Who is FHWA?

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Transportation EnhancementsCalifornias Past,
Present, Future
Stephanie M. Stoermer FHWA California Division
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Historically speaking
California has always been a favored
destination...and there are so many Californias
to chose from
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Although California has been intermodal from
early on
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We are more noted for being the birthplace of the
Car Culture
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Good Roads Movement

• On July 16, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson
  signed the Federal Aid Road Act of 1916,
  initiating the federal-aid highway program and
  providing additional impetus for the development
  of state highways.
• "The bill is as big as the great country it
  represents and as broad as the humanity it would
  serve."
• -- Southern Good Roads magazine

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The Price of Progress
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WHO UPSET ROGER RABBIT ?
In Who Framed Roger Rabbit ?--set in 1947--Evil
Judge Doom has a plan to take out Toon Town in
order to acquire the land, which is in the path
of a planned freeway to Pasadena. However, by
1947 there was already a freeway to Pasadena !
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SUPERHIGHWAY-SUPERHOAX (1970)

• We must stop listening to engineers and highway
  planners, men who explain the effects of
  displacing people and services in very vague
  terms. Even more vague, in the mind of the
  highway planner, at least, is the direct social
  or economic effect of taking a park or wildlife
  refuge for highway use.
• -Helen Leavitt, Superhighway-Superhoax

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FHWA Today

• The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)
  provides expertise, resources, and information to
  improve the nation's highway system and its
  intermodal connections.
• The Federal-Aid Highway Program provides
  financial assistance to the States to construct
  and improve the National Highway System, other
  roads, and bridges.
• The Federal Lands Highway Program provides access
  to and within national forests and parks, Indian
  reservations, and other public lands by preparing
  plans, letting contracts, supervising
  construction, and inspecting bridges.
• FHWA conducts and manages a comprehensive
  research, development, and technology program.

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Transportation EnhancementsBackground

• TE activities have been eligible for funding
  under the Surface Transportation Program (STP)
  since the Intermodal Surface Transportation
  Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA).
• The dedication of a portion of federal-aid
  highway funds specifically for TE demonstrated a
  significant shift in national transportation
  policy.
• Prior to ISTEA, only a few of these activities
  had been eligible for federal-aid highway
  funding,and they were often not included in the
  normal routine of planning and building highways.

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Transportation EnhancementsBackground

• Congress and various interests expressed concerns
  that Federal-aid highway funds were being used
  for activities not serving a transportation
  purpose.
• In 1995,FHWA issued guidance stating specifically
  that TE activities "must have a direct
  relationship to the intermodal transportation
  system."
• Some viewed this link as too tight or narrow.
• In 1998, Congress amended the definition of TE
  activities by inserting the phrase "relates to
  surface transportation" as part of the
  Transportation Equity Act for the 21st
  Century(TEA-21)

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Transportation EnhancementsBackground

• FHWA views this phrase as a more flexible
  standard than the "direct relationship" standard.
  
• Congress also added two eligible categories
  (safety and educational activities for
  pedestrians and bicyclists, and transportation
  museums), and modified others (scenic or historic
  highway programs, tourist and welcome centers,
  and reducing wildlife mortality).

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Transportation Enhancements12 Eligible
Categories

• Pedestrian and bicycle facilities
• Pedestrian and bicycle safety and education
• Scenic or historic easements and sites
• Scenic or historic highway programs
• Landscaping and scenic beautification
• Historic preservation

• Historic transportation buildings, structures, or
  facilities
• Rail to trail conversions
• Control and removal of outdoor advertising
• Archaeological planning and research
• Mitigate highway water pollution and wildlife
  mortality
• Transportation museums

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What is Surface Transportation ?

• All elements of the intermodal transportation
  system, exclusive of aviation.
• For the purposes of TE eligibility, surface
  transportation includes water as surface
  transportation and includes as eligible
  activities related features such as canals,
  lighthouses, and docks or piers connecting to
  ferry operations, as long as the proposed
  enhancement otherwise meets the basic eligibility
  criteria.

