The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is a division of the

United States Department of Transportation The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the President of the United States and ...

that specializes in

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-access ...

transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two programs, the Federal-aid Highway Program and the Federal Lands Highway Program. Its role had previously been performed by the Office of Road Inquiry, Office of Public Roads and the Bureau of Public Roads.

History

Background

The organization has several predecessor organizations and complicated history. The Office of Road Inquiry (ORI) was founded in 1893. In 1905, that organization's name was changed to the Office of Public Roads (OPR) which became a division of the

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of comme ...

. The name was changed again to the Bureau of Public Roads in 1915 and to the Public Roads Administration (PRA) in 1939. It was then shifted to the Federal Works Agency which was abolished in 1949 when its name reverted to Bureau of Public Roads under the

Department of Commerce The United States Department of Commerce is an executive department of the U.S. federal government concerned with creating the conditions for economic growth and opportunity. Among its tasks are gathering economic and demographic data for busi ...

. With the coming of the bicycle in the 1890s, interest grew regarding the improvement of streets and roads in America. The traditional method of putting the burden on maintaining roads on local landowners was increasingly inadequate. New York State took the lead in 1898, and by 1916 the old system had been discarded everywhere. Demands grew for local and state government to take charge. With the coming of the automobile after 1910, urgent efforts were made to upgrade and modernize dirt roads designed for horse-drawn wagon traffic. The American Association for Highway Improvement was organized in 1910. Funding came from automobile registration, and taxes on motor fuels, as well as state aid. In 1916, federal-aid was first made available to improve post-roads, and promote general commerce. Congress appropriated $75 million over a five-year period, with the Secretary of Agriculture in charge through the Bureau of Public Roads, in cooperation with the state highway departments. There were 2.4 million miles of rural dirt rural roads in 1914; 100,000 miles had been improved with grading and gravel, and 3000 miles were given high quality surfacing. The rapidly increasing speed of automobiles, and especially trucks, made maintenance and repair high-priority item. Concrete was first used in 1893, and expanded until it became the dominant surfacing material in the 1930s. Federal aid began in 1917. From 1917 through 1941, 261,000 miles of highways were built with federal aid, and cost $5.31 billion. Federal funds totaled $3.17 billion, and state-local funds were $2.14 billion.

Creation

The FHWA was created on October 15, 1966. In 1967, the functions of the Bureau of Public Roads were transferred to the new organization. It was one of three original bureaus along with the 'Bureau of Motor Carrier Safety' and the 'National Highway Safety Bureau' (now known as

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA ) is an agency of the U.S. federal government, part of the Department of Transportation. It describes its mission as "Save lives, prevent injuries, reduce vehicle-related crashes" relat ...

Functions

The FHWA's role in the Federal-aid Highway Program is to oversee federal funds used for constructing and maintaining the National Highway System (primarily

Interstate Highways The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. Th ...

U.S. Highways The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States. As the designation and numbering of these hi ...

and most state highways). This funding mostly comes from the federal gasoline tax and mostly goes to state departments of transportation. The FHWA oversees projects using these funds to ensure that federal requirements for project eligibility, contract administration and construction standards are adhered to. Under the Federal Lands Highway Program (sometimes called "direct fed"), the FHWA provides highway design and construction services for various federal land-management agencies, such as the Forest Service and the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational properti ...

. In addition to these programs, the FHWA performs and sponsors research in the areas of roadway safety, congestion, highway materials and construction methods, and provides funding to local technical assistance program centers to disseminate research results to local highway agencies. The FHWA also publishes the '' Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices'' (MUTCD), which is used by most highway agencies in the United States. The MUTCD specifies such things as the size, color and height of

traffic sign Traffic signs or road signs are signs erected at the side of or above roads to give instructions or provide information to road users. The earliest signs were simple wooden or stone milestones. Later, signs with directional arms were introduce ...

traffic signals Traffic lights, traffic signals, or stoplights – known also as robots in South Africa are signalling devices positioned at road intersections, pedestrian crossings, and other locations in order to control flows of traffic. Traffic light ...

and

road surface marking Road surface marking is any kind of device or material that is used on a road surface in order to convey official information; they are commonly placed with road marking machines (also referred to as road marking equipment or pavement marking eq ...

Programs

Long-Term Pavement Performance Program

Long-Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) is a program supported by the FHWA to collect and analyse road data. The LTPP program was initiated by the Transportation Research Board (TRB) of the National Research Council (NRC) in the early 1980s. The FHWA with the cooperation of the

American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) is a standards setting body which publishes specifications, test protocols, and guidelines that are used in highway design and construction throughout the United ...

