News:

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

USDOT's Awards $14.7 Million for Rural Roads Safety

RAYMOND, Miss. - Fourteen states, three counties and two parishes competed for and will receive $14.7 million in Rural Safety Innovation Program (RSIP) funds to improve safety on rural roads, Deputy Secretary Thomas J. Barrett said today. "Making one road safer is important. But making rural roads around the country less deadly is absolutely essential," said U.S. Transportation Deputy Secretary Thomas J. Barrett, who personally presented awards to officials in Mississippi today. "Thanks to these funds our rural roads are on their way to becoming as safe as they are beautiful." [read the full release]

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

U.S. Department of Transportation Approves Utah's I-15 Corridor

WASHINGTON - Utah's plans to build the I-15 Corridor in Utah County can now move forward, U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters announced today. Last Friday, Federal Highway Administration officials signed a "Record of Decision" (ROD) - a document representing the final clearance of the project's exhaustive environmental review - giving the state clearance to begin right-of-way acquisition, design and construction. "This marks a major milestone for the region's thousands of drivers anxious for relief from traffic tie-ups," said Secretary Peters. [read the full release]

The Office of Operations launched a new Tolling and Pricing Program Web site. In an effort to create a more user friendly experience when searching for information about federal pricing programs, the new site includes valuable information that was once included on three separate sites: the Tolling and Pricing Opportunities, the Value Pricing Pilot Program (VPPP) and the VPPP site on the Knowledge Exchange. This is just the first step in streamlining information on one of the critical FHWA programs. In the future, the site will also feature a subject index that will help the user find the subjects they are looking for quickly instead of searching the entire site.

In FY 2006, six Department of Transportation (DOT) organizations received funding from the Highway Trust Fund (HTF). The HTF consolidated financial statements are primarily comprised of the Highway Corpus Trust Fund, held by the Department of the Treasury's Bureau of Public Debt, and certain accounts of the following operating administrations of the DOT; Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Federal Transit Administration (FTA), Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMSCA), Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), and Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA). This document provides information on the achievement of Department goals by the HTF modes, as well as provides the FY 2006 audited financial statements of the HTF. Read the Highway Trust Fund, FY 2006 Financial Report.

The Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) was enacted August 10, 2005, as Public Law 109-59. SAFETEA-LU authorizes the Federal surface transportation programs for highways, highway safety, and transit for the 5-year period 2005-2009.

President Bush issued Executive Order 13274 on September 18, 2002 to enhance environmental stewardship and streamline the decision-making process in connection with major transportation projects. Visit the Environmental Stewardship and Transportation Infrastructure Project Reviews web site to find out more about the implementation of Executive Order 13274.

Last year marked the 50th anniversary of the Eisenhower Interstate System. Since its initiation on June 29, 1956, the Dwight D. Eisenhower System of Interstate and Defense Highways has had a tremendous impact on our nation. Visit our anniversary Web site to explore the history of the interstate system - the backbone of the American economy. Visit the online exhibit:
Celebrating 50 Years: The Eisenhower Interstate Highway System

A Technical Advisory has been issued strongly advising that State Departments of Transportation and other bridge owners to immediately re-inspect bridges that are of similar type to the I-35 Bridge in Minneapolis.

Employment Opportunities

Jobs in the Federal Highway Administration

Planning A Trip? Your first stop should be the National Traffic and Road Closure Information web site and your second stop should be the Scenic Byways Web site.

The DOT FY 2008 Exhibit 300s are now available on the Web.

SAFETEA-LU; Opportunities for State and Other Qualifying Agencies to Gain Authority to Toll Facilities Constructed Using Federal Funds

A Federal Register Notice was published on January 6, 2006. The purpose of this notice is to explain the Federal-aid Highway programs now available as a result of SAFETEA-LU that grant permission to public authorities to enact tolls on motor vehicles. The notice is also intended to invite Expressions of Interest to participate in these programs and to introduce the Tolling and Pricing Opportunities Web site.

The 11th Street Bridges are a pair of one-way bridges that cross the Anacostia River in southeastern Washington, DC. The bridges were built in the mid-1960s to provide a vital link between the Anacostia Freeway (I-295 and DC-295) and the Southeast/Southwest Freeway (I-695). However the full connections envisioned in the original project plan remain incomplete. Drivers heading south on the Anacostia Freeway cannot access the bridges and drivers heading east across the bridges cannot access the Anacostia Freeway heading north. For decades, the only alternative has been to use neighborhood streets to compensate for these missing highway connections. With the release of the Record of Decision (ROD) on July 2, 2008, however, the 11th Street Bridges are now poised for completion of these connections. Find out more in the August issue of "Successes in Stewardship".

FHWA is sponsoring web-based communities of practice (CoP's) to promote free and open knowledge exchange on such topics as environment and planning, air quality, high performance concrete, and transportation asset management. Join a group of your peers throughout the highway community to discuss, collaborate, and exchange ideas and practices on a wide range of interesting and timely topics on one of the FHWA Knowledge Communities.

Public Comments
Your feedback is important to us:
	Did you find what you needed? yes no If no, please explain:
	Do you have ideas on how we can improve this Web site? yes no If yes, tell us how:

Contact Information

Feedback

Privacy Policy

Web Publishing Schedule

Linking to Our Site

Disclaimer