Whereas, At the turn of the century, a bicycle enthusiast and entrepreneur named Horatio “Good Roads” Earle became Michigan’s first highway commissioner, credited with organizing the growing number of professional road builders and engineers as a force in the good-roads movement; and,

Whereas, In the spring election on 1905, voters in all 83 counties approved an amendment to the constitution authorizing state spending for roads, and on July 1, 1905, Michigan became the 18^th state to establish a state agency to supervise road improvements; and,

Whereas, The agency was known as the State Highway Department and, as Michigan was the birthplace of the automobile industry, it would evolve that the Highway Department would become a national and international leader in safety innovations, engineering, highway beautification, and technological advances; and,

Whereas, Some of the nation’s most important advances in road improvements took place in Michigan, including the first mile of rural concrete highway on Woodward Avenue in Detroit, the first centerline dividing traffic lanes on dangerous curves, the first roadside park along US-2, the first practical snowplow, the world’s first state-operated information center near New Buffalo, the nation’s first urban depressed freeway (Davison Expressway through Highland Park); and,

Whereas, In 1973, the State Highway Department was reorganized and gained jurisdiction over all transportation modes and programs, and for the first time, expanded its responsibility to aeronautics, railroads, buses, ridesharing, water transportation, port development, and non-motorized transportation, and became the Michigan Department of Transportation; and,

Whereas, The improvement, protection and preservation of Michigan’s transportation infrastructure is vital to growing a robust economy and safe, efficient travel; and,

Whereas, For 100 years, transportation workers have pledged their commitment, often working around-the-clock, in rain and snow, and, along with transportation partners in communities across the state, we honor their efforts; and,

Whereas, 2005 marks the centennial anniversary of the Michigan Department of Transportation-100 years of transportation history and innovations; and now therefore be it,

Resolved, That I, Jennifer M. Granholm, Governor of the State of Michigan, do hereby proclaim the Year 2005, as Transportation Centennial Year in Michigan.