Few men have made such wide-ranging contributions to highway betterment in Michigan as Sawyer, who served for 27 years (1916-1944) as engineer-superintendent of the Marquette County Road Commission. He drafted much of Michigan’s basic highway legislation, including the first state gas and weight tax laws.

In 1917 he placed on Dead Man’s Curve on US-41 what is believed to be the first centerline marking on any rural road in America. He also was credited with important innovations in highway systems planning and construction programming. Sawyer was a founder and long-time secretary treasurer of the County Road Association of Michigan and served for eight years as president of the Upper Peninsula Road Builder’s Association.