Next Steps in Creating Green Roadways
How do we plan for the next generation of green roadways? Forecasts indicate that the U.S. population will grow from 300 million today to 435 million by 2055. Annual highway travel measured in vehicle miles traveled may increase from three trillion today
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Next Steps in Creating Green Roadways
How do we plan for the next generation of green roadways? Forecasts indicate that the U.S. population will grow from 300 million today to 435 million by 2055. Annual highway travel measured in vehicle miles traveled may increase from three trillion today to as much as seven trillion by 2055 (AASHTO, 2007). In 2005, Congress created the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission and directed it to develop a “conceptual plan” to address transportation in the United States over the next thirty years. Two years later, the commission published Transportation for Tomorrow: Report of the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission, which includes detailed recommendations for creating and sustaining a surface transportation system in the United States. The commission expired in July 2008. The report states, “The American Transportation Network of highways, transit, rail, and ports is poised on the threshold of a period of innovation unprecedented in our history. The benefits from forward-looking investment will be the underpinnings of a thriving national economy, maintaining America as the international leader in technology and wealth creation, with benefits flowing to all citizens” (AASHTO, 2007). Four strategic actions can bring about this change: preserve the current system, enhance its performance,
expand capacity to meet future needs, and reduce growth in highway demand by expanding the capacity of transit and rail. Building upon those ideas, we wanted to define our recommendations for the next steps in creating green roadways. These start with embracing the National Environmental Policy Act and emphasizing the concept of evaluating sustainability based on social, economic, and environmental impacts. All three are important in creating green roadways. It is possible to build new roads and expand existing ones while minimizing impacts on environmental resources. Where impacts can’t be avoided, design solutions can minimize problems, and innovative solutions can create green roadways that “fit” their surroundings.
Planning for Green Roadways Creating green roadways starts with a comprehensive, holistic planning process that defines a clear vision for a specific project. Some of the recommendations for a green planning process include the following: Use an integrated approach–The process of designing green roadways should ensure that community values; natural, historic, and cultural resources; and
J.L. Sipes and M.L. Sipes, Creating Green Roadways: Integrating Cultural, Natural, and Visual Resources into Transportation, DOI 10.5822/978-1-59726-322-1_12, © 2013 James L. Sipes and Matthew L. Sipes
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Figure 12-1 The Sound Tube that is part of the Tullamarine Freeway in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, is used to reduce noise pollution to neighboring residential development. Image courtesy of Wikipedia Commons.
transportation needs are fully considered throughout the planning, design, and construct
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