The House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations issued a continuing resolution or CR that would fund federal government programs from the beginning of fiscal year 2021 on October 1 through December 11 but its fate remains uncertain as the House’s Democratic leadership continues negotiating with the White House. Key for state departments of transportation is […]

The Federal Highway Administration recently issued two packets of “quick release” Emergency Relief or ER funds to California and Oregon agencies to pay for repairs to transportation infrastructure damaged by wildfires raging across several western states. [Above photo by the Oregon DOT.] The FHWA issued $5 million in ER funds to the Oregon Department of […]

Hurricane Sally made landfall on September 16 near the Alabama and Florida border: a Category 2 storm that trigged “catastrophic flooding,” heavy rainfall, damaging storm surge and strong winds that even affected inland areas across the Southeast in Georgia, the Carolinas, and into Virginia. [Above photo by the Department of Defense.] According to news reports, […]

On September 9, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials along with 87 other organizations co-signed a letter to Congressional leadership calling for a one-year “turn-key” extension of current surface transportation funding legislation with the addition of emergency funding for state departments of transportation and public transit agencies. “Public agencies continue to face […]

Twelve state department of transportation projects were named finalists in the 2020 America’s Transportation Awards competition by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials; projects that make travel across America safer, better, and more accessible to motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians alike. [Above photo by the Georgia DOT.] The 12 state DOT projects in […]

The Federal Highway Administration issued $5 million in “quick release” emergency relief funds on September 4 to help Louisiana begin repairing highways and bridges damaged by Hurricane Laura and Tropical Storm Marco. [Above photo by the Louisiana DOTD.] Louisiana experienced high winds and heavy rain from August 23-29 due to those storms, with high winds […]

A letter sent September 8 to Mark Meadows, White House chief of staff, called for presidential support for preserving the 5.9-gigahertz (GHz) wireless spectrum communication band for transportation safety needs. [Official White House photo above by Andrea Hanks.] Co-signed by some 40 organizations including the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, the letter […]

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials along with three other organizations are urging Congress to take three “critical steps” to address the “unstable future” created by significant declines federal and state transportation and other revenues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. [Above photo by the New Jersey DOT.] “Public agencies continue to face […]

The Federal Highway Administration began redistributing more than $4.76 billion in obligated federal highway funds on August 28. When states or other federal entities funded through the HTF do not fully use those federal funds in a given year, the FHWA makes those funds available to states that have successfully obligated their allotment of federal dollars. […]

In this episode of the Environmental Technical Assistance Program or ETAP podcast, host Bernie Wagenblast interviews Ed Sniffen (seen above at right), deputy director for highways at the Hawaii Department of Transportation, regarding how his agency is focused on improving infrastructure resiliency. Sniffen also serves as the chair of the Committee on Transportation System Security […]