Transportation Excellence Day (2006)

100 Years of Transportation Excellence Day

WHEREAS, the Virginia Department of Transportation was formed as the State Highway Commission on March 6, 1906, and the Department of Highways was formally established as a state agency in 1927; and

WHEREAS, the department added rail and public transportation to its jurisdiction and changed to the Virginia Department of Highways and Transportation in 1974, and the name of the department changed again in 1986, this time to the Virginia Department of Transportation; and

WHEREAS, Virginia has the third-largest state-maintained highway system in the country; and

WHEREAS, the 57,516-mile state-maintained system is comprised of 1,118 miles of interstates, 8,074 miles of primary roads, 47,993 miles of secondary roads and 331 miles of frontage roads; and

WHEREAS, the agency is also responsible for m ore than 12,603 bridges, four underwater crossings in Hampton Roads, two mountain tunnels on Interstate 77, three toll roads, a toll bridge, four ferry services, 41 rest areas and 107 commuter lots; and

WHEREAS, the Virginia Department of Transportation has taken the citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia from mud to mobility by building the best possible transportation system for the traveling public; and

WHEREAS, the agency has progressed from using mule-drawn equipment to Smart Travel technology to keep Virginia moving; and

WHEREAS, the Virginia Department of Transportation has 9,300 employees, making it one of the three largest state agencies in Virginia ; and

WHEREAS, more than 2,000 of those employees have dedicated a quarter century or more of their lives to its service;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Timothy M. Kaine, do hereby recognize March 6, 2006, as 100 YEARS OF TRANSPORTATION EXCELLENCE DAY in the COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA, and I call this observance to the attention of all our citizens.