[Code of Federal Regulations] [Title 23, Volume 1] [Revised as of April 1, 2001] From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access [CITE: 23CFR470.115] [Page 122-125] TITLE 23--HIGHWAYS CHAPTER I--FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION PART 470--HIGHWAY SYSTEMS--Table of Contents Subpart A--Federal-aid Highway Systems Sec. 470.115 Approval authority. (a) The Federal Highway Administrator will approve Federal-aid highway system actions involving the designation, or revision, of routes on the Interstate System, including route numbers, future Interstate routes, and routes on the National Highway System. (b) The Federal Highway Administrator will approve functional classification actions. Appendix A to Subpart A of Part 470--Guidance Criteria for Evaluating Requests for Interstate System Designations Under 23 U.S.C. 139 (a) and (b) Section 139 (a) and (b), of title 23, U.S.C., permits States to request the designation of National Highway System routes as parts or future parts of the Interstate System. The FHWA Administrator may approve such a request if the route is a logical addition or connection to the Interstate System and has been, or will be, constructed to meet Interstate standards. The following are the general criteria to be used to evaluate 23 U.S.C. 139 requests for Interstate System designations. 1. The proposed route should be of sufficient length to serve long- distance Interstate travel, such as connecting routes between principal metropolitan cities or industrial centers important to national defense and economic development. 2. The proposed route should not duplicate other Interstate routes. It should serve Interstate traffic movement not provided by another Interstate route. [[Page 123]] 3. The proposed route should directly serve major highway traffic generators. The term ``major highway traffic generator'' means either an urbanized area with a population over 100,000 or a similar major concentrated land use activity that produces and attracts long-distance Interstate and statewide travel of persons and goods. Typical examples of similar major concentrated land use activities would include a principal industrial complex, government center, military installation, or transportation terminal. 4. The proposed route should connect to the Interstate System at each end, with the exception of Interstate routes that connect with continental routes at an international border, or terminate in a ``major highway traffic generator'' that is not served by another Interstate route. In the latter case, the terminus of the Interstate route should connect to routes of the National Highway System that will adequately handle the traffic. The proposed route also must be functionally classified as a principal arterial and be a part of the National Highway System system. 5. The proposed route must meet all the current geometric and safety standards criteria as set forth in 23 CFR part 625 for highways on the Interstate System, or a formal agreement to construct the route to such standards within 12 years must be executed between the State(s) and the Federal Highway Administration. Any proposed exceptions to the standards shall be approved at the time of designation. 6. A route being proposed for designation under 23 U.S.C. 139(b) must have an approved final environmental document (including, if required, a 49 U.S.C. 303(c) [Section 4(f)] approval) covering the route and project action must be ready to proceed with design at the time of designation. Routes constructed to Interstate standards are not necessarily logical additions to the Interstate System unless they clearly meet all of the above criteria. Appendix B to Subpart A of Part 470--Designation of Segments of Section 332(a)(2) Corridors as Parts of the Interstate System The following guidance is comparable to current procedures for Interstate System designation requests under 23 U.S.C. 139(a). All Interstate System additions must be approved by the Federal Highway Administrator. The provisions of section 332(a)(2) of the NHS Act have also been incorporated into the ISTEA as section 1105(e)(5)(A). 1. The request must be submitted through the appropriate FHWA Division and Regional Offices to the Associate Administrator for Program Development (HEP-10). Comments and recommendations by the division and regional offices are requested. 2. The State DOT secretary (or equivalent) must request that the route segment be added to the Interstate System. The exact location and termini must be specified. If the route segment involves more than one State, each affected State must submit a separate request. 3. The request must provide information to support findings that the segment (a) is built to Interstate design standards and (b) connects to the existing Interstate System. The segment should be of sufficient length to provide substantial service to the travelling public. 4. The request must also identify and justify any design exceptions for which approval is requested. 5. Proposed Interstate route numbering for the segment must be submitted to FHWA and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials Route Numbering Appendix C to Subpart A of Part 470--Policy for the Signing and Numbering of Future Interstate Corridors Designated by Section 332 of the NHS Designation Act of 1995 or Designated Under 23 U.S.C. 139(b) Policy State transportation agencies are permitted to erect informational Interstate signs along a federally designated future Interstate corridor only after the specific route location has been established for the route to be constructed to Interstate design standards. Conditions 1. The corridor must have been designated a future part of the Interstate System under section 332(a)(2) of the NHS Designation Act of 1995 or 23 U.S.C. 139(b). 2. The specific route location to appropriate termini must have received Federal Highway (FHWA) environmental clearance. Where FHWA environmental clearance is not required or Interstate standards have been met, the route location must have been publicly announced by the State. 3. Numbering of future Interstate route segments must be coordinated with affected States and be approved by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials and the FHWA at Headquarters. Short portions of a multistate corridor may require use of an interim 3- digit number. 