Iowa Statewide Urban Design and Specifications

About the research

This project is a task order under the main Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)-sponsored project, “Infrastructure Research and Technology Deployment Program.”

The FHWA’s transportation performance program and transportation asset management program represent major advancements for the stewardship of the nation’s highway system. The transportation asset management plans provide the first nationwide, consistent, and comprehensive summation of how state departments of transportation (DOTs) intend to manage the condition and performance of the National Highway System (NHS). Simultaneously, FHWA Transportation Performance Management (TPM) efforts have generated valuable performance measures and targets for safety, freight movement, traffic congestion, and the condition and performance of interstate and non-interstate NHS pavements and bridges.

This task order proposal allows for further advancement by providing additional guidance and training on how to better link asset management, transportation performance management, and performance-based planning and programming. To date, state DOTs may have developed their asset management plans in relative isolation from their long-range plans, in part because the development cycles for the two plans have not yet overlapped. Also, there has not been enough time for the gap analyses, risk assessments, or investment strategies to influence short-term transportation programs, which often are updated biennially.

This team will produce for the FHWA useful guidance documents and training that illustrate how performance-based planning and performance management enhance asset management. With this guidance and training, the potential of asset management, performance-based planning, and transportation performance management can be enhanced and be better aligned into a seamless way of doing business in DOTs.