Dive Brief:

• The Federal Highway Administration has issued two final rules designed to improve the performance of highways and bridges and to target areas for infrastructure investment.

• The rules call on state transportation departments to set performance targets for improving air quality as well as pavement and bridge conditions. They also mandate reporting on travel times, delays, freight movement consistency and emissions.

• Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said the rules would help lessen travel delays and improve air quality while bolstering the nation's infrastructure.

Dive Insight:

While infrastructure is in, air pollution could be out as a primary driver of highway and bridge improvements. That’s if recent efforts by the Trump administration to remove climate change from the federal government lexicon extends from the Environmental Protection Agency to the FHWA. Former labor Secretary Elaine Chow, who was approved by a Senate committee on Jan. 26 to lead the Department of Transportation, has indicated that federal contributions to the administration’s planned $1 trillion infrastructure investment, as well as safety, would be top of mind for the agency.  

Road and bridge conditions across the U.S. are in dire need of improvement. For bridges alone, some 58,495 expanses have been identified as structurally deficient. Meanwhile, the DOT recently awarded a five-state consortium $2.5 million to study ways to improve highway performance and protect roads from the impact of long-haul transportation and weather.

For AEC professionals seeking examples of project possibilities under the Trump infrastructure plan, look no further than the FHWA's recent approval of the $1.2 billion I-70 extension project in Colorado. Critics of the 10-mile-long project argue that it will displace 56 households and 17 businesses while creating more air quality issues than it solves.