Highway development planning and progress files

Subseries 1, Correspondence and Planning Information Files: by subject; Subseries 2, Construction Status and Cost Files: by location or route; Subseries 3, Planning Reports and Publications: by subject.

These records document the Department of Transportation's planning and implementation of federal and state highway legislation.

The records concern: implementation of provisions of the Federal-Aid Highway Acts of 1944, 1956, and subsequent amendments; development of the interstate highway system; improvement of urban transportation systems and routes in various urban areas; administration of joint Department of Transportation - Urban Development Corporation highway construction projects; and administration of various other highway projects.

Subseries 1 - Correspondence and Planning Information Files, 1921-1975, 1.2 cu. ft. This subseries contains such forms of material as: internal Department memoranda, Federal Highway Administration policy and procedure memoranda, and correspondence between the Department and the U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Public Roads, the Federal Highway Administration, and other federal and state agencies and officials; copies of relevant state or federal legislation; printed and manuscript maps depicting highway plans and proposals; and reports, brochures, newsletters and news clippings describing transportation studies and plans.

Subseries 2 - Construction Status and Cost Files, 1946-1971. 1 cu. ft. These are records of cost and status of work on arterials, expressways, and interstates. Most files contain tabulated data providing: contract number; letting date; location and type of work to be done; mileage of road work to be done; amount of federal, state, and other funds allocated to the project; bid price and final cost of the work; and per cent of work completed. The subseries also contains such items as: city and town council resolutions approving Department plans for arterial routes; tabulated summaries of arterial construction costs in New York City and statewide; and miscellaneous correspondence and memoranda concerning arterial costs and construction.

Subseries 3 - Planning Reports and Publications, 1954-1974. .8 cu. ft. These printed materials served to document or assist in highway planning activities. They include: justifications for interchanges on various interstates; feasibility of creating toll roads on various routes; plans for specific projects, e.g. a Lake Champlain bridge; and compilations of highway policy and legislation.

Series 11837, Transportation Legislation Planning Files, contains related records.

There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of the material.