Roads, Bridges, and Tunnels Sites

The Works Progress Administration completed repairs on Adams Avenue in Huntington, Cabell County.

Adams St. in Boston, Mass. underwent reconstruction as part of a Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) project.

The Texas Highway Department and the Federal Works Agency Public Roads Administration built an overpass in 1941 to separate the grade of Airline Drive and the Houston Belt and Terminal Railway tracks. The overpass is currently open to traffic.

The Public Works Administration (PWA) paid for a grade-separation underpass on the Bayshore Highway under the Southern Pacific Railroad tracks in South San Francisco.  The project cost $200,000. The underpass, completed in 1936, doubled the width of an earlier structure built in 1927 and increased its capacity from 4 to 8 lanes (lanes were narrower at the time). This was much desired by the local Chamber of Commerce and, no doubt, by travelers on the Bayshore Highway, the main route south from San Francisco to San Jose. It also  improved access to the San Francisco Airport, which was benefitting from New Deal...

The Works Progress Administration made improvements to the road system in Dallas County. "Improve county-owned road from Orrville to the Wilcox County line in Dallas County, including excavating; clearing and grubbing; grading; draining; dressing shoulders and slopes; constructing base; surfacing; and performing appurtenant and incidental work. Project also includes the operation of borrow pits to produce materials for use on this project. This road is a part of the Federal Aid Highway System. In addition to projects specifically approved." According to a WPA job card, the application was November 1, 1938, approved Nov. 17th, federal manhours added up to 267,120,...

Among the Works Progress Administration (WPA) projects identified as completed in an El Paso Times article from June 7, 1936 was the "paving of Alabama Street and Wilson road, 7.36 miles, cost $31,588.94," as well as "Alabama Street spillway flood control project. $6408.23."

The February 1934 issue of California Highway and Public Works describes federal funding for extensive road work from Oakland to Richmond. When the Key System replaced portions of their lightrail trolley with bus service, federal funds helped with track removal and widening of portions of San Pablo Avenue. The work took place in two units. The first was complete removal of the 20 foot central area of the street from Potrero Avenue in El Cerrito to Ashby Avenue in Berkeley. The second unit covered the widening of San Pablo Avenue through the cities of Oakland, Emeryville, Berkeley, Albany, and El Cerrito...

$24,000 was provided by federal funds during the Great Depression for the construction of a bridge carrying Ben Hulse Highway over the Alamo River east of Brawley, California.

Delaware utilized substantial federal resources in developing and improving its road network during the Great Depression. Among the dozens of projects undertaken by the federal Civil Works Administration (C.W.A.) during 1934 was construction along a road through Alapocas Woods (Alapocas Drive). An average of 1,410 were put to work each week during 1934 as a result of the CWA's road, sidewalk, bridge, and other related infrastructure efforts in Delaware.  

The 1,300+ mile Alaska Highway was constructed in 1942 and opened in 1943.  It was built to provide an alternate supply line to Alaska during World War II, an idea the President Roosevelt had proposed to the Canadian government in 1936.  It runs through Canadian Territory but the cost was borne by the United States.   The Alaska Highway was a joint effort of the U.S. Army (Corps of Engineers) and the Public Roads Administration (PRA)—a sub-agency of the New Deal's Federal Works Agency that replaced the earlier Bureau of Public Roads.  The construction was carried out by a host of PRA-contracted...

Albany Street Bridge Over Boston & Albany Railroad. "The city requested a grant from the Government for bridge alterations as follows: Altering and strengthening Boylston Street Bridge; rebuilding Berkeley Street Bridge and rebuilding Albany Street Bridge. The total cost of this work is approximately $265,000 ..." P.W.A. Docket No. Mass. 1584-F.

The bridge carrying Albee Avenue over the newly sunken Staten Island Railway was built in 1940, as one link in a large grade crossing removal project sponsored by the Public Works Administration (PWA).

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) made improvements to a segment of Albemarle Street NW, between Reno Road and Thirty-Eighth Street, in 1938-39.    The WPA graded the road and prepared it for paving with a foundation of salvaged material: “The old material is obtained from old roadways which have deteriorated due to the strain of heavy later-day traffic and were replaced by new standard type pavements.”   “The improvement of this roadway opened up traffic eastward to the new boulevard at Forty-sixth Street NW, between Massachusetts Avenue and River Road, and also served as an entrance to the new private developments in this vicinity.”   This...

