[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 88 (Tuesday, June 28, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1388-E1389]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BART STUPAK

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 28, 2005

  Mr. STUPAK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today on behalf of the Michigan 
Congressional Delegation consisting of Senators Carl Levin and Debbie 
Stabenow, Congresswomen Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick and Candice Miller, 
and Congressmen Dave Camp, John Conyers, John Dingell, Vernon Ehlers, 
Peter Hoekstra, Dale Kildee, Joe Knollenberg, Sander Levin, Thaddeus 
McCotter, Mike Rogers, Joe Schwartz, Fred Upton and me. We pay tribute 
today to an agency in Michigan that has spent the last 100 years 
improving the means by which those in the far reaches of our beautiful 
peninsulas utilize our most well-known state product, the automobile. 
Today, we in the Michigan Congressional Delegation would like to honor 
the 100th Anniversary of the Michigan Department of Transportation also 
known as MDOT.
  It all began with the innovative spirit of a bicycle enthusiast and 
entrepreneur, Horatio ``Good Roads'' Earle, when he became Michigan's 
first highway commissioner. He began a movement by aligning the 
professional road builders and engineers to improve road transportation 
throughout the state. On July 1, 1905, the voters in the State of 
Michigan overwhelmingly approved state spending for roads making 
Michigan the 18th state in the Union to establish an agency to oversee 
transportation. Since that day that the State Highway Department was 
established, Michigan has not only led the world in automotive 
advancements but has achieved many firsts in the state, country and 
world for transportation initiatives.
  There were many transportation firsts in Michigan including the 
construction of the first international underwater railroad tunnel 
(Port Huron-Sarnia Tunnel) in 1891; the first international underwater 
automobile tunnel (Detroit-Windsor Tunnel) in 1930; and the first 
freeway-to-freeway interchange on Jan. 18, 1955 at I-94 (Edsel Ford) 
and M-10 (John Lodge) in Detroit, permitting motorists to make turns 
``simply by moving in the direction they wish to go.'' Both the 
Ambassador Bridge in Detroit in 1929 and the Mackinac Bridge in 1957 
were the world's longest suspension bridges when they were built. The 
world's largest automobile tire, utilizing the Ferris wheel ride from 
the World's Fair in New York from 1964, can be found next to eastbound 
I-94 just east of the M-39 (Southfield Freeway) interchange in Allen 
Park. MDOT was also the World's first transportation agency to automate 
management and processing of construction products from the 
construction site through contractor payment, saving taxpayers more 
than $20 million per year in 1993.
  The national innovations are endless but include some of the most 
significant to our everyday living like the nation's first mile of 
concrete highway built by the Wayne County Road Commission on Woodward 
Avenue between 6 and 7 Mile roads in Detroit in 1909, the first painted 
centerline in 1911 and the first state trunkline in the nation to sport 
a centerline from Marquette to Negaunee Road (now US 41/M 28) in 1917. 
The nation's first highway materials testing lab was at the University 
of Michigan in 1912 and the nation's first four way red/yellow/green 
electric traffic light was at the comer of Woodward and Michigan 
Avenues in Detroit as the invention of Detroit Police Officer William 
Potts in 1918.

  Other national firsts include the first roadside park on US-2 in Iron 
County, completed in 1919; the first practical highway snowplow was 
built in Munising in 1922; and the first ``super highway'' was an 
eight-lane divided highway with a 40-foot median built in 1923 along 
Woodward Avenue between Detroit and Pontiac. MDOT was the first highway 
department to use yellow centerlines to designate ``no passing'' zones 
in 1927. Michigan has the nation's first state operated information 
center which opened in 1935 near New Buffalo. Michigan was the nation's 
first state to complete a toll free border-to-border interstate on I-94 
running 205 miles from Detroit to New Buffalo in 1960. In 1977 US-31 in 
Oceana County won the national ``most beautiful highway'' by the U.S. 
Department of Transportation. The nation's largest concrete segmental 
bridge opened up in 1988 when the Zilwaukee Bridge opened carrying I-75 
over the Saginaw River. Recently, in 2003, Gloria Jeff was named the 
director of MDOT becoming the first female and African American State 
Transportation director in the nation.
  Mr. Speaker these are only a few of the facts, figures and historical 
moments that are seemingly infinite examples that mark the significant 
influence this agency has had on transportation in our country and the 
world. In fact much of this information and a detailed outline of 
MDOT's history can be found through the resources of MDOT's centennial 
website at www.michigan.gov/mdot100. However, the greatness and 
innovation displayed by MDOT throughout this past 100 years is not 
limited to our history and evolution as a modern state. The recent 
state accomplishments and the goals laid out for the future show the 
numerous advancements this department continues to make on behalf of it 
residents.
  Horatio ``Good Roads'' Earle would be proud of the efforts to make 
our roads, highways and bridges better each year. According to MDOT, 
since 1999, they have completed more than 93 percent of the road and 
bridge preservation programs announced in the fiveyear program making 
88 percent of the vehicle miles traveled on Michigan freeways done so 
on good pavement. In the last three years, the capitol preventative 
maintenance program increased the life span of 3,710 miles of highway 
by up to seven years with a special treatment. Additionally, MDOT has 
made

[[Page E1389]]

significant improvements to trunkline bridges through the state due to 
strategic planning as well as opening almost 80 miles of widened 
roadways and passing relief lanes to relieve congestion, reduce delays 
and improve safety. Other program successes have been in overall 
safety, economic development projects, parking, roadside programs, and 
environmental quality.
  Mr. Speaker, on June 30th, a special ceremony to celebrate the 100th 
Anniversary of the Michigan Department of Transportation will be held 
at the Mackinac Bridge in my district, one of the world's largest 
suspension bridges that connects the Upper and Lower Peninsulas with 
five miles of concrete and steel innovation. Friday, July 1st, the 
department's employees will also celebrate the anniversary in Lansing, 
Michigan. Celebrating this milestone year at the Mackinac Bridge is 
most appropriate because of the symbolism the Mighty Mac shares with 
that of this accomplished state department. MDOT has connected people 
from Copper Harbor to Coldwater, has set a number of firsts in national 
accomplishments, and continues to look ahead at ways to improve 
transportation for Michigan residents and visitors. Since its inception 
by Mr. Earle, MDOT has focused on the quality of its services and 
resources, the effectiveness of their work, the dedication to the needs 
of their travelers, the integrity to improve transportation the right 
way the first time, and the pride of being the best as what they do. I 
ask the United States House of Representatives to join the Michigan 
Congressional Delegation in congratulating the Michigan Department of 
Transportation on its first 100 years and even better success through 
the next century.

                          ____________________