U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590
202-366-4000
Washington Division
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has recently adopted an initiative called "Every Day Counts" to identify ways to shorten the amount of time it typically takes to deliver highway construction projects from conception to completion. Every Day Counts (EDC) is designed to identify and deploy innovation aimed at shortening project delivery, enhancing the safety of our roadways, and improving environmental sustainability.
FHWA believes that several opportunities exist in the current project delivery process where innovative approaches will improve project delivery times. We have decided to focus on this initial series of technologies and innovations as we look to meet our transportation needs: Accelerating Technology and Innovation Deployment, Shortening Project Delivery Toolkit, and Accelerated Project Delivery Methods.
Building projects more quickly depends on the highway community advancing innovative practices to a level of routine use. EDC focuses FHWA's efforts to make innovative contracting every day standard business practice.
The EDC Initiative was presented to State DOTs at the AASHTO Spring Business Meeting in May 2010. EDC is designed to focus on the deployment of a finite set of initiatives. Performance measures will be developed, and EDC Implementation Teams will work with our State, local, and industry partners to deploy the initiatives.
We here in the Washington Division have been practicing our own version of EDC to accelerate project delivery for several years. This includes measuring and reporting the time it takes for us to take project actions as noted throughout this report. Our goal is to continue to set the standard for excellence in FHWA in project delivery.
The chart shows the timeliness of approval of project authorization/ modifications for the Recovery Act projects.
For FY2010 we approved 115 of the 118 authorizations/modifications within the first 5 days of receipt.
Number of Days | 2009 | 2010 |
---|---|---|
0 to 5 Days | 312 | 115 |
6 to 10 Days | 1 | 3 |
11 to 15 Days | 0 | 0 |
16 to 20 Days | 0 | 0 |
20 + Days | 0 | 0 |
Totals | 313 | 18 |
This chart shows the timeliness of approval of documented categorical exclusions (DCEs) semi-annually from FY2007 to FY2010.
As the chart depicts, we are approving the vast majority of DCEs within the first 10 days of receipt.
Columbia River Crossing
The replacement of the I-5 bridges across the Columbia River (the
Columbia River Crossing Project) is of national significance and involves
two State DOTs, two FHWA divisions, the Federal Transit
Administration, and multiple regulatory agencies. In the ESA consultation
the project staff are grappling with unprecedented challenges,
including multiple bridge installations with extensive in-water work
and 17 listed species occurring in the project area. FHWA, specifically
the Washington Division, is taking an active role by dedicating a
biologist to assist with analysis, multi-agency coordination, and impact
minimization approaches. A draft Biological Assessment was
submitted to National Marine Fisheries (NMFS) on April 7, 2010.
FHWA Requires Standard Template for
Biological Assessments
In an effort to improve the quality of biological
assessments and streamline the ESA Section 7
consultation process, FHWA sent a letter to
WSDOT Environmental Affairs Office and Highway
& Local Programs on May 17, 2010, requiring
that new projects use the standard template
which WSDOT developed in coordination with
FHWA, United States Fish and Wildlife Service
(USFWS) and NMFS.
This chart shows the timeliness of approval for right-of-way (R/W) Certifications 3 (Cert. 3s)
* | Approval of certifications 1 and 2 have been delegated to WSDOT. |
** | In order to authorize the advertisement of a project for construction, the State must certify the R/W has been cleared, per 23 CFR 635.309. |
*** | Certification 3s are to be used only in very unusual circumstances. |
Number of Days | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
0 to 5 Days | 208 | 780 | 858 | 724 | 1327 | 1463 | 1456 | 943 | 1451 | 1645 | 2261 | 971 |
6 to 10 Days | 24 | 241 | 307 | 121 | 90 | 101 | 103 | 68 | 175 | 128 | 113 | 44 |
11 to 15 Days | 12 | 77 | 109 | 39 | 10 | 22 | 24 | 13 | 37 | 12 | 7 | 3 |
16 to 20 Days | 9 | 29 | 34 | 21 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 18 | 5 | 1 | 2 |
20 + Days | 31 | 152 | 68 | 98 | 52 | 15 | 17 | 8 | 16 | 13 | 5 | 1 |
Totals | 284 | 1279 | 1376 | 1003 | 1484 | 1604 | 1608 | 1033 | 1697 | 1803 | 2387 | 1021 |
This table reflects the number of authorizations / modifications approved within certain timeframes since 1999.
This chart shows the timeliness of approval for emergency relief (ER) damage inspection reports. Our goal is to approve 90% of these reports within 10 days of receipt.
The Washington Division, FHWA, in 2004, recognizing the importance of providing for and encouraging planning for major events such as the Olympics as a part of meeting the continuing needs of the traveling public, facilitated the award of a Peer Exchange grant through its Planning Capacity Building Program.
Local elected officials, the Metropolitan Planning Organization, State and Federal agencies traveled to Salt Lake City on the first leg of a Peer Exchange led by Whatcom Council of Governments to initiate and coordinate transportation planning for US regional, state and local interests related to the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, BC. Fifteen members of the Washington State delegation met with their counterparts in Utah who successfully hosted the Salt Lake City Olympic Games in 2002. The meetings provided for the collection of information and lessons learned regarding transportation mobility, safety and security impacts and needs that must be addressed in planning for Vancouver's 2010 Winter Olympics. The second part of the peer exchange brought a delegation of Salt Lake City Transportation Specialists to Bellingham, WA to share their experiences with a larger group of affected and interested parties in Northwest Washington.
Continued coordination by Division staff working with WSDOT and Whatcom Council of Government helped to ensure that appropriate and critical transportation issues were addressed and resolved during the six year development and implementation of Olympics-related transportation plans, helping to make transportation a non-story of the Games.
Dan Mathis Division Administrator FHWA Washington Division 360-753-9480 Daniel.Mathis@dot.gov |
Megan P. Hall Local Programs/Research & T2 Engineer FHWA Washington Division 360-753-9480 Megan.Hall@dot.gov |