"An earlier bridge that once crossed the Iowa River in Alden had long united the two sides of this small town. However, by the mid-1930s the existing wood structure had "long since seen its best day," according to the Alden Times. In 1935, the Hardin County government sought to replace both the Alden and Steamboat Rock bridges by securing financial assistance from the Works Progress Administration (WPA). In October, the WPA approved the two projects, which were a great boon to Alden's unemployed--used as day labor to help construct the new concrete bridge over the Iowa River. The estimated cost...

Alford St. in Boston, Mass. underwent reconstruction as part of a Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) project.

US highway 101 from Center St. to Mission Rd. Connected the Ramona Parkway (present day Interstate 10) with the proposed Hollywood Parkway (now US 101). Crosses over the LA River as well as numerous city streets and railroads. Originally the lanes of the highway were separated by Pacific Electric tracks running down the center of the bridge/viaduct. "The Aliso Street Viaduct was torn down in 1940 and replaced by the present freeway structure which entered service in mid 1943. PE participated in the cost of this mammoth structure, paying $350,000 as its share of the improvement. With the opening of the first...

The federal Work Projects Administration worked to improve Allapartus Road in Ossining , New York during the 1930s. One project, which cost $10,557 (of which the WPA contributed $7,701) was described by the WPA in its project rolls: "excavating, shaping shoulders, cutting ditches, constructing catch basins, surfacing, relocating fence, and performing" other related work. WPA Official Project No. 665-21-1-180.

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) conducted major development work at New York's Allegany State Park between 1933 and 1942.

Pittsburgh's then-new Allegheny River Road (as extended through Oakmont and Verona) was one road paved as part of New Deal efforts: the Public Works Administration (PWA) provided a $212,472 grant for one Allegheny County highway improvement project undertaken in 1937, whose total cost was $466,667. PWA Docket No. PA 1366 STEEL: "Unstated tonnage, construction of county road, Oakmont-Verona boroughs, Allegheny county, Pennsylvania; estimated cost, $472,160. Federal allotment of $212,472 granted." Pittsburgh Press: "Among the six miles of roads to be paved by PWA are the Allegheny River Blvd. extension, Ingomar Road, Buttermilk Hollow Rd., General Logan Blvd. to South Park, and part of the Ohio River Boulevard through...

The federal Work Projects Administration put many men to work starting in 1935 with a Bronx street repair and maintenance project along roads throughout the borough. The streets, many of which in New York City were still unpaved, were surfaced with penetrated macadam. Roads improved included the 0.4-mile stretch of Allerton Avenue between Pearsall Ave. and Eastchester Rd.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) paved approximately six miles of alleys throughout Parkersburg, Wood County.

The Works Progress Administration paved alleys in Elkins, Randolph County.

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) developed Vermont's Allis State Park during the 1930s. "They built up the access roads, constructed a massive timber picnic shelter, picnic grounds and a campground."

Charles Story: "From the beginning, WPA involvement would play a significant role in the creation of Alpine Park (Park). While there is no record of the WPA or any outside agency providing money for the purchase of the park or building materials, the WPA provided all the labor for the outbuildings and the original roads (Park, Morning Star) . The workers also cleared tress and prepared the land. The WPA workers built the small building that faces Alpine Road and the fireplaces and stone bridge that stand along the Alpine Road entrance (Barrie, Park, Morning Star). The original use for the...

The bridge over Alsea Bay (mouth of the Alsea River) in Oregon was constructed with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) in 1934-36.  It was one of five PWA-funded bridges over Alsea Bay, Coos Bay, Siuslaw River, Umpqua River, and  Yaquina River that completed the Oregon Coast Highway. All but the Alsea River bridge still stand. The coast highway was developed after 1914 by the state and county highway departments, but money ran out in the Great Depression before the job could be finished.  With the advent of the New Deal, the PWA offered $1.4 million and a loan of...

The Works Progress Administration completed improvements on Altona Road and vicinity. “At the entrance to the French Village area was a corner that constituted a death trap ever since the large increase in automobile traffic in the island. The danger in this corner was almost entirely eliminated by raising the entire road of the north and south approach, widening the bridge at the corner and removing the old masonry sidewall. It is now possible for drivers to see both ways when approaching the corner.”

