The Fort Wayne Traffic Engineering Department web page has a bunch of useful maps and information worth checking out. https://www.cityoffortwayne.org/publicworks/traffic-engineering.html
It's Wall of Fame Wednesday! Check out A.K. Hofer in 1929 as featured in the WILDWOOD PARK NEWS-LETTER.
[ September 20, 1929 letter with photo shows the curing process to slow the curing of new cement in concrete streets covered with straw and wet daily ]
Have you ever complained about road work on Indiana roads? Imagine if you had to do that work yourself! On December 13, 1799, the Northwest Territory General Assembly passed the 1799 Road Law, which required signposts at important intersections, outlined road construction specifications, and dictated that all men between the ages of twenty-one and fifty must work two days per year on public roads.
Highway supervisors, who were appointed by the courts, notified all qualified men in a township three days before work was to begin. On the specified day, residents were to present themselves or a “substitute to the acceptance of the supervisor” at the given location with all required tools. If a man neglected his duty to appear or provide a substitute, he was fined 75 cents.
The image below, showing a road construction crew in Harrison County Indiana in the early 20th century, is courtesy of the Harrison County Public Library.
2040 Transportation Plan NORTHEASTERN INDIANA REGIONAL COORDINATING COUNCIL, Adopted May 2018, Illustrations of the transportation network within the Metropolitan Planning Area. Areas include portions of Allen, Whitley, and Huntington Counties, the Cities of Fort Wayne and New Haven, and the Towns of Grabill, Huntertown, and Leo-Cedarville. At Purdue Fort Wayne.
4226 Werling Drive July 2007 Street View photo from Google Maps shows similar view of the first 2024 Facebook photo before they were torn down in 2011.
See McMillen Park Apartments Places section for more information.
February 6, 2024 post by the library seeking photo information on True Fort Wayne Indiana History on Facebook: Here are four photos in the Library's collection all taken in January 1951. They were taken in the Fort Wayne area, but no place was given. Does this place look familiar to anyone? I expect it is very different today if the houses are still standing.
Notice the dirt roads with pot holes in photos taken sometime after World War II when these apartments were built.
Brooks Construction first paving job on existing dirt and gravel roads was in 1909 when John Foster Brooks convinced the City of Fort Wayne to construct Forest Park Boulevard using asphalt. Brooks Construction got its first big break when the Indiana state legislature passed a "three mile law" to encourage the construction of roads between communities. Doing all work by hand or with horses and steam driven pavers, Brooks Construction constructed a three mile stretch of concrete road between New Haven and Fort Wayne. This was the first concrete road in Indiana and is known as Old Maumee Road today. Their website has a slide show of early paving photos on their Legacy page. A Brief History of Brooks Construction Company, Inc. five page document discusses construction of the first paved streets with concrete, asphalt, and brick starting in 1909.
Here's an oldie, but a goodie for #TBT! Sections of pavement are poured on a 10-mile section of I-69 in DeKalb County back in the mid-60s.
Gov. Matthew E. Welsh participated in a ribbon-cutting opening the new section on Sept. 19, 1964. At that time, the section was the newest and completed 33 miles of expressway from U.S. 24 west to U.S. 6.
INDOT Indiana Department of Transportation has a website 511.org which has live cameras showing current incidents, road conditions, snow plows, and construction sites on major highways.
February 22, 2023 by Art This Way on Facebook:Check out this PBS NewsHour feature on Art This Way and Downtown Fort Wayne!
"Fort Wayne, Indiana, went through tough times for several decades as manufacturing plants closed, jobs dried up, and people left. But recently, the city has made a turnaround and a big investment in public art. Special correspondent Cat Wise spent time with an artist who is a driving force behind that effort."
Roads are both logistical essentials and cultural artifacts. They epitomize freedom—the “architecture of our restlessness,” per Rebecca Solnit, the “two lanes [that] take us anywhere,” per Bruce Springsteen.
How Roads Have Transformed the Natural World A brief history of road ecology, the scientific discipline that is helping us understand our impact on the environment and how to diminish it
Would you like to see new trails created that follow existing rail and electrical transmission rights-of-way (marked in black on this map)? Would you find any of these particular routes useful?
It's fair to say that nobody likes a pothole. But, they happen, and below is an explanation of why they form. We've got teams ready to help fill and prevent them when they do pop up. Help us out by reporting them at INDOT4U.com!
Would you be interested in helping to map the heat of our neighborhoods this summer? Fort Wayne Neighborhoods