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Transportation Enhancements

• The majority of projects that use TE funds are
  small-scale projects with an average federal
  share of 339,000.
• They are initiated at the local level by city or
  county governments or community-based
  organizations, referred to as sponsors.
• Projects funded with TE dollars can also be
  initiated by state DOTs,other state
  agencies,federally-recognized tribal
  governments,or federal agencies.

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Transportation Enhancements

• Like other components of the Federal-aid Highway
  Program, TE activities are federally funded and
  state administered.
• The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)
  division offices located in each state, Puerto
  Rico, and Washington, D.C. provide guidance,
  stewardship, and oversight for the use of TE
  funds.
• TE Program is not a grant program. The
  federal-aid program operates on a reimbursement
  basis as work progresses. Prior to construction
  the project must be approved by Caltrans and FHWA.

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TE Projects must relate to surface
transportation

• Some factors that can help establish this
  relationship
• Proximity to a highway or a non-motorized
  transportation corridor,
• Enhances the aesthetic, cultural, or historic
  aspects of the travel experience, and
• Serves a current or past transportation purpose.

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TE Projects must relate to surface
transportation

• Some factors that are not good enough
• Near the road.
• Can see it from the road.
• People walk or travel there.
• People used to go there before the highway was
  built.

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• Projects eligible for TE funding must meet
  Federal environmental, project administration,
  and right-of-way requirements.

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Now comes the really exciting part
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Federal Aid Financial Terminology

• Apportionments are the funds distributed among
  the states as prescribed by statutory formula.
• Programmed funds have been approved at the state
  level by the appropriate jurisdiction, ruling
  body, or official. (Step 1 in spending process)
• Obligation is the formal commitment of a
  specified amount of funding for a particular
  project. (Step 2 in spending process)
• Reimbursements are the amount of funds FHWA has
  reimbursed to the state for completed work on TE
  projects, regardless of whether the project is
  only partially or fully complete. (Step 3 in
  spending process)

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6,141,372,604 Total (Programmed Funds) 18,127 TE
Projects
FY 1992 to FY 2004
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Programmed Projects by TE ActivitiesFY 2004 and
Beyond(Nationwide)
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TE in CaliforniaFY1992 FY2003

• Apportioned 564,898,923
• Programmed 698,773,789
• Obligated 422,981,582
• Reimbursed 295,578,170
• Average Fed Award 648,213

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Chicano Park Mural Restoration

• San Diego, CA
• TE Category 5
• TE award 1,428,000
• Other 185,000
• Total 1,613,000

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Ferry Building Restoration

• San Francisco, CA
• Primary TE Activity 7
• Secondary TE Activity 1,3,4,5
• TE award 2,000,000
• Other funds 61,000,000
• Total cost 63,000,000

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Santa Monica Urban Runoff Recycling Facility
(SMURRF)

• Santa Monica, CA
• Primary TE Activity 11
• TE award 1,158,000
• Other funds 342,000
• Total cost 1,500,000

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Sundial Bridge

• Redding, CA
• Primary TE Activity1
• TE award 1,400,000
• Other funds 22,100,000
• Total cost 23,500,000

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Santa Fe Depot Restoration

• San Bernardino, CA
• Primary TE Activity 7
• TE award 8,100,000
• Other funds 7,100,000
• Total cost 15,200,000

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Oaklawn Bridge Wait Station
South Pasadena, CA
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Tower Bridge Bike/Pedestrian Improvements
Sacramento, CA
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Great Stone Church Mission San Juan Capistrano
San Juan Capistrano, CA
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TE Resources

• FHWA Enhancements website fhwa.dot.gov/environme
  ntal/te/index

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TE Resources

• National Transportation Clearinghouse
  Enhancements (NTEC) website
• www.enhancements,org

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Questions ???