Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
October 28, 2017 About two years after it had been opened to the public, the Lyman Bridge between New Hampshire and Vermont was officially dedicated in a Saturday morning ceremony. This beam bridge crosses the Connecticut River and serves as a link between the community of West Lebanon within the city of Lebanon in New... Continue Reading →
October 1, 1872 Henry Hooper Blood, who would earn widespread respect in the course of a high-profile career that included serving as chairman of the Utah State Road Commission – a predecessor of the present-day Utah Department of Transportation -- and president of the American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO), was born in the... Continue Reading →
September 10, 1932 In northwestern Massachusetts, a newly built bridge crossing the Connecticut River was opened. The French King Bridge serves as a link between the towns of Erving and Gill. This bridge was named after French King Rock, a nearby geographical feature. Approximately 15,000 people showed up on that Saturday for the inaugural festivities... Continue Reading →
August 8, 2011 In the Detroit metropolitan area, a newly built intermodal terminal station in the city of Pontiac was officially dedicated. The public officials on hand for this ceremony included Gary Peters, who was the U.S. representative for that region of Michigan at the time and now serves the Great Lakes State as one... Continue Reading →
May 24, 1915 Civil engineer Arthur Hale applied for a patent for his design of a road interchange focused on facilitating the flow of automobile traffic. Hale, who resided in the village of Rowlandsville in Maryland, characterized this design as one that contained “certain new and useful improvements in street crossings.” Hale’s proposed interchange consisted... Continue Reading →
April 11, 1895 A letter from California that was sent to General Roy Stone (1836-1905), director of the U.S. Office of Road Inquiry (forerunner of the Federal Highway Administration), shared news about a significant milestone in highways development within that state. This letter was from state highway officials in California and read in part: “It... 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 →
November 28, 2005 In south-central Connecticut, a newly built train station in the town of Guilford was opened for use. Guilford station, which is maintained by the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT), is part of the regional commuter rail service formally known as Shore Line East (SLE). SLE operates in southern Connecticut along a segment... 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 →
October 16, 2006 The second version of the U.S. Grant Bridge in southern Ohio was officially inaugurated. This two-lane, cable-stayed bridge carries U.S. Route 23 across the Ohio River and serves as a link between city of Portsmouth in Ohio and the community of South Portsmouth (near the city of South Shore) in Kentucky. This... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 