As the evidence shows, travel is greatly out-distancing available room on the roads. A series of new reports, Transportation Reboot: Restarting America's Most Essential Operating System, by the American Association of State Highway & Transportation Officials (AASHTO), makes the case for increasing the nation's transportation capacity. State transportation leaders have identified their most urgently needed capacity expansion projects that are critical to rebuilding the economy and keeping a competitive edge worldwide.
"Our first report, Unlocking Gridlock, shows that we are experiencing system overload," said John Horsley, AASHTO's executive director, at a news conference in Texas to release the report. "While congestion levels declined with the recession, congestion is now returning, costing millions in lost time and productivity. Capacity increases are needed in transit, rail, and particularly in highways."
"Even with strategies to reduce traffic and improve transit, highway system expansion is critical," said AASHTO President Larry "Butch" Brown, director of the Mississippi Department of Transportation. "If most or all of our capital investment were made in system rehabilitation and little to none in adding needed capacity, road conditions would improve, but traffic would grind to a halt."
Urgent capacity expansion projects cited in the report range from Houston's U.S. 290 Corridor, one of the most congested highways in Texas that is projected to serve staggering growth, to expansion of the I-15 CANAMEX trade corridor in Nevada. Other projects include completion of the I-509 freeway in southern California and new commuter rail links in Michigan. These urgent capacity projects and others are described in detail on the AASHTO website ExpandingCapacity.transportation.org, which also includes the full report.
"Texas continues to grow rapidly, even during these times of economic recession and uncertainty. As more new Texans move to our state each day, the challenges facing us in addressing the worsening urban congestion only increase," said Amadeo Saenz Jr., executive director of the Texas Department of Transportation. "Finding ways to successfully implement transportation solutions that increase capacity and improve mobility within our major metropolitan and urban communities is a high priority for Texas."
Susan Martinovich, director of the Nevada Department of Transportation, has seen first-hand how population increases affect capacity needs. "Over past years, Nevada's population grew faster than much of the rest of the nation," she said. "To provide mobility, increase safety and spur commerce for this larger population, it is vital that Nevada has the ability to add needed transportation improvements and upkeep existing roads."
Future reports in the Transportation Reboot series will address connecting rural and urban America, and the nation's freight capacity needs. For a short video outlining key points of the report, go to www.transportation.org.
