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Key FindinGs

  1. Completion of transportation projects takes too long. Today, a typical highway or transit project can take from 10 to 15 years to complete––up to six years for the environmental process, and up to nine years or more for planning, design, and construction. That is unacceptable. The Federal government should set a goal of cutting the current project delivery time in half, achieving in five to seven years what now takes 10 to 15.

  2. Clarify the primary role to be played by FHWA. Today FHWA plays a dual role spending as much effort achieving compliance of transportation projects with federal environmental requirements, as actually helping to get those projects built. It is time to make clear that the primary responsibility of the FHWA and the U.S. DOT is to improve mobility for the American people in the most expeditious way possible.

  3. When disasters strike, Federal and state governments have shown a remarkable ability to quickly restore service. Twenty-six days after a tanker fire destroyed an access ramp to the Bay Bridge in Oakland, Caltrans restored service. Sixty-five days after a barge destroyed an I-40 bridge, Oklahoma DOT rebuilt that bridge and got it back in service. Similar success stories can be told of rapid restoration of service in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida after devastating hurricanes destroyed highways and bridges. In each case U.S. DOT and FHWA helped make these successes possible through quick decision making and extraordinary collaboration. Methods used to fast-track projects in emergencies should be options for non-emergency projects as well.

  4. When the need arises, states have proven their ability to accelerate construction through the use of innovative contracting. When Indiana DOT determined that it had to repair the inner loop in Indianapolis where Interstates 65 and 70 meet, but that this would tie up traffic for six months, they opted instead for a faster solution. Through an incentive contract, work scheduled to take 85 days was completed in 55 days. When Utah DOT needed to complete a $1.5 billion project to rebuild Interstate 15 in time for the 2002 Salt Lake Winter Olympics, they used a design-build contract and accelerated project completion by over four years. Innovative contracting is a vital tool that should be encouraged.

  5. Sixty months is the current average time to complete National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) reviews on major transportation projects. Fast-tracking environmental reviews on the $1.6 billion T-REX project in Denver, allowed a record of decision (ROD) to be issued by the year 2000, in 25 months. That same year, the NEPA process for the Route 19 Missouri River Bridge took 24 months from notice of intent to record of decision. When requested to do so by state or local government project sponsors, U.S. DOT should establish a goal to complete the NEPA process for major projects in 24 months.

  6. Federal agencies have played a vital role in delivering projects swiftly. U.S. DOT’s “Highways for Life,” initiative and the President’s Executive Order on Environmental Streamlining are examples of strong leadership. What is needed on a constant basis is for U.S. DOT to commit itself to help states deliver projects as fast as possible, and to enlist other Federal agencies in this approach. At stake are economic and social objectives for the country that are just as important as the environmental objectives states are being asked to attain.

  7. Some recent Federal actions will hinder, rather than expedite, project delivery. For example, SAFETEA-LU authorized states to assume delegations of FHWA’s environmental role. Most states have chosen not to seek delegation authority because of FHWA’s interpretation that if they do so they must give up the option of advanced right-of-way acquisition and final design paid for with non-Federal funds. The Commission should call for removing this obstacle to delegation, either via a policy change by FHWA, or by a statutory change.

  8. Create Partnerships between Resource Agencies and Transportation Agencies. Historically, there has been a virtual chasm between transportation agencies and environmental resource agencies. All would benefit from a closer working relationship. One example of successful partnering is in the development of programmatic agreements (PAs). Programmatic agreements reduce workload for both transportation and resource agencies, while protecting the environment and speeding up project delivery. For example, Ohio DOT and the US Fish & Wildlife Service recently finalized a programmatic agreement for the Indiana bat, an endangered species. Prior to the agreement, ODOT had to spend large amounts of time and money analyzing impacts for individual projects and addressing concerns raised by FWS. The PA eliminates most project-by-project reviews and provides a streamlined review process to address impacts to the Indiana bat for all of ODOT’s road projects. ODOT in turn invests resources in efforts that will assist in the recovery of the species. ODOT expects to see substantial time and cost savings from this agreement. By partnering, DOTs and resource agencies can achieve both  swift project delivery and environmental protection.

  9. Apply common sense in addressing indirect and cumulative environmental impacts. Under several Federal laws, states must assess the indirect and cumulative impacts of transportation projects. Mitigation is sometimes required even for impacts associated with non-transportation activities. Some Federal agencies have been convinced to use this authority to extract dollars from transportation agencies well beyond reason, because the transportation agencies have deep pockets, or to drive the cost of projects so high, they have to be cancelled. The Commission should call for the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) to clarify the parameters for indirect and cumulative impact analysis and mitigation.

  10. Reform or eliminate Clean Air Act conformity regulations because of the progress being made through cleaner fuels and cleaner engines. After decades of EPA regulations to clean vehicle engines and fuels, emissions from highway vehicles have dropped dramatically—far more than in any other sector. As older trucks and cars are continually replaced by clean vehicles and fuels, the pay-off from air quality conformity requirements becomes increasingly negligible. Yet the conformity process is convoluted and ties up MPOs, state DOTs, FHWA, and EPA, all of which could better devote their time to more productive opportunities to improve transportation and the environment. The Commission should recommend that Congress take a close look at the Clean Air Act conformity requirements, to determine whether they will have a meaningful effect in the future, given how effective EPA’s engine and fuel requirements have been in lowering vehicle emissions to a small fraction of 1960 levels.

  11. Open the door to innovative contracting and public private partnerships by making the “Extraordinary” the “Ordinary.” Tremendous progress has been made through two “Special Experimental Projects” authorized by U.S. DOT through SEP-14 which focused on “Innovative Contracting,” and SEP-15 which focused on Public-Private Partnerships. Both permit variations to traditional approaches and exempt projects from federal restrictions. SEP-14 enabled approaches such as “cost-plus-time” incentive bidding, lane rental, “design-build” and “best value” rather than low bid contracting. SEP-15 enabled states to “explore alternative approaches to the overall project development process,” clearing away federal obstacles which stood in the way of completing environmental reviews, right-of-way acquisition and project finance. Rather than granting such exceptions on a case-by-case basis, they should be granted on a programmatic basis. If the process works and can be justified, the extraordinary should be made the ordinary.

  12. Change federal policies so corridors for the future can be identified and preserved, so the U.S. can meet its mobility needs for the next century, not just the next twenty years. If not, we will condemn our grandchildren to gridlock. Over the next 50 years the U.S. is expected to grow by 140 million people. It may grow by a similar amount in the last half of this century. Current federal environmental restrictions make it extremely difficult to identify and preserve transportation corridors for the future. Unless they are preserved now, it will be almost impossible to reacquire them once urban areas are developed. Corridor preservation by states should be supported and encouraged by the federal government, and federal statutes standing in the way should be changed.


Photo courtesy Indiana Department of Transportation. Using an innovative approach to construction called Hyperfix, the Indiana DOT completely closed I-65/I-70 in downtown Indianapolis in order to rehabilitate 33 bridges and reconstruct 35 miles of pavement. Completed in only 55 days, the project saved more than $1 million per day versus traditional construction techniques. See page 44.

 

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