In 1945, Manuel, who had been promoted to full colonel and would lead troops as they spent 45 consecutive days aboard ship under kamikaze attacks before participating in an amphibious landing on Okinawa.
[2] Finally retiring from the army in 1946, Manuel returned to Fort Lauderdale, and resumed his involvement in public affairs, joining and serving as an officer in local Rotary and Kiwanis organizations, as well as supporting various political causes.
Largely due to Costar's lobbying efforts, the state legislature had passed the Florida Turnpike Act in 1953, and then-Governor McCarty signed it into law.
Having been appointed chairman of the Florida Turnpike Authority (the program's governing agency) in January 1955 by Governor Collins in one of his first official acts, Manuel almost single-handedly turned the situation around.
By the end of the 1955 legislative session the bill to kill the Turnpike had been defeated 36–4, the original law had actually been amended to extend the planned route of the new road by another 110 miles from Fort Pierce to Miami, and a $70 million bond issue had been authorized to finance the first stage of construction.
By late 1956, owing to the Federal government's announced plans for a comprehensive interstate network of highways which would become the Interstate Highway System, and which was to include a route down Florida's east coast, designated I-95, which largely duplicated the Turnpike's originally-contemplated "Coastal Route" from Jacksonville to Fort Pierce, all work on the Turnpike stopped, and plans for further construction were shelved.
[2][failed verification] Throughout the greater part of his service on the Turnpike Authority, Chairman Manuel was forced to contend with opposition from diverse segments of the political world, including those who felt it was a waste of tax dollars, rural interests unenthusiastic about devoting resources to a project seen as largely benefiting urban areas, tourism-based interests in the coastal towns of the counties between St. Augustine and Fort Lauderdale, railroad lines, and others.
Despite his initial disinclination to go forward with additional construction on the Turnpike, Governor Collins acknowledged the need for an extension of the Sunshine State Parkway that would connect Fort Pierce (and the under-construction I-95) with Orlando (and the proposed I-4 and I-75).
On one notable occasion, witnessing an accident, he quickly pulled to the side of the road and dove into a canal, dragging the wrecked cars occupants from the murky water in what, sadly, turned out to be futile efforts to save their lives.
At age 88, while attending a public hearing in Coconut Creek, and speaking against proposed toll increases, Manuel suffered a heart attack, collapsed, and was rushed to a hospital.