Improving Road Safety for All Users on Federal-Aid Projects RFI

[Paul LaFleur]

Good morning City Transportation Issues members,

In case you had not heard yet, FHWA has published a notice of Request for Information (RFI) on Improving Road Safety for All Users on Federal-Aid Projects in the Federal register.

The RFI requests comments on whether changes to the FHWA Design Standards regulation or other FHWA regulations are needed to facilitate the development of Complete Streets and Complete Networks that serve all users; how the safety performance of Federal-aid projects should be assessed; and how to include measures that improve safety performance across Federal-aid projects.  The RFI includes background information and twenty-seven questions, grouped into six general topic areas:

·         Improving Road Safety for All Users.

·         Design Standards for the National Highway System (NHS).

·         Safety Performance Assessment Applicability.

·         Conducting a Safety Performance Assessment.

·         Safety Performance Assessment Process Evaluation and Outcomes.

·         Safety Performance Assessment Implementation Considerations.

The FHWA may use the information gathered through the public comments to consider future rulemaking options related to the design standards for projects on the NHS or for safety performance assessments on Federal-aid projects, or to develop guidance or resources (i.e. case studies, informational briefs, etc.) that can assist agencies with improving safety for all users on all Federal-Aid projects.

The RFI (Docket No. FHWA-2021-0011) is now open for public comment and closes on March 20, 2023.

For questions about this notice, please contact:  Phillip Bobitz, FHWA Office of Safety Technologies, (717) 221-4574, Phillip...@dot.gov, or Elizabeth Hilton, Office of Preconstruction, Construction and Pavements, (202) 924-8618, Elizabet...@dot.gov; for legal questions:  Lev Gabrilovich, FHWA Office of the Chief Counsel, (202) 366-3813, Lev.Gab...@dot.gov.

We hope that you take this unique opportunity to provide direct input into the business that FHWA does and how we do it. 

Paul LaFleur
FHWA Office of Safety