Federal Highway Administration Plans To Make America’s Roadways Safer
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has released a report to Congress detailing the agency’s plan to make America’s roadways safer and more accessible for all vehicles — from compact cars to the large semi trucks.
The report identifies five areas of opportunity that will inform the FHWA as it moves ahead with its efforts to increase the proportion of federally funded transportation projects that are routinely planned, designed, built and operated. The project is dubbed “Complete Streets.”
Project: Complete Streets
In FHWA’s Report to Congress, titled “Moving to a Complete Streets Design Model: A Report to Congress on Opportunities and Challenges,” FHWA adopts Complete Streets as its default approach for funding and designing the majority of federally funded roadways in the US.
Almost 70 percent of roads on the National Highway System are not access-controlled freeways, and these roads serve several different purposes. The focus of FHWA’s Complete Streets initiative are arterials in urban areas and many small-town main streets.
“A Complete Street is safe, and feels safe, for everyone using the street,” said Deputy Federal Highway Administrator Stephanie Pollack. “We can’t keep people safe on our roads if we don’t have safer roads and roads that slow down drivers to safe speeds. Through our Complete Streets initiative, FHWA will play a leadership role in providing an equitable and safe transportation network for travelers of all ages and abilities, including vulnerable road users and those from underserved communities that have faced historic disinvestment.”
The FHWA has committed to addressing our country’s crisis in roadway fatalities, including the recent increases among motorists, cyclists and pedestrians. The plan, encouraging safe speeds, focuses on the design, construction, and operation of safe roads. The Complete Streets design model embodies both elements, making it a key component of FHWA’s implementation of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Roadway Safety Strategy.
More Highway Projects
As the Report to Congress documents, the FHWA has begun assessing and revising its own policies, regulations, processes, and practices to make it easier for state and local agencies to advance and build Complete Streets.
FHWA’s Complete Streets initiative will address five areas:
- Improve data collection and analysis to advance safety for all users;
- Support rigorous safety assessment during project development and design to help prioritize safety outcomes across all project types;
- Accelerate adoption of standards and guidance that promote safety and accessibility for all users and support innovation in design;
- Reinforce the primacy of safety for all users in the interpretation of design standards, guidelines, and project review processes; and,
- Make Complete Streets FHWA’s default approach for funding and designing non-access-controlled roadways.
Safety For The Whole Transportation System
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law defines Complete Streets standards or policies as those which “ensure the safe and adequate accommodation of all users of the transportation system, including pedestrians, bicyclists, public transportation users, children, older individuals, individuals with disabilities, motorists, and freight vehicles.”
It also continues to provide funding for Complete Streets activities, along with new tools and resources that allow states and local governments to build Complete Streets. Included is a requirement that states and metropolitan planning organizations use at least 2.5 percent of their planning funding on activities related to Complete Streets or travel on foot, by bike, in a vehicle or using public transit.
Surface Transportation Block Grant Program funds can also be used for Complete Streets implementation. The FHWA recently released guidance for the Highway Safety Improvement Program, which can be used for Complete Streets projects and which received an additional $4 billion in funding under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The law also created a new $6 billion competitive grant program, Safe Streets and Roads for All, the details of which will be announced in the coming months.
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