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) Washington Division (WADIV) has developed the following Project Delivery Report which highlights some of the broad array of activities / initiatives / approvals we perform to assist the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and local agencies in delivering projects.
Below are two charts showing the huge number of federal-aid projects and the corresponding total project dollars (state and federal) delivered by WSDOT and the FHWA Washington Division the past 10 federal fiscal years (Oct. 1-Sept. 30). The chart immediately below “Projects with Federal-aid” includes the total number projects (4821) on which there was some percentage of federal-aid and which were completed and opened-to-traffic by Sept. 30, 2012. The second chart entitled “Project Dollars” includes all state and federal-aid dollars spent (over $12.5 billion combined!) on those completed and opened-to-traffic projects. This is quite a notable achievement for WSDOT and the FHWA Washington Division and one in which we should all take great pride!
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.
This chart shows the timeliness of approval of documented categorical exclusions (DCEs) semi-annually from FY2007 to FY2012.
As the chart depicts, we are approving the vast majority of DCEs within the first 10 days of receipt.
Environmental Document Approvals
Design Approvals
Design Deviations
| Number of Days | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 to 5 Days | 780 | 858 | 724 | 1327 | 1463 | 1456 | 943 | 1451 | 1645 | 2261 | 1936 | 1791 | 1655 |
| 6 to 10 Days | 241 | 307 | 121 | 90 | 101 | 103 | 68 | 175 | 128 | 113 | 131 | 41 | 35 |
| 11 to 15 Days | 77 | 109 | 39 | 10 | 22 | 24 | 13 | 37 | 12 | 7 | 18 | 7 | 1 |
| 16 to 20 Days | 29 | 34 | 21 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 18 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| 20 + Days | 152 | 68 | 98 | 52 | 15 | 17 | 8 | 16 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 1279 | 1376 | 1003 | 1484 | 1604 | 1608 | 1033 | 1697 | 1803 | 2387 | 2089 | 1841 | 1691 |
This table reflects the number of authorizations / modifications approved within certain timeframes since 2000.
(Note: the FY begins on October 1 and ends on September 30 of the following year.)
Every Day Counts (EDC) was deployed by FHWA in 2010. Its purpose was to identify ways to shorten project delivery time for construction projects from conception to completion and deploy innovation aimed at enhancing the safety of our roadways, and protecting the environment.
A second wave of innovations rolled out in 2012. A summit, designed to discussed these initiatives in detail was held in Portland on November 29-30, 2012.
The following 13 innovations were introduced and are being marketed to the states, locals, and the design and construction industries:
Since the summit where these initiatives were discussed in detail with states and locals representatives, multiple summits, webinars and training sessions have been held for the following innovations: SHRP2; High-friction Surface Treatment; Geospatial Data Collaboration; Intersections and Interchange Geometrics; and Implementing Quality Environmental Documentation.
The FHWA Washington Division has worked with WSDOT and Federal and State agency partners to develop programmatic agreements (PA) to streamline the environmental process for federal-aid projects in Washington. In 2012, 72% of federal-aid projects were exempted from Section 106 review under the Statewide PA between WSDOT, FHWA, and the Washington State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation (DAHP). Of those projects, 4% (7 projects) were also exempt under the Section 106 PA between WSDOT, FHWA, DAHP, and the US Forest Service (USFS).
In March of 2013, a new PA for Categorical Exclusions (CEs) was signed and put into effect. This new programmatic supersedes the 2009 CE per memorandum of understanding (MOU). The CE per MOU resulted in delegation to WSDOT of 62% of CE decisions. This new PA significantly expands the number of projects that can qualify to be certified by WSDOT so it’s expected the percentage will increase substantially. Preliminary reporting from the first quarter shows that 82% of WSDOT’s Office of Highways & Local Programs (H&LP) CE projects have been certified by WSDOT under the new PA!
In December 2012, a programmatic biological opinion (PBO) was signed by both NMFS and WSDOT that ensures adequate documentation and compliance with the intent of the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
This streamlining measure eliminates the need to prepare biological assessments for many of the minor projects that have the same kinds of work items covered by the previously approved maintenance agreement.
The PBO reduces the review time from 42 days for informal consultations and 260 days for formal consultations to 30 days in total. It uses a simple form and covers most of the species for many routine projects. Since implementation of this programmatic four projects have been approved, one fast track and two are currently in process. The new programmatic should not only provide a streamlined process for the NMFS consultations, but should increase the use of the USFWS programmatic, as well. (Note: FHWA and WSDOT have had a programmatic endangered species act (ESA) agreement in place with USFWS for over 5 years. Since 2012 42% of the projects which required an informal or formal consultation have used the programmatic.)
| For more information contact: | ||
|---|---|---|
| Dan Mathis Division Administrator FHWA Washington Division 360-753-9480 Daniel.Mathis@dot.gov |
Yamilée P. Volcy SW and Eastern Regions Area Engineer FHWA Washington Division 360-753-9552 Yamilee.Volcy@dot.gov |
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