Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
July 3, 1938 On the eve of the United States’ 162nd birthday, NBC Radio conducted a nationwide broadcast commemorating the Lincoln Highway a quarter-century after an association was established to promote that coast-to-coast vehicular road. This radio program featured interviews with several Lincoln Highway Association (LHA) officials who had been instrumental in helping to create ... Continue Reading →
Shailen P. Bhatt was officially sworn in by Pete Buttigieg, U.S. secretary of transportation, on January 13, 2023, to serve as head of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). This inaugural ceremony made Bhatt the 21st administrator of FHWA and the first person of Indian descent to step into that leadership position. The previous month, Bhatt... Continue Reading →
May 2, 1906 Thomas F. Airis, who would become director of the District of Columbia’s Department of Highways and Traffic (a predecessor of the present-day District Department of Transportation) was born in the town of Eau Claire, Wisconsin. He earned his degree in, civil engineering from the University of Wisconsin. In 1929, Airis joined the... Continue Reading →
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... Continue Reading →
January 22, 1960 A steel girder bridge in Pennsylvania’s capital city of Harrisburg was officially opened. The multi-lane John Harris Bridge carries Interstate 83 and that region’s Capital Beltway across the Susquehanna River. This bridge was specifically named after John Harris Sr. (1673-1748), a prominent trader and ferry operator in that area. Harrisburg was likewise... Continue Reading →
December 7, 1953 A new version of the Chamberlain Bridge in South Dakota was dedicated. This structure spans Lake Francis Case, an artificial reservoir that is impounded by Fort Randall Dam on the Missouri River, and it connects the city of Chamberlain in Brule County with the town of Oacoma in Lyman County. The present-day... Continue Reading →
November 29, 1957 A pair of two-lane road tunnels built southeast of downtown Baltimore was officially inaugurated. These 1.4-mile (2.3-kilometer)-long tunnels, collectively known as the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel, carry Interstate 895 under the Patapsco River. Theodore McKeldin, who was governor of Maryland from 1951 to 1959, presided at the opening ceremonies for the Baltimore Harbor... Continue Reading →
November 16, 2019 In the San Francisco Bay Area, a dedication ceremony – complete with a ribbon-cutting -- was held less than two weeks before Thanksgiving for a bicycle and pedestrian path that had recently been added to the San Rafael-Richmond Bridge (officially named the John F. McCarthy Memorial Bridge in honor of a longtime... Continue Reading →
On April 8, 1996, a dedication ceremony was held for the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) Employee Memorial near the city of Paxico in the northeastern region of the Sunflower State. This memorial, which is specifically located at the Paxico Safety Rest Area on Interstate 70, commemorates state highway employees who have lost their lives... Continue Reading →
January 11, 1961 In New York City, a comparatively low-key dedication was held for a suspension bridge that crosses the East River and serves as a link between the neighborhoods of Throggs Neck in the Bronx and Bay Terrace in Queens. “The Throgs Neck Bridge was opened yesterday with no speeches, little fanfare and not... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 