DOT 12-07
Thursday, February 1, 2007
Contact: Brian Turmail
Tel.: (202) 366-4570
Secretary Peters Advances Plans to Reduce Congestion on the Nation’s Busiest
Highways, Announces Semi-Finalists in Corridors of the Future Program
Ambitious, forward-leaning plans to reduce traffic tie-ups on several of the
nation’s busiest highways are one step closer to becoming a reality as a short
list of interstate corridors under the Corridors of the Future program was
announced today by U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters.
Peters said that the Department is using this national congestion relief effort
“to fight back against the traffic that is choking our major roads.” She said
the Corridors of the Future effort is a progressive approach that includes
transportation planning across state lines in ways that reduce congestion and
preserve the efficient flow of goods and commerce across America. She went on to
caution that “if we don’t act today, our economy will be facing a standstill in
the future.”
The Department is advancing 14 of 38 proposals located on eight major
transportation corridors including: I-95 between Florida and Maine; I-15 in
southern California and Nevada; I-80/94 and I-90 linking Illinois, Indiana, and
Michigan; I-5 in California, Washington and Oregon; I-70 from Missouri to Ohio;
I-69 from Texas to Michigan; I-80 in Nevada and California; and I-10 from
California to Florida.
The proposals currently include various combinations of expanded highway
capacity, truck-only lanes, increased freight and passenger rail development,
and extensive use of innovative technologies to keep traffic moving and improve
overall safety. Peters said the applicants “exhibited creativity and innovation
in their initial proposals to reduce congestion.” She indicated that the
Department looks forward to the next phase of the program in which these ideas
will be further developed and refined.
The 14 projects were selected based on the potential of each to reduce
congestion on the eight corridors of national and regional significance using
innovative financing and project delivery techniques. She noted that the
Department will select up to five Corridors of the Future in the summer of 2007.
Peters said the Department will aggressively support the development of the
Corridors of the Future by accelerating permitting schedules, identifying new
financing options, and promoting innovative project delivery methods to “move
these projects from the drawing board to completion faster than ever before.”
The Corridors of the Future program is one element of DOT’s six-point National
Strategy to Reduce Congestion on America’s Transportation Network launched in
May 2006. The overall national congestion initiative is focused on reducing
traffic on highways, relieving freight bottlenecks, and reducing flight delays.
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Briefing
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