William Lee Mertz (1920-1993), a former Federal Highway Administration Associate Administrator, played a leading role in planning and developing the Interstate system of highways in the United States. Mertz started his career as a highway engineer with the Bureau of Public Roads in the Department of Commerce. As a field engineer, Mertz worked on many interesting and important transportation projects. He took part in the 1955 Road Test in Ottawa, Illinois, where the basic designs for Interstate pavements were developed. Mertz was assigned in 1956 to the Bureau of Standards to develop standards for computer software for use in highway engineering applications. During the 1960s he worked with such groups as the National Capital Transit Agency in Washington, D.C. and the Tri-State Transportation Commission in New York. He also served as an administrator in the planning of the Interstate Highway System, including the Washington Beltway, I-95 in Maryland, and the Washington Metrorail System. In 1969 Mertz returned to the Federal Highway Administration as Chief of the Urban Planning Division and developed transportation planning studies in all 213 metropolitan areas of the nation. 

After he left the Federal Highway Administration, Mertz took it upon himself to assemble documents and materials that were important in the development of the Interstate system, and, more generally, to the development of highways and urban transportation policy. With his characteristic energy, he compiled a substantial archive of valuable materials for research. After his passing in 1994, his family generously donated these materials to Special Collections & Archives at George Mason University to form the foundation of the William L. Mertz Collection. 

The Collection contains transportation related materials collected over a forty-five year period. Types of materials include scholarly journal articles dealing with transportation topics, summaries of congressional acts relating to transportation, official reports and studies of transportation agencies, summaries of speeches given by transportation officials, and personal correspondence among transportation officials. The material covers a wide variety of topics, such as The Federal Highway Acts, bridges, buses, the environment, transportation in cities, commuting, and trucking. Organizations represented by materials in the collection include the Federal Highway Administration,the Department of Transportation, the Tri-State Transportation Commission, and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. Collection comprises 53 containers. Total volume of the collection is 30.5 cubic feet or 45.75 linear feet. 

For additional information on the William L. Mertz Collection in Special Collections & Archives, please consult the Special Collections & Archives staff. The Special Collections & Archives staff is always willing to assist researchers. Special Collections & Archives has a reading room, providing a quiet haven for serious research. Most materials may be photocopied, either by the researcher or by staff, depending on the nature of the item. Telephone or mail requests for photocopies and photographs are handled for a fee on a prepaid basis. Tours can be arranged for small groups, and speakers are available upon request. Some materials may also be requested for use in exhibitions. 

Special Collections & Archives preserves and makes available to all students, faculty, and researchers many kinds of original historical and scholarly materials. Major subject areas for research include Northern Virginia, Planned Communities, Performing Arts, Photography, Maps, the Civil War, and George Mason University. Formats in Special Collections & Archives include manuscripts, rare books, playbills, musical scores, audio and video tapes, architectural drawings, photographs, and slides. Among the most important collections of primary source materials are those of notable Northern Virginia political figures.

Browse the Mertz Collection

Federal Highway Administration Highway History:
William L. Mertz

Other Transportation Collections in Special Collections & Archives