DOT Announces 'Corridors of the Future' Winners
The U.S. Department of Transportation yesterday announced six interstate routes that will be the first to participate in a new federal initiative to develop multi-state corridors to help reduce congestion.
"We are using a comprehensive approach to fighting congestion along these major interstate routes," said Deputy U.S. Secretary of Transportation Thomas J. Barrett. "What we are doing represents a real break from past approaches that have failed to address growing congestion along our busiest corridors."
The announcement follows a year-long competition to select a handful of interstate corridors from among the 38 applications received from public and private sector entities to join the department's "Corridors of the Future" program, whose purpose is to develop national and regional approaches to reduce congestion and improve the efficiency of freight delivery. The selected corridors carry 22.7 percent of the nation's daily interstate travel.
The routes will receive the following funding amounts to implement their development plans: $21.8 million for I-95 from Florida to the Canadian border; $5 million for I-70 in Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio; $15 million for I-15 in Arizona, Utah, Nevada, and California; $15 million for I-5 in California, Oregon, and Washington; $8.6 million for I-10 from California to Florida; and $800,000 for I-69 from Texas to Michigan.
The winning proposals' concepts included building new roads and adding lanes to existing roads, building truck-only lanes and bypasses, and integrating real-time traffic technology like lane management that can match available capacity on roads to changing traffic demands.
DOT and the states will now work to finalize formal agreements by spring 2008 that will detail the commitments of the federal, state, and local governments involved. These agreements will outline the anticipated role of the private sector as well as how the partners will handle the financing, planning, design, construction, and maintenance of the corridor.
For more information, visit www.fightgridlocknow.gov.