The Infinite Dividend: The WPA · Episode 3 of 13 · 45 min
650,000 Miles: The Roads, Bridges, and Airports the WPA Built
The WPA laid or improved over 650,000 miles of roads, built or rebuilt around 78,000 bridges, and constructed roughly 800 airports, deliberately by hand to employ as many idle people as possible. Its showpiece was New York's municipal airport, LaGuardia. The episode scores infrastructure as the WPA's clearest success.
Who's who
- Harry Hopkins+10 more episodesWPA administrator whose work-not-dole logic favored labor-intensive methods
- Fiorello La GuardiaNew York mayor who championed the airport that bears his name
- Harold Ickes+6 more episodesHead of the PWA, whose contractor-built projects are often confused with the WPA
Where it happens
- LaGuardia Airport, New York+1 more episodeShowcase WPA airport built partly on reclaimed land
- Marine Air Terminal, New YorkArt Deco terminal that survives as a landmark
Timeline
- 1935The WPA is created; road and bridge work becomes its largest construction category
- November 1938About 11,500 WPA workers are employed at the New York airport
- October 15, 1939The New York Municipal Airport is dedicated
- December 2, 1939The airport opens for business
- 1943The program is liquidated
Still debated
Bridge counts range from over 10,000 to about 78,000 depending on what is counted. Whether the slower, hand-built method was the right trade-off remains argued, and WPA projects were partnerships with local sponsors.
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