Roads, Bridges, and Tunnels Sites

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) improved a segment of Maryland Avenue NE. from Bladensburg Road to Nineteenth Street. The WPA graded this road, and also prepared it for paving with a foundation of salvaged material. “This work was done in connection with the paving of a portion of the roadway with cement concrete under the supervision of the Construction Division .”  

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) carried out repaving and other improvements to a segment of Massachusetts Avenue NW, from Wisconsin Avenue to Nebraska Avenue, in 1935-36. “The roadway of Massachusetts Avenue NW, from Wisconsin Avenue to Nebraska Avenue, was improved with combination cement curb and gutter and the old macadam roadway was covered with a bituminous surface. With the exception of two narrow strips adjacent to the gutters, practically no new concrete base was laid.” The work was part of the $949,496 WPA allotment for DC roadwork for fiscal year 1936. This WPA roadwork is probably not discernible today due to subsequent road maintenance,...

According to Work: A Journal of Progress, in 1935-1936 the Works Progress Administration (WPA) extended Massachusetts Avenue SE approximately one mile from Anacostia Road at Randle Circle to Alabama Avenue near the Maryland border, along the southern border of Fort Circle Park. This project was part of a nearly $1 million in WPA road work around the district in 1935-36. The road still exists though the WPA pavement is probably invisible today.

Works Progress Administration workers repaired the 700 block of Massachusetts Street in Lawrence, Kansas.    

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) paved 34 streets in Hartford, Connecticut, including the 0.6-mile stretch of Mather Street from Main Street to Vine Street, as part of a $2.5 million, two-year paving project begun in 1937. The federal government contributed $1 million.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) improved a segment of Maud Street NW, from Macomb Street to Loughboro Road. The WPA graded this road, and also prepared it for pavement by putting in a foundation of recycled road material (e.g., concrete, rock, macadam).

Out of many small projects for Fresno County that came out of a Civil Works Administration expenditure of $10,548, was a project for "widening the Mason Road" briefly mentioned in the March 3, 1933 Clovis Independent. Note: The road is named after Charles N. Maxson, who in 1892 settled an 800-acre homestead located at the junction of Trimmer Road and a wagon trail leading to Watts Valley.

Jacksonville, Florida's May Street was paved with bricks during the Great Depression using federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) labor ca. 1936. Google Street View, as of 2015, shows that the southern portion of May Street is still brick-paved.

A $100,000 grant from the federal government enabled the construction of a bridge to carry Maze Boulevard over the San Joaquin River, east of Vernalis, California, according to a report from the California Department of Highways in 1935. The grant almost surely came from the Bureau of Public Roads (BPR)s, either in its regular budget or from a pass-through grant by the Public Works Administration (PWA) The Maze Boulevard bridge was replaced by the California Highway Department (CalTrans) around 1970, according to reports in the Modesto Bee.

A railway-crossing bridge carrying McClean Avenue was built during the mid-1930s as part of a massive grade separation project along what was then the South Beach Branch of the Staten Island Railway. The line has long since been abandoned (as the line was discontinued in 1953) and the space beneath the bridge has been filled in. Traces of the bridge structure can be seen by way of the different cement used along the 100-foot stretch of McClean between Conger St. and Railroad Ave. The Public Works Administration (PWA) provided a $1.46 million grant for the $6 million grade crossing elimination project, which included work elsewhere in Staten Island and...

McCormick's Creek State Park received the first Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Camp in Indiana. The 589th CCC company was active from December of 1933 to July of 1935. After the CCC laborers were relocated in 1935, WPA laborers arrived and continued to build improvements for the park. In 1940 a handful of CCC laborers returned to the camp. The CCC and WPA laborers contributed to a wide range of projects. The New Deal agencies helped create trails, shelters, a bridge, telephone wires, an amphitheater, dams, clearings for campgrounds, cabins, and more. To enhance the outdoors experience projects exhibited designs that...

The Stone Arch bridge located at McCormick's Creek was completed in 1934 by Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Co. 589. The bridge spans fifty feet and was constructed with Indiana Limestone. The structure was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.

The Stone Arch bridge located at McCormick's Creek was completed in 1934 by CCC CO 589. The bridge spans fifty feet and was constructed with Indiana Limestone.

The McCoy Creek bridge in Mendocino County is a timber stringer trestle bridge on state highway 271 – which used to be the Redwood Highway before U.S. 101 was constructed. It was renovated in 1966 with a steel stringer sub-unit supporting upper trestle components. According to California Highway and Public Works, $22,000 was appropriated by the federal government for the grading, surfacing, and structure of the McCoy Creek bridge and approaches.  The journal does not specify which federal agency provided the funds for the California Division of Highways (now CalTrans), but it was probably the Bureau of Public Roads (BPR), possibly with...

