3. 1). The Process to Complete Highway Projects Is Complex and Lengthy Due to Multiple Factors

Completing a highway project can involve many stakeholders—including  federal, state, and local government agencies; nongovernmental  organizations (NGO); and private citizens—and, for major highway  projects, as many as 200 steps from planning through construction (see  fig. Regardless, there are a host of stakeholders that could become involved  in a highway project as follows:
Transportation agencies. Federal resource agencies. State resource agencies. These state-level agencies are generally  responsible for managing and protecting the state’s natural and  cultural resources. The federal government is not  directly involved in construction, but does have an oversight role. Additional Factors That Can Affect Time Frames

In addition to the many stakeholders and tasks involved, a number of  other factors can complicate the process and lead to longer highway  project time frames such as the following:  The availability of funding for large highway projects can affect how long it  takes to complete a project. State DOTs Generally Agree That SAFETEA- LU Provisions Could Decrease Project Time Frames but Find Some Provisions More Useful Than Others

States identified both benefits and challenges with each of the SAFETEA- LU provisions meant to help expedite highway projects but acknowledged  alternative solutions for some of the provisions that better served their  purposes. In our survey, state DOTs most frequently agreed that the  Minor Impacts to Protected Public Land provision of SAFETEA-LU has  the potential to save time (see table 2) and has relatively few challenges  to implementation. Potential benefits. States and FHWA Have Initiated Efforts to Develop and Share Innovative Practices for Expediting Highway Projects

States have implemented a variety of efforts to expedite highway projects,  and FHWA has initiated efforts to share innovative practices. Other state efforts are more recent, prompted by new authorities provided  by SAFETEA-LU or by streamlining concepts recently promoted by  FHWA. For example, the North Carolina Department of  Transportation designed a project development process, implemented  in 1997, that promotes early involvement of state and federal  stakeholders. This process reduces permit processing times from years  to months, according to North Carolina Department of Transportation  officials. Using Programmatic Agreements. Every Day Counts  includes 13 specific initiatives to streamline time frames for all four  phases of highway projects, including the environmental review phase. While FHWA has collected data to address the U.S. DOT target noted  above and data on the Every Day Counts initiatives, states have only had  about 1 year to implement the Every Day Counts initiatives and,  according to an FHWA official, it is too soon to tell if those initiatives have  had a positive effect on expediting the completion of highway projects. However, given that state DOTs noted in our survey that there are other  solutions outside of the SAFETEA-LU provisions that better serve their  needs and are within their authority to implement, it is unlikely that state  DOTs will greatly increase their participation in some of the SAFETEA-LU  provisions we analyzed, particularly those that delegate environmental  review decision-making authority from FHWA to state DOTs and require  the state to accept federal court jurisdiction for such decisions. DOT with a draft of this report for review and comment. DOT provided technical comments, which we incorporated as  appropriate. (2) What are state departments of  transportation (DOT) views on the benefits and challenges of  implementing initiatives to expedite highway projects established by the  Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy  for Users (SAFETEA-LU)? (3) What practices have state DOTs and the  Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) implemented to expedite  highway projects? The resource  agencies we interviewed were: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. The full universe for this survey was 52 state DOTs: all  states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. To describe the practices state DOTs have implemented on their own to  help expedite highway projects, we included a series of questions in our  survey of state DOTs asking respondents to identify practices they have  implemented in each highway project phase: planning, preliminary design  and environmental review, final design and right-of-way acquisition, and  construction. Under Every Day Counts, FHWA urged state  DOTs to consider use of 15 specific initiatives. This initiative promotes  use of planning documents and decisions from the project planning  process in the environmental review process. 4).
Why GAO Did This Study

Projects to construct, improve, and repair roads and bridges are fundamental to meeting the nations mobility needs. However, completing highway projectswhich generally involves four phases consisting of (1) planning, (2) preliminary design and environmental review, (3) final design and right-of-way acquisition, and (4) constructioncan sometimes take a long time. In 2005, SAFETEA-LU established provisions to help expedite highway projects, including streamlining some portions of the environmental review process, allowing states to assume greater environmental review responsibilities under certain conditions, and establishing efforts that permitted delegation of some authority from the federal government to states. GAO was asked to (1) describe the process and factors that could affect highway project time frames, (2) examine state DOTs views on the benefits and challenges of the provisions to expedite highway projects established in SAFETEA-LU, and (3) describe additional initiatives that state DOTs and FHWA have implemented to expedite the completion of highway projects. GAO surveyed officials from 52 state DOTs, including all states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico; interviewed officials at FHWA, state DOTs, and federal resource agencies (agencies tasked with protecting natural, historic, or cultural resources); and analyzed legislation, regulations, and other reports and publications. U.S. DOT provided technical comments on a draft of this report, which GAO incorporated as appropriate.

What GAO Found

The process to complete highway projects is complicated and lengthy due to multiple factors. Specifically, highway projects can involve many stakeholders, including agencies at all levels of government, nongovernmental organizations, and the public. These stakeholders perform a number of tasksfor major highway projects, as many as 200 steps from planning to constructionbut their level of involvement varies. For example, resource agencies like the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service generally only become involved in a highway project if it affects the environmental or cultural resources that agency is tasked with protecting. Additional factors can lengthen project time frames, including the availability of funding, changes in a states transportation priorities, public opposition, or litigation.
State departments of transportation (DOT) that GAO surveyed generally agreed that the provisions meant to help expedite highway projects established in the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) could decrease time frames but found some provisions more useful than others. They most frequently agreed that the provision allowing for the use of protected public landif such use has minor impacts on the property and is approved by relevant resource agencieshas the potential to save time and has few challenges to implementation. State DOTs reported that the other SAFETEA-LU provisions GAO studied have both potential benefits and challenges but, in some cases, they identified alternative solutions that could better serve their needs. For example, although respondents indicated that they could save time by implementing the issue resolution process established in SAFETEA-LU, they also noted that the use of written agreements between highway project stakeholderssuch as federal resource agenciescould better serve their purposes. Survey respondents also indicated that they are generally not interested in implementing two SAFETEA-LU provisions that would delegate environmental review decision-making authority from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to states, primarily because the states did not want to accept federal court jurisdiction for the decisions made under those provisions.
States have implemented a variety of efforts to expedite highway projects and FHWA has initiated efforts to expedite projects by sharing innovative practices. For example, in 1997, the North Carolina DOT implemented a project development process that promotes early involvement of highway stakeholders and reduces permit processing times from years to months. Other state efforts are more recent, prompted by streamlining concepts promoted by FHWA beginning in 2010 under an effort known as Every Day Counts. Through Every Day Counts, FHWA encouraged states to consider implementing 15 specific innovative practices during 2011 and 2012, including 13 practices that could help expedite highway project completion. FHWA plans to introduce a new set of initiatives during 2012 for implementation during 2013 and 2014. FHWA developed performance measures for Every Day Counts and is currently collecting data to determine if these initiatives have had a positive impact on expediting highway projects.