocco, a major highway connecting Fes (second only to Casablanca as the nation’s largest city) with the city of Oujda (near the border of Algeria) made its official debut. The Fes-Oujda Expressway – spanning about 190 miles (306 kilometers) -- was officially opened by Karim Ghellab, the Moroccan minister of equipment... Continue Reading →
June 6, 1908 Construction officially began on the private toll road known as the Long Island Motor Parkway. The late-afternoon groundbreaking ceremony for the new motor vehicle route took place in what is now the Long Island hamlet of Bethpage. Approximately 500 people were in attendance, and they were formally welcomed by the Motor Parkway’s general manager... Continue Reading →
June 4, 1923 In Washington, D.C., dedication ceremonies were held for the permanent mile-marker monument known as the Zero Milestone (replacing a temporary version that had been put in place there a few years earlier). This monolith, which still stands in an area just south of the White House, was originally intended to serve as the... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 