The Feds’ Scenic Byways Program Has Given a Lift to Small Businesses Across the U.S.
Apr 20, 2021
Photo: Ragged Point along Highway 1 in northern San Luis Obispo County, California; this is one of several scenic byways that the Federal Highway Administration has marked as an “All-American Road.” (Photo credit: Leon Kaye)
As the U.S. embarks on a fitful reopening this summer, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) recently dangled its own economic stimulus package to many small businesses, just in time for the spring and summer.
The gift from the FHWA comes in the form of the designation of dozens of scenic byways as “America’s Byways” across the country. Announced in February, the news first came in the dead of winter and while the future of mass vaccination was still in doubt. But as the numbers of citizens who are partially or fully vaccinated keep climbing, more Americans are ready to break free of their cabin fever – they may just not quite be ready to fly with the ongoing “middle or no middle seats” on airplanes debate still unfolding.