Federal Highway Administration Investigation Begins:
The best way to describe what I know about the current Federal "investigation" would be to re-post an e-mail letter that I sent off to a newspaper reporter in San Antonio. I don't know how other reporters (including Carlos) feel about traffic calming, but I will seek help or input/advice anyplace I can find it. The phone call I recieved from the FHWA Texas Division Office went OK as far as investigations go but I thought I should discuss the Fed-call openly with other news reporters that I have met on the Internet. At one point in the phone conversation a distinct "beep" noise occured which I have always associated with a recording funtion of a tape recorder...go figure. The e-mail now follows:

Hey Carlos. I left a post on your forum suggesting that you look like Emperor Ming in the last Flash Gordon movie...I mean't that in a good way. :-) I filed a ADA 504 Disability Complaint with the US DOJ against the City of Austin's use of Traffic calming devices which use vertical and horizontal "thrusts"...humps, traffic circles, chicanes, rumble strips and the like. And I pointed out that there are other traffic calming techniques/devices which do not cause the disabled pain when using public streets that the city could use instead. The DOJ bumped the complaint to the US-DOT who humped it to the FHWA in DC and they chicaned it on down to the Austin branch of the Federal Highway Dept for "investigation." 512-916-5511 Today I got a call from the Austin branch on my DOT# 98-670 case number and had a chat for quite some time with a dude from the FHD and after a while I got the vague impression that "I" was under investigation, some of the questions seemed to be about my website on traffic calming, the AATC. http://www.io.com/~bumper/ada.htm
I..I..I may not be the best disabled person around, but if you don't hear from me anymore...tell my mom I loved her. :-)
Hey did I show you the website I made for my 78 year old dad? http://www.tstar.net/~joehall/angels.htm
So Carlos(if you have the time,) think about this for just a second...if citys around the country began to alter the public streets so that non-disabled people could not use those roads without suffering physical pain, would your average non-disabled driver/taxpayer just silently accept it as a good national policy? Just so you won't think badly of me for asking that kind of question...
{Plus in my post to Carlos I added a bit from a post that I recieved from a Mobile reporter}
"Hi. I'm a reporter at the Mobile Register in Alabama, and I ran across your web site while researching traffic calming. I'd be very interested in knowing who you are and how you got into this, for a story I'm doing on the growing number and diversity of traffic calmers in Mobile. Do you represent a group or are you just one person? Please e-mail me at jnicholes@mobileregister.com, or call me at 334-434-8643. Thanks!"

So thats what I know about the Federal investigation of my 504 ADA complaint. Will the Feds just say they can't stop the city of Austin from using traffic calming devices that use vertical and horizontal "thrusts" because no federal funds were used by the city on that particular road project?
Or will the Federal government suggest to the city of Austin that current requests for Federal funding for city wide transportation projects may be withheld unless the city reconsiders their choice of traffic calming devices and methods used?
The Federal government can do that and more if they so choose.