National Highway System

 

WHEREAS, the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act ("MAP-21") was enacted (Public Law No: 112-141) on July 6, 2012; and

WHEREAS, MAP-21 amended Section 103 of Title 23, United States Code (23 U.S.C.103) to include all principal arterials, vastly expanding the National Highway System (NHS) from approximately 160,000 miles to approximately 220,000 miles; and

WHEREAS, The description as defined in 23 U.S.C 103(b)(1) states, “The National Highway System consists of the highway routes and connections to transportation facilities that shall—

(A) serve major population centers, international border crossings, ports, airports, public transportation facilities, and other intermodal transportation facilities and other major travel destinations; (B) meet national defense requirements; and (C) serve interstate and interregional travel and commerce; and

WHEREAS, many of the NHS routes added as a result of MAP-21 do not meet the description of the NHS nor provide any significant regional, state or national role(s) and while classified as principal arterials, typically only serve urban commercial areas and business districts; and

WHEREAS, the system in place for making appropriate reclassifications to the expanded NHS is a time consuming, detailed process for each highway segment and prohibits the states from making timely progress; and

WHEREAS, by incorporating routes into the NHS which do not satisfy the description, MAP-21 places undue additional requirements on state transportation departments, requirements such as national performance measure data collection requirements, outdoor advertisement and junkyard control regulations and more stringent design standards; and

WHEREAS, these are unfunded mandates placed upon state transportation departments that are already operating under budgetary constraints.

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the SASHTO Board of Directors urges Congress to provide a process to give States an opportunity to re-define the National Highway System and  to revise the modification process to allow States, in consultation with responsible local officials, to selectively remove and add any and all mileage from the NHS that does not meet the criteria as specified in 23 U.S.C. 103(b)(1); and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the SASHTO Board of Directors urges Congress to allow States a ten year period in which to phase in the additional enforcement requirements of the additions to the NHS by MAP-21.

 

Approved by the SASHTO Board of Directors
on August 26, 2014 in New Orleans, Louisiana

 

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