Transportation Background Information
Reader Comment: "We all know that the emphasis in the U.S. Department of Transportation has been focused highway construction for motor vehicles the consequence of which has been urban sprawl. The result has been the decimation of U.S. cities. It is time to reverse this trend; public transportation and bicycle lanes must become a priority.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation continues to encourage transportation policies that support historic preservation-based approaches to strengthen and maintain our nation's transportation resources. We need federal policies that support transportation funding in existing urban and rural communities. A shift in priority is needed from building new roads to fixing existing infrastructure, improving public transit and walkability in existing communities, and reinvesting in alternative transportation systems is long overdue.
Transportation Enhancements
The Federal Transportation Enhancements Program is the largest source of funding available for historic preservation in the federal budget. The program authorizes states to set aside ten percent of their federal-aid highway allocations for matching grants to fund projects that enhance community transportation investments. Six of the twelve eligible activities involve historic preservation and include a range of activities that contribute to transportation facilities such as railroad stations and bridge rehabilitation, scenic cultural landscapes and historic roads protection, and promote local economic activity through improved facilities for heritage tourism. In addition, bike and pedestrian activities are encouraged. In the past 16 years, the transportation enhancements program has funded 23,000 projects that support the wise use of federal funds to improve the quality of life for local communities through transportation investments.
Section 4(f) and NEPA
Section 4(f) of the Department of Transportation Act must be protected. Section 4(f) is the strongest federal historic preservation law and it requires that historic resources be protected unless there is no prudent or feasible alternative. This law and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) have been on the books for 40 years and have effectively protected historic and other resources, and have ensured that the public voice is heard in the transportation planning process.
Funding Flexibility for Historic Bridges
There is a critical need to adequately fund historic bridge repair and adaptive re-use of historic bridges that can no longer be used for vehicles. An anachronism in current law prohibits local bridge owners from combining incentive grants with transportation enhancement funds, thus assuring that many historic bridges (icons of our transportation and engineering past) could unnecessarily disappear forever from the landscape.
