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1973 – OPEC oil embargo;
Senate Watergate Hearings;
Undefeated Dolphins;
and Secretariat wins the Triple Crown – the first Triple Crown winner since Citation in
1948.
In Kentucky, Governor Wendell Ford announces the formation of the Department of Transportation.
The Commonwealth’s reorganization teams study the plans of 16 other states that have
transportation departments
and consult with many of these agencies directly.
The new organizational structure combines all modes of transportation into one Department
– enabling state government to effectively and efficiently plan for all public travel
needs.
The Secretary is Elijah Hogge (pronounced Hog) of Morehead. He asks department employees
to make it their goal to improve services and minimize cost.
Now more than ever, the Department’s motto sums it up: “Unification through Transportation.”
Also in 1973, the department’s Bureau of Highways awards a $13.2 million contract for
construction of the final link of Interstate 64.
That link is a half-mile of roadway in downtown Louisville that includes the 9th Street interchange.
The interchange has five ramps, all of which are equipped with heating coils – a first
for a highway project in Kentucky.
Elsewhere, a 27 mile section of the Cumberland Parkway opens from I-65 to Edmonton.
And work begins on the Pikeville Cut-Through. Phase I consists of moving 13 million cubic
yards of rock and dirt, weighing over 28 million tons. It’s the largest single construction
effort ever attempted in the mountains. Once again, the Kentucky Department of Transportation
proves that they can “dig it.”
Celebrating a century of service and a legacy of leadership, this is the Kentucky Transportation
Cabinet.