America's Byways®What's New
Congress Passes Continuing Resolution through December 18th
Congress passed a continuing resolution as part of the Interior-Environment spending measure on October 29 that will fund the portions of the federal government without fiscal year 2010 appropriations, including the Federal Highway Administration, through Dec. 18. See Division B of H.R. 2996 (or PDF) which amends the previous continuing resolution to continue both appropriations and extend SAFETEA-LU provisions until December 18, 2009.
On the Web
Byways.org Launches New Pages for Newly Designated Byways
Byways.org has been updated to include new designations to the America’s Byways® collection. Each new byway has been added to the list of America's Byways, the most prominent list of byways on the website, and includes features such as a photo slideshow; US and Region maps; Shared Experiences, which are visitor reports on traveling your byway; announcements and news; and special feature articles and series of stories. Each byway's name, photo and description has been added to the corresponding State page, and press clippings about each byway can be added upon request under the 'In the News' feature in Press Room.
If your byway is now featured on www.byways.org, please review your byway's content on our websites. The best way for you to do this is to use our online Verification System, which lets us keep track of which of your byway's data has been verified by you. For more information about this system and to request access as a byway authority, please see http://bywaysonline.org/verification/
Spotlight on Byways
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced 42 new designations to the America’s Byways® collection, including five All-American Roads and 37 National Scenic Byways in 26 states. This increases the number of America’s Byways® to 151.
"By enriching the National Scenic Byways program with their own unique historical or aesthetic quality, these new additions help our national road system tell our country’s story,” said Secretary LaHood. “These routes continue to offer Americans exciting new opportunities to explore the nation – whether they travel close to home or across the country."
With Massachusetts and New Jersey included in the 2009 designations, 46 states have America’s Byways® in them.
FHWA Administrator Victor M. Mendez presented new designees with a plaque at a designation event held at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D. C. on October 16th. Photos of the event will be made available shortly through a post to the discussion forum. View the full press release at byways.org.
Photos: Gary Jensen and Cindi Ptak, from the Program Office in Washington, D. C. had the pleasure of visiting two newly designated byways recently.