4. The State shall coordinate the location and content of signing near the State line with the adjacent State. [[Page 124]] 5. Signing and other identification of a future Interstate route segment must not indicate, nor imply, that the route is on the Interstate System. 6. The FHWA Regional Office must confirm in advance that the above conditions have been met and approve the general locations of signs. Sign Details 1. Signs may not be used to give directions and should be away from directional signs, particularly at interchanges. 2. An Interstate shield may be located on a green informational sign of a few words. For example: Future Interstate Corridor or Future I-00 Corridor. 3. The Interstate shield may not include the word ``Interstate.'' 4. The FHWA Division Office must approve the signs as to design, wording, and detailed location. Appendix D to Subpart A of Part 470--Guidance Criteria for Evaluating Requests for Modifications to the National Highway System Section 103(b), of title 23, U.S.C., allows the States to propose modifications to the National Highway System (NHS) and authorizes the Secretary to approve such modifications provided that they meet the criteria established for the NHS and enhance the characteristics of the NHS. In proposing modifications under 23 U.S.C. 103(b), the States must cooperate with local and regional officials. In urbanized areas, the local officials must act through the metropolitan planning organization (MPO) designated for such areas under 23 U.S.C. 134. The following guidance criteria should be used by the States to develop proposed modifications to the NHS. 1. Proposed additions to the NHS should be included in either an adopted State or metropolitan transportation plan or program. 2. Proposed additions should connect at each end with other routes on the NHS or serve a major traffic generator. 3. Proposals should be developed in consultation with local and regional officials. 4. Proposals to add routes to the NHS should include information on the type of traffic served (i.e., percent of trucks, average trip length, local, commuter, interregional, interstate) by the route, the population centers or major traffic generators served by the route, and how this service compares with existing NHS routes. 5. Proposals should include information on existing and anticipated needs and any planned improvements to the route. 6. Proposals should include information concerning the possible effects of adding or deleting a route to or from the NHS might have on other existing NHS routes that are in close proximity. 7. Proposals to add routes to the NHS should include an assessment of whether modifications (adjustments or deletions) to existing NHS routes, which provide similar service, may be appropriate. 8. Proposed modifications that might affect adjoining States should be developed in cooperation with those States. 9. Proposed modifications consisting of connections to major intermodal facilities should be developed using the criteria set forth below. These criteria were used for identifying initial NHS connections to major intermodal terminals. The primary criteria are based on annual passenger volumes, annual freight volumes, or daily vehicular traffic on one or more principal routes that serve the intermodal facility. The secondary criteria include factors which underscore the importance of an intermodal facility within a specific State. Primary Criteria Commercial Aviation Airports 1. Passengers--scheduled commercial service with more than 250,000 annual enplanements. 2. Cargo--100 trucks per day in each direction on the principal connecting route, or 100,000 tons per year arriving or departing by highway mode. Ports 1. Terminals that handle more than 50,000 TEUs (a volumetric measure of containerized cargo which stands for twenty-foot equivalent units) per year, or other units measured that would convert to more than 100 trucks per day in each direction. (Trucks are defined as large single- unit trucks or combination vehicles handling freight.) 2. Bulk commodity terminals that handle more than 500,000 tons per year by highway or 100 trucks per day in each direction on the principal connecting route. (If no individual terminal handles this amount of freight, but a cluster of terminals in close proximity to each other does, then the cluster of terminals could be considered in meeting the criteria. In such cases, the connecting route might terminate at a point where the traffic to several terminals begins to separate.) 3. Passengers--terminals that handle more than 250,000 passengers per year or 1,000 passengers per day for at least 90 days during the year. Truck/Rail 1. 50,000 TEUs per year, or 100 trucks per day, in each direction on the principal connecting route, or other units measured that would convert to more than 100 trucks per day in each direction. (Trucks are defined as [[Page 125]] large single-unit trucks or combination vehicles carrying freight.) Pipelines 1. 100 trucks per day in each direction on the principal connecting route. Amtrak 1. 100,000 passengers per year (entrainments and detrainments). Joint Amtrak, intercity bus and public transit terminals should be considered based on the combined passenger volumes. Likewise, two or more separate facilities in close proximity should be considered based on combined passenger volumes. Intercity Bus 1. 100,000 passengers per year (boardings and deboardings). Public Transit 1. Stations with park and ride lots with more than 500 vehicle parking spaces, or 5,000 daily bus or rail passengers, with significant highway access (i.e., a high percentage of the passengers arrive by cars and buses using a route that connects to another NHS route), or a major hub terminal that provides for the transfer of passengers among several bus routes. (These hubs should have a significant number of buses using a principal route connecting with the NHS.) Ferries 1. Interstate/international--1,000 passengers per day for at least 90 days during the year. (A ferry which connects two terminals within the same metropolitan area should be considