Methodologies for Identifying and Evaluating Transportation Infrastructure that has Historically Divided Communities

The recently passed Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) contains funding for a new Reconnecting Communities Pilot (RCP) Program, which aims to connect historically divided and disconnected communities. Additionally, the Inflation Reduction Act contains $3 billion to fund Neighborhood Access and Equity Grants, that aim to rework overbuilt arterial roads and make them safer and more accessible for various modes of transportation. These new grants can be leveraged by state departments of transportation (DOTs) to build connections across highways and railroads and redesign roads dangerous to cross.  Few resources currently are available for state DOTs and others to rely on to identify possible locations for projects that address historically divided or disconnected communities. Although the adverse outcomes of a handful of previous major infrastructure projects are well ocumented, several other locations have suffered Direction from the AASHTO Committee on Research & Innovation: Expand field data collection to include vehicle treatments esp. ones affecting bicycles/peds.similar detrimental effects. However, they are not as well-known or as easy to identify. As such, state DOTs would benefit from resources and methods to better assess these locations and understand which types of land use and transportation characteristics to look for when prioritizing projects in the spirit of reconnecting communities. This research project will identify resources and methods to be used across different geographies and at different scales to assist state DOTs to identify locations that have become disconnected from employment, recreation, and commercial centers as a direct result of past infrastructure investments. Additionally, this research will provide guidelines for infrastructure project scopes of work for building connections across infrastructure that have divided communities. 

• Record URL:
  http://apps.trb.org/cmsfeed/TRBNetProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=5497
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Contract to a Performing Organization has not yet been awarded.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Proposed
• Funding: $500000
• Contract Numbers:

  Project 08-178

• Sponsor Organizations:

  National Cooperative Highway Research Program

  Transportation Research Board
  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001

  American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO)

  444 North Capitol Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Project Managers:

  Wadsworth, Trey

• Start Date: 20230828
• Expected Completion Date: 0
• Actual Completion Date: 0

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Access; Accessibility; Communities; Connectivity; Equity; Guidelines; History; Infrastructure; Programming (Planning); State departments of transportation
• Subject Areas: Planning and Forecasting; Society; Transportation (General);

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01883936
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Transportation Research Board
• Contract Numbers: Project 08-178
• Files: TRB, RIP
• Created Date: May 30 2023 7:56PM