§152 — Title 23 Highways | U.S. Code

Summary

Each State must run and keep up an engineering survey of public roads to find dangerous spots, roadside hazards, unmarked or poorly marked roads, and other things that could harm drivers, cyclists, or pedestrians. States must set priorities, make a schedule, and carry out projects to fix those hazards. States may also choose to spot hazards on other highway facilities and create programs to fix them. The U.S. Secretary of Transportation can approve any safety improvement project under this program. Money for the program can be used on any public road, public surface-transportation facility, publicly owned bicycle or pedestrian path or trail, or any traffic-calming measure. The federal government will pay 90 percent of each project’s cost. Funds are available like other highway money under section 104(b), but the Secretary can waive rules that conflict with this program. Each State must have an evaluation process, approved by the Secretary, that measures results and produces cost‑benefit data to help set priorities. States must report to the Secretary each year by December 30 on progress, costs, safety benefits, and crash history before and after fixes. The Secretary must report to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works and the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure by April 1 each year. That report must cover numbers and types of projects, cost ranges, road systems, methods used, crash results, evaluate each State program, name any State not meeting its schedule, and give recommendations. "State" has the meaning given in section 401 of this title.

Title 23, §152

Highways — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)(1)Each State shall conduct and systematically maintain an engineering survey of all public roads to identify hazardous locations, sections, and elements, including roadside obstacles and unmarked or poorly marked roads, which may constitute a danger to motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians, assign priorities for the correction of such locations, sections, and elements, and establish and implement a schedule of projects for their improvement.

(2)In carrying out paragraph (1), a State may, at its discretion—

(A)identify, through a survey, hazards to motorists, bicyclists, pedestrians, and users of highway facilities; and

(B)develop and implement projects and programs to address the hazards.

(b)The Secretary may approve as a project under this section any safety improvement project, including a project described in subsection (a).

(c)Funds authorized to carry out this section shall be available for expenditure on—

(1)any public road;

(2)any public surface transportation facility or any publicly owned bicycle or pedestrian pathway or trail; or

(3)any traffic calming measure.

(d)The Federal share payable on account of any project under this section shall be 90 percent of the cost thereof.

(e)Funds authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section shall be available for obligation in the same manner and to the same extent as if such funds were apportioned under section 104(b), except that the Secretary is authorized to waive provisions he deems inconsistent with the purposes of this section.

(f)Each State shall establish an evaluation process approved by the Secretary, to analyze and assess results achieved by safety improvement projects carried out in accordance with procedures and criteria established by this section. Such evaluation process shall develop cost-benefit data for various types of corrections and treatments which shall be used in setting priorities for safety improvement projects.

(g)Each State shall report to the Secretary of Transportation not later than December 30 of each year, on the progress being made to implement safety improvement projects for hazard elimination and the effectiveness of such improvements. Each State report shall contain an assessment of the cost of, and safety benefits derived from, the various means and methods used to mitigate or eliminate hazards and the previous and subsequent accident experience at these locations. The Secretary of Transportation shall submit a report to the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives not later than April 1 of each year on the progress being made by the States in implementing the hazard elimination program (including but not limited to any projects for pavement marking). The report shall include, but not be limited to, the number of projects undertaken, their distribution by cost range, road system, means and methods used, and the previous and subsequent accident experience at improved locations. In addition, the Secretary’s report shall analyze and evaluate each State program, identify any State found not to be in compliance with the schedule of improvements required by subsection (a) and include recommendations for future implementation of the hazard elimination program.

(h)For the purposes of this section the term “State” shall have the meaning given it in section 401 of this title.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1998—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 105–178, § 1401(1), inserted subsec. heading, designated existing provisions as par. (1) and inserted par. heading, realigned margins, substituted “motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians” for “motorists and pedestrians”, and added par. (2). Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 105–178, § 1401(2), substituted “safety improvement project, including a project described in subsection (a)” for “highway safety improvement project”. Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 105–178, § 1401(3), substituted “on— “(1) any public road; “(2) any public surface transportation facility or any publicly owned bicycle or pedestrian pathway or trail; or “(3) any traffic calming measure” for “on any public road (other than a highway on the Interstate System)”. Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 105–178, § 1401(4), struck out “apportioned to the States as provided in section 402(c) of this title. Such funds shall be” before “available for obligation” and substituted “section 104(b)” for “section 104(b)(1)”. Subsecs. (f), (g). Pub. L. 105–178, § 1401(5), substituted “safety improvement projects” for “highway safety improvement projects” wherever appearing. 1995—Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 104–59 substituted “Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure” for “Committee on Public Works and Transportation”. 1987—Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 100–17 substituted “the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate and the Committee on Public Works and Transportation of the House of Representatives” for “the Congress”. 1983—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 97–424 substituted provision that funds authorized to carry out this section shall be available for expenditure on any public road (other than a highway on the Interstate System), for provision that funds authorized to carry out this section would be available solely for expenditure for projects on any Federal-aid system (other than the Interstate System) except in the Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa. 1982—Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 97–375 inserted “(including but not limited to any projects for pavement marking)” after “implementing the hazard elimination program”. 1979—Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 96–106 substituted “December 30” for “September 30” and “April 1” for “January 1”. 1978—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 95–599 substituted “public roads” for “highways” and inserted provisions relating to identification of hazardous sections and elements. Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 95–599 substituted provisions relating to approval of highway safety improvement projects by the Secretary for provisions authorizing appropriations for fiscal years ending

June 30, 1974 through

June 30, 1976. Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 95–599 reenacted subsec. (c) without substantive change. Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 95–599 substituted provisions prescribing the Federal share payable on account of any project under this section for provisions relating to apportionment of funds made available under subsec. (b) to the States. See subsec. (e) of this section. Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 95–599 substituted provisions relating to apportionment of funds to the States under this section for provisions relating to progress reports required of the States under this section. See subsec. (g). Subsecs. (f) to (h). Pub. L. 95–599 added subsecs. (f) and (g) and redesignated former subsec. (f) as (h). 1976—Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 94–280 added subsec. (f).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Termination of Reporting RequirementsFor termination, effective May 15, 2000, of provisions in subsec. (g) of this section relating to the requirement that the Secretary of Transportation submit a report to the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives not later than April 1 of each year, see section 3003 of Pub. L. 104–66, as amended, set out as a note under section 1113 of Title 31, Money and Finance, and page 135 of House Document No. 103–7.

§152 Hazard elimination program