National Highway Designation Act
Public Works Advisor, Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Transportation policy is a powerful subject for the transformation of cities. For a limited number of urban designers who have had the experience of crafting legislation. As Environment and Public Works Advisor to US, Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan was tasked with monitoring the progress of the overall bill and negotiating specific provisions important for the Senator and his constituents in New York. The result is the National Highway System Designation Act of 1994, one of a handful of "must-pass" bills that go through Congress every year. NHS was mandated by the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991, which revolutionized transportation funding in the United States. Washburn, as the only architect in the room, often helped his Capitol Hill colleagues visualize the results of the legislative language. He successfully negotiated language on Pennsylvania Station improvements and Magnetic Levitation train research on behalf of the Senator.