Grants from the Public Works Administration and the Works Progress Administration helped fund the construction of a new bridge to carry McGraw Street across the Wolf Creek ravine in Seattle's Queen Anne Hill district. The new bridge opened in 1936. It replaced a wood trestle structure that dated back to the early years of the century and had fallen into severe disrepair. In 1934, engineers with the Seattle Parks Department, which had responsibility for maintaining the old bridge, declared it to be unsafe and in need of immediate replacement due to a large number of rotten timbers and escalating maintenance...

The Cape Vincent Eagle reported that the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) improved 11 roads in the town of Cape Vincent, New York. "All school bus, milk, and rural mail routes, the roads form an important part of the town's highway system." The project encompassed eight miles of road, and called for "grading, draining, placing base, trimming shoulders and ditches, surfacing and incidental appurtenant work." Roads improved included "McKeevers, between St. Lawrence county road and Riverview county road, 2.6 miles."

This WPA sidewalk stamp shows that the WPA worked in McKinley Park.

McKnight Road, which connects McCandless and Pittsburgh, was constructed as a New Deal project sponsored by the Public Works Administration (PWA).

Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) conducted the improvement work around McLean Reservoir in Holyoke, Massachusetts. WPA Bulletin: At High McLean Reservoir, Holyoke, WPA is improving the travel-way. Work includes widening and eliminating curves, extending culverts, grading gutters for surface drainage and constructing a stone wall.  

Red oaks line a section of McLoughlin Boulevard on its southern entry into the City of Portland. The nearly ninety-year-old trees are the legacy of a highway beautification project funded by the Public Works Administration (PWA) in 1934. The Oregon State Highway Commission selected this section on McLoughlin Boulevard (99E), along with two sections of Barbur Boulevard (99W), for the state's first comprehensive highway beautification program. Members of the Portland Garden Club joined in designing the landscape plans that focused on native plants. Funding for the six-mile section on McLoughlin Boulevard amounted to approximately $15,000, which covered landscape materials and a...

As motorists travel southbound on the Milwaukie section of McLoughlin Boulevard they pass through a corridor of Giant Redwood trees. The Public Works Administration funded the planting of these Sequoia Giantea in 1934. The Oregon State Highway Commission selected six miles of McLoughlin Boulevard (99E) that connects Milwaukie and Portland to launch the state's first comprehensive highway beautification program. The north unit is still marked by red oaks while this southern section is defined by the giant evergreen Redwoods. Funding for the entire six-mile section amounted to approximately $15,000 for landscape materials and the labor required to complete the landscaping.    

One of many PWA and WPA projects in Washington state: "Crossing the Puyallip River on Route 162 in Pierce County, the McMillin Bridge was an engineering wonder of its time. It is a truss style bridge that used concrete instead of wood, like other truss bridges of the time. Also the McMillin Bridge applied a theory mainly practiced in Europe at the time. Hollow-box construction, the act of pouring cement around hollowed wooden shafts, not only made the structure more economical but also it lightened the load of it. This reduction in weight also helped, because the engineers had to make...

"A dirt road through eighteen miles of wilderness between and Oquossoc had been visualized by business men of the section for many years, and the need and feasibility of the road had been presented to the Highway Commission as early as 1930 and their favorable reaction received. With the start of the CWA program in November, 1933, the municipal officers of Rumford, Mexico, Roxbury and Byron presented to the CWA Administrator the idea of building this road as a joint CWA project of these towns. The project received the approval of the administrator primarily because it presented an opportunity to...

The Works Progress Administration constructed a bridge across Mead's Wash in Price, Utah. The structure has almost certainly been replaced.

The federal Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) worked to improve the Meadow Street in Carver, Massachusetts. 1935: "Meadow Street was widened and graveled with W.P.A. furnishing the Common Labor." 1939: "The W. P. A. ... are now excavating and gravelling the portion of Meadow St. from Pine St. to Popes Point St." 1940: "The W. P. A. completed exavating and gravelling Meadow St."

Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) constructed Meadowbrook Road in Newton, Massachusetts. WPA Bulletin: Meadowbrook Road, Newton, is being constructed by WPA to serve the new Oak Hill School. When completed, the road will be 1060 feet long and 33 feet wide with five-foot sidewalks on either side.  

The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) rebuilt Barre's Mechanic Street bridge after a flood washed it out in 1936.

The Big Timber Pioneer newspaper reported: "A crew of 16 WPA workers, E. H. Ellingson foreman, started last week on improvement of the Settlement road, leading west from Melville. It was one of the worst roads in the county when bad, and when the work is complete it will carry a gravel surface." The road leading west from Melville, Route 371, is now known as Melville Road.

The Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works (a.k.a. Public Works Administration, or PWA) sponsored development of an overpass and traffic circle intersection with Memorial Drive and Brookline St./the Boston University Bridge (formerly Cottage Farm Bridge). 1938 MDC annual report: "Borings were taken and plans were prepared for a proposed traffic circle and overpass at the intersection of Cottage Farm Bridge and Memorial Drive, Cambridge. The proposed construction necessitated widening of the adjacent bridge over the Boston and Albany Railroad and a contract was awarded for, and work started on the widening, which is Section 1 of the project. Construction of the circle, Section...

