Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
April 21, 1973 A new section of a shared use path in Northern Virginia was officially opened. This segment, covering 7.5 miles (12.1 kilometers) between the independent city of Alexandria and George Washington’s historic home of Mount Vernon, was built as part of a trail operated and maintained by the National Park Service (NPS). The... Continue Reading →
February 22, 1861 Edward Payson Weston began a 478-mile (769.3-kilometer) trip from the Massachusetts State House in Boston to Washington, D.C., to attend Abraham Lincoln’s first presidential inauguration – and he did so using only his two feet for transportation. The 21-year-old Weston undertook this ambitious trip in the first place because of a bet he... Continue Reading →
February 11, 1878 The Boston Bicycle Club was formally established. This club was the first official bicycle organization in the United States, and it took shape a year after the nation’s first periodical focused on that transportation mode – The American Bicycling Journal – had been likewise launched in the capital of Massachusetts. The Boston Bicycle... Continue Reading →
January 13, 1879 Ada Anderson – a 35-year-old Englishwoman widely known as “Madame Anderson” – finished a 28-day-long pedestrian endurance event at Mozart Garden in Brooklyn, New York, that earned her international headlines. The next day’s edition of the Cincinnati Daily Star reported, “Madame Anderson has completed one of the most difficult tasks ever attempted by... Continue Reading →
September 3, 2013 A bicycle-and-pedestrian path on the newly constructed eastern span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge (famously nicknamed the Bay Bridge) made its debut. The noontime opening of the completed two-thirds of the path took place the day after the roadway portion of the new span was inaugurated. A segment of the original... Continue Reading →
August 28, 2018 In England’s North East region, the recently completed Northern Spire Bridge within the city and metropolitan borough of Sunderland was opened to pedestrians. This two-span cable-stayed bridge carries the highway A1231 over the River Wear and serves as a link between the Sunderland suburbs of Pallion and Castletown. The 1,102-foot (336-meter)-long structure... Continue Reading →
August 21, 1958 In New Zealand, Auckland became the first city of that Pacific island country to adopt a street-crossing system for pedestrians that had originated several years earlier in North America. The system, which is generally known as the “pedestrian scramble” and has also been called the “Barnes Dance,” entails having all motor vehicle traffic... Continue Reading →
August 13, 1929 A pedestrian advocacy organization that has been not only long-lived but influential was established at a meeting at Essex Hall in London, England. The Pedestrians’ Association was formed in response to the dramatic increase in automobiles throughout England during the 1920s and the resultant road fatalities -- a large portion involving pedestrians --... Continue Reading →
June 24, 2017 The Klingle Valley Trail for pedestrians and bicyclists was inaugurated in northwest Washington, D.C. Muriel Bowser, mayor of the District of Columbia, cut a ribbon to formally open the 0.7-mile (1.1-kilometer) paved path. Other public officials in attendance included Leif Dormsjo, director of the District Department of Transportation (DDOT). Construction on the... Continue Reading →
June 18, 2018 As work on a suspension pedestrian bridge in Australia neared completion, the LED lighting on that new structure was officially tested for the first time. This Monday evening trial run, according to the West Australian newspaper, was held “with the inclement weather failing to dampen the colorful display.” The bridge crosses over... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 