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) conducted improvement work on Ames Avenue in Omaha, Nebraska. "Omaha's first completed CWA project is now ready for use ... It is the repaved south half of Ames avenue, west of Twenty-fourth street."

Anacostia Drive, which runs through Anacostia Park and alongside the Anacostia River, was almost certainly worked on during the New Deal – more than once – though the evidence is not conclusive.  According to a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project card on file in the National Archives, the WPA office approved a project to grade Anacostia Road (now Drive) in 1935. This work has not been confirmed, but since the WPA did almost $1 million worth of road work in the district in 1935-36, including roads like Good Hope SE, and also did extensive work on Anacostia Park during that time, it...

A Boston Public Works Department report cited Federal Emergency Relief Administration (F.E.R.A.) labor as conducting the following work: "Meridian Street Bridge ... was chipped, cleaned and painted. ... Repaving and repairs were made to the approaches of the Meridian Street Bridge ..."

A suspension bridge over Androscoggin River on Pedestrian Path in Brunswick and Topsham. Built in 1892 by John A. Roebling Sons Co. to allow mill employees in Bruswick access to housing in Topsham. The bridge was heavily damaged in the 1936 spring flood. The deck was destroyed, but the towers and the original suspension cables survived. The federal Works Progress Administration helped replace the span and resurfaced the piers that the towers stand on with concrete. The bridge was rehabilitated in 2006.

In 1938, the St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners applied to the Public Works Administration (PWA) for funding to expand the Angela Boulevard Bridge, a critical link for motorists traveling to the Notre Dame stadium for football games. After receiving $45,000 and starting construction, however, faulty work in the original bridge necessitated a new structure, contractor, and additional funding. In 1939, the commissioners appealed again to the PWA and were awarded $76,500, with the county paying the rest of the $152,000 total cost. Remnants of the first bridge were destroyed with explosives that shook the entire neighborhood, but that was...

"When Franklin D.Roosevelt was elected in 1933, his Works Progress administration (WPA) put Pasadenans to work on park, flood control,and utility projects.They improved Brookside Park for the Chicago White Sox,who set up spring training there.The most momentous WPA project was the Arroyo Seco Parkway, started in the late1930’s to link Pasadena with Los Angeles.Another noted road was the Angeles Crest Highway, which snaked into the San Gabriel Mountains and reached Chilao (beyond Mt.Wilson) by 1939."   (www.pasadena.edu)

The CWA completed land improvements at Anna’s Hope, including the improvement of roads, grounds, installing drainage, and terracing the grounds.

The bridge carrying Annadale Road over the newly sunken Staten Island Railway was built in 1938, as one link in a large grade crossing removal project sponsored by the Public Works Administration (PWA).

The Works Progress Administration completed improvements work on Annaly Road in Frederiksted.

The WPA graded and widened a portion of this mountainous road along the canyon of the Gualala River. They also constructed a major bridge at Clarks Crossing, improved a recreational and farm-to-market road in nearby valley and coastal districts. Employed men mostly from Kashia Indian Reservation.

"Enjoy trails and roads laid out by the CCC in the Great Depression. There are also a few ponds and marshes to check out. These trails connect to a local inn's cross-country ski trail network."

As part of a massive $12-million project to improve New Orleans’s City Park, the WPA built nine concrete vehicular bridges between 1936 and 1939 throughout the expanded grounds. Spanning Bayou Metairie near the southwest corner, the Anseman Avenue Bridge replaced one of the oldest bridges in the park. Constructed in 1938, it crosses the bayou by a 114’-long, single-span, reinforced concrete, closed-spandrel arch. In elevation, its low elliptical arch is highlighted by the recessed extrados and the heavy, angular cutwater abutments. The bridge carries two lanes of traffic over a 28”-wide concrete roadway; 5’ sidewalks are provided on both sides. Approach spans, flanked...

The Puerto Rico Emergency Relief Administration carried out new road construction on Anton Ruiz Road in Humacao.

Now one of two spans that carries Florida State Highway 20 across the Apalachicola River, this bridge, which connects Blountstown in Calhoun County with Bristol in Liberty County, was a federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) project. (The New Deal span, the more northerly of the two bridges, now carries westbound traffic only.) The bridge was constructed between 1937 and 1938.