Meridian State Park is located along the 98th meridian on the edge of a natural transition zone between prairie and hill country. The land was acquired from private owners between 1933 and 1935 and the 505.4-acre park opened to the public in 1935. The park is currently administered by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Meridian State Park was developed by Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Company 1827(V), comprised of World War I veterans. The CCC developed the park using local limestone and timber, primarily oak and cedar. The CCC built the entrance portal, roads, vehicle bridges, culverts, the concession building, which...

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) and Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) supplied labor for the widening of Merrimon Avenue in Asheville, North Carolina. The cost of the project was $17,297.14, which was mostly borne by the federal government. "In Asheville, Biltmore Street, Merrimon Avenue, and Broadway were widened by taking off fronts of all stores, setting them back, and rebuilding, work requiring expert skill."

The historic Merritt Parkway was constructed during the 1930s with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) funds. "In spring 1934, a $347,000 PWA grant was approved for grading and bridges along seven miles of the highway in Greenwich and Trumbull with an additional grant of $91,077 awarded later the same year." (LOC.gov .pdf) (Though the project continued for several years afterward, this would be the extent of federal funding contributions to the highway.) Listed in the Historic Register of Historic Places, highlights of the project include a large collection of unique and historic highway bridges. "The Merritt Parkway is of...

The Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) assisted in the financing of two bridges over Monument Creek in Colorado Springs's Monument Valley Park. "The two other major construction projects in the park during the 1930s were the replacement of the Uintah Street and Mesa Road bridges which had been washed out by the Memorial Day flood. The city received a Public Works Administration (PWA) loan and grant totaling $99,133 to cover the cost of the bridges. Each Art Deco style bridge was a 242-foot, three span, concrete and steel structure with concrete abutments and two concrete piers in the streambed.  Given the widening...

Meshomasic State Forest, the first such entity in all of New England, was improved and developed by the efforts of two C.C.C. camps: Camp Jenkins (C.C.C. Company #181), in operation from June 14, 1933 to Jan. 1, 1936; and Camp Buck (C.C.C. Company #1197), in operation from Sept. 13, 1935 to Jul. 22, 1941. Among the work accomplished was "pouring a cement foundation for a sawmill," "building a lumber shed, a creosoting plant, a brick charcoal kiln ...," "miles of trails," and construction of "Milford Road." Other accomplishments are linked to from this page.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) improved a segment of Concord Avenue N, from North Capitol Street to Third Street.  This was a WPA curb and gutter project: “This constitutes the first step in the development of this roadway to connect North Capitol Street and Georgia Avenue.” Concord Avenue was later renamed Michigan Avenue and further improvements have been made.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) made improvements to Michigan Avenue NE., low-level roadway south of viaduct from Seventh Street to Baltimore & Ohio R. R. tracks, thence north under viaduct to University Station. The WPA improved this road with recycled material and the “laying of a thin blanket of bituminous material.”  

In 1933, the Washington Post announced the approval of several road surfacing projects funded by the federal PWA: "Among projects approved here are paving of Sixteenth street, Constitution Avenue, Michigan Avenue, Columbia Road, Foxhall Road, Good Hope Road, New Hampshire Avenue, Benning Road and Conduit Road, widening of E Street back of the White House and widening of Thirteenth Street" (October 9, 1933). It is not clear which section of Michigan Avenue was repaved, but other infrastructure projects in the vicinity make the stretch near MacMillan Reservoir a likely candidate for paving. The labor was most likely provided by relief workers in the...

The bridge bringing Michigan State Highway 86 (M-86) across Prairie River in Centreville, Michigan was funded with the support of New Deal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. However, the bridge has been replaced. Michigan's Department of Transportation writes: "The Michigan State Highway 86 Bridge is eligible for the National Register as a good example of a 1920s camelback pony truss. This structure also exemplifies the movability of a truss bridge. According to limited records, this bridge was originally built in 1923, and was re-built at the present site in 1938-1939 by contractor L. W. Lamb. Bridge plans dated 1938 indicate that the only alteration...

The Middle Bridge is 296 foot Warren (Riveted) Through Truss bridge that carries Route 197 (Patterson Road) over the Eastern River in Dresden Maine. The Middle Bridge was completed in 1936 to replace a previous bridge after the Flood of 1936. The previous bridge was a wooden stringer bridge supported on stacked stone abutments and timber cribbing. The bridge included a wooden king post truss drawbridge. The bridge was located just north of the previous structure and diverted the roadway to higher ground. The bridge’s elevation was raised up to nearly 130’. Substantial roadway approaches were graded to meet the new bridge’s...

Five Suffolk County highway beautification projects, directed by the WPA, put approximately 1,000 men to work for seven months beginning April 1936. The projects included "the Smithtown-Coram road." It is probable that Smithtown-Coram road is the former name for what is now termed Middle Country Road.