(AASHTO) sponsored the program. As a result of this program, the FHWA has collected a huge database of road performance. The FHWA and the ASCE hold an annual contest known as LTPP International Data Analysis Contest, which is based on challenging researchers to answer a question based on the LTPP data.

Every day counts initiative

The ''Every day counts initiative'' (EDC) of the FHWA planned in 2009 and started in 2011 is designed as the United States road infrastructure project of the 2010s decade to identify and deploy innovation aimed at reducing project build delivery time, enhancing safety and protecting the environment. It also made a positive impact in accelerating the deployment of innovations. Five steps were scheduled from 2012 to 2020 and include various technologies and methods to improve travel time, safety, project and contract management, saving energy, risks, cost and environment resources. It started with reducing

fuel consumption A fuel is any material that can be made to react with other substances so that it releases energy as thermal energy or to be used for work. The concept was originally applied solely to those materials capable of releasing chemical energy but ...

and improving travel time reliability by Adaptive traffic control, continued with implementing alternative intersections design and several money savings and

anti-corruption Anti-corruption (or anticorruption) comprises activities that oppose or inhibit corruption. Just as corruption takes many forms, anti-corruption efforts vary in scope and in strategy. A general distinction between preventive and reactive meas ...

strategies like independent reviewing of construction plans before construction is paid, also time saving strategies like

right-of-way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...

, on site

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually someth ...

constructions as rapid bridge replacement.

Organization

The Federal Highway Administration is overseen by an administrator appointed by the

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...

by and with the consent of the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and po ...

. The administrator works under the direction of the

Secretary of Transportation A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a wh ...

and Deputy Secretary of Transportation. The internal organization of the FHWA is as follows: *Administrator **Executive Director ***Office of Infrastructure ***Office of Research, Development, and Technology ****''Public Roads'' magazine ***Office of Planning, Environment, and Realty ***Office of Policy and Government Affairs ***Office of the Chief Financial Officer ***Office of Administration ***Office of Operations ***Office of Safety ***Office of Federal Lands Highway ***Office of Chief Counsel ***Office of Civil Rights ***Office of Public Affairs

Administrators

Deputy administrators

* D. Grant Mickle October 27, 1961 – January 20, 1964 * Lowell K. Bridwell (acting) January 20, 1964 – March 23, 1967 * Ralph Bartelsmeyer August 10, 1970 – January 25, 1974 * Joseph R. Coupal Jr September 30, 1974 – 1977 *

Karl S. Bowers Karl S. Bowers (born October 13, 1941 in Estill, South Carolina), was married and has three children. He came from a highway background, having served as a South Carolina State Highway Commissioner, 1974 to 1977; Vice Chairman of the State High ...

June 5, 1977 – August 3, 1978 * John S. Hassell, Jr. August 31, 1978 – July 11, 1980 * Alinda Burke August 8, 1980 – ? * Lester P. Lamm September 17, 1982 – 1986 *

Robert E. Farris Robert E. Farris (–) was sworn in as Federal Highway Administrator on June 8, 1988, after serving as the FHWA's Deputy Federal Highway Administrator from August 1986. Before joining the FHWA, Farris was affiliated with the American Association ...

August 8, 1986 - June 8, 1988 * Eugene R. McCormick June 30, 1989 - ? * Gloria J. Jeff December 19, 1997 – January 3, 1999 * Dr Walter Sutton Jr (acting) January 3, 1999 – May 3, 2000 May 3, 2000 – January 2001 * J. Richard Capka August 5, 2002 – May 31, 2006 * Kerry O'Hare November 10, 2008 – January 20, 2009 * Gregory G. Nadeau July 8, 2009 – July 30, 2014 * Brandye Hendrickson July 24, 2017 – October 9, 2019 * Mala Parker October 10, 2019 – January 20, 2021 * Stephanie Pollack January 21, 2021 – Current

Executive directors

*Lester P. Lamm, August 8, 1973 – ? *Thomas D. Everett, October 22, 2018 – June 30, 2022 *Mayela Sosa (Acting), June 30, 2022 - Present

Notes

References

External links

*
Federal Highway Administration
in the

Federal Register The ''Federal Register'' (FR or sometimes Fed. Reg.) is the official journal of the federal government of the United States that contains government agency rules, proposed rules, and public notices. It is published every weekday, except on fede ...

Payment to the Highway Trust Fund
account on USAspending.gov
Highway Infrastructure Programs
account on USAspending.gov
Records of the Federal Highway Administration
(Record Group 406) in the National Archives {{authority control United States Department of Transportation agencies Government agencies established in 1967