U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION
BUREAU OF PUBLIC ROADS
WASHINGTON. D.C. 20591
February 16, 1970
CIRCULAR MEMORANDUM TO: Regional Federal Highway Administrators and Division Engineers
FROM: R.R. Bartelsmeyer, Director of Public Roads
32-34
SUBJECT: Expediting completion of highway construction in urban areas
Mr. Turner's January 10, 1962, circular memorandum enumerated the inconvenience and financial losses which almost invariably result from construction of highway projects in heavy traffic and business areas. The memorandum also prescribed actions which were to be taken to minimize the time these highway projects would be under construction.
Recently there has been an increase in the number of urban projects on which the construction time has been unnecessarily drawn out. This trend has brought severe criticism from various segments of our society. In many instances the criticism was well founded. To reverse this trend we consider it essential that all feasible measures be taken to assure that contracts for construction of urban highway projects with relatively high inconvenience factors be completed in the shortest practical time. Beginning immediately, each P.S.& E. for such urban projects will be reviewed by the division office, in coordination with their respective State highway department, with the objective of developing contract time allowances which will assure the earliest possible project completion without unreasonably increasing the costs. Furthermore, every effort should be made to assure that the contracts are administered so as to achieve such early completion. Change orders on these projects should be subjected to a critical evaluation, particularly with regard to any increases in contract time which may be involved.
I strongly solicit your best efforts to effect this very important and necessary improvement.
As was the case in 1962, we expect that relatively short construction time allowances on many of these projects will result in some extra costs but we are even more convinced now that any reasonable extra cost would be more than offset by the resulting benefits.