Page 85 - Highway Engineering Handbook Building and Rehabilitating the Infrastructure

68 CHAPTER TWO

2.1.2 Transportation Programming Phase

In order to evaluate various projects from various parts of the state, information is col-
lected consisting of the following items: transportation inventories, traffic analyses,
modal forecasts, future system requirements, levels of service, population data and fore-
casts, land use inventories, public facilities plans, and basic social, economic, and envi-
ronmental data. This information comes from various sources, both public and private,
is updated on a regular basis, and is used in developing the state’s transportation
improvement program.
The statewide fiscal program is also considered in developing the plan. Transportation
investment, fiscal forecasts, and consideration of expenditure tradeoffs between modes
are some of the financial considerations affecting the project selection process.
Public input is sought from regional to local levels. Local and regional planning
organizations, as well as private individuals, have a chance to express opinions and
provide input to the project selection process. Once all factors have been evaluated, the
state announces and publishes its recommended transportation improvement plan. This
usually consists of a one-year plan and a five-year plan, with remaining projects grouped
under long-range plans.

2.1.3 Project Evaluation
Once projects reach the selected lists, the next phase is project evaluation. This phase
will determine which projects can advance to detail design and which will require a
more detailed evaluation in preliminary development.
Projects that can advance directly to design phase meet the following criteria:
● No additional right-of-way (permanent or temporary) will be required to accomplish
the work and there will be no adverse effect on abutting real properties.
● No major changes in the operation of access points, traffic volumes, traffic flows,
vehicle mix, or traffic patterns.
● No involvement with a live stream or an intermittent stream having significant year-
round pools, upstream or downstream, in the immediate vicinity.
● No involvement with a historic site.
Examples of these types of improvement are:
● Restoration and/or reconstruction of existing pavement surfaces
● Modernization of an existing facility by adding or widening shoulders
● Modernization of existing facilities by adding auxiliary lanes or pavement widening
to accomplish a localized purpose (weaving, climbing, speed change, protected
turn, etc.)
● Intersection improvements
● Reconstruction or rehabilitation of existing grade separation structures
● Reconstruction or rehabilitation of existing stream crossings which do not involve
any modification of a live stream or otherwise affect the water quality
● Landscaping or rest area upgrading projects
● Lighting, signing, pavement marking, signalization, freeway surveillance and control
systems, railroad protective devices, etc.