Heritage Shared Studies in Central Coast History - Road Scholars
Transportation Histories Of the Central California Coast
Thomas Wheeler, Editor
Introduction
by Robert Pavlik
We have all seen them as we pass by, hardhatted in their orange safety vests, shoveling and surveying and making notes by the side of the road. We assume that they are engineers working on physical infrastructure. More often than we suppose, however, they are historians and archaeologists working on equally vital cultural infrastructure.
In addition to the thousands of men and women who design, build, and maintain the state's 20,000 mile network of state highways and bridges, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) employs a cadre of environmental planners dedicated to minimizing the impacts of roads and traffic on the natural, social and cultural environment. More than a hundred Caltrans archaeologists and architectural historians scrutinize proposed transportation projects that impinge on the historical landscape. They are passionate about documenting, and where possible, preserving cultural resources of all kinds. The strength of their efforts to document and preserve the past has evolved through their diligence in developing a strong program responsive to federal and state laws, and by their own devotion to the principles declared in the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966: "The spirit and direction of the nation are founded upon and reflected in its historic past.... The historic and cultural foundations of the Nation should be preserved as a living part of our community life and development in order to give a sense of orientation to the American people."
We have all seen them as we pass by, hardhatted in their orange safety vests, shoveling and surveying and making notes by the side of the road. We assume that they are engineers working on physical infrastructure. More often than we suppose, however, they are historians and archaeologists working on equally vital cultural infrastructure.
In addition to the thousands of men and women who design, build, and maintain the state's 20,000 mile network of state highways and bridges, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) employs a cadre of environmental planners dedicated to minimizing the impacts of roads and traffic on the natural, social and cultural environment. More than a hundred Caltrans archaeologists and architectural historians scrutinize proposed transportation projects that impinge on the historical landscape. They are passionate about documenting, and where possible, preserving cultural resources of all kinds. The strength of their efforts to document and preserve the past has evolved through their diligence in developing a strong program responsive to federal and state laws, and by their own devotion to the principles declared in the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966: "The spirit and direction of the nation are founded upon and reflected in its historic past.... The historic and cultural foundations of the Nation should be preserved as a living part of our community life and development in order to give a sense of orientation to the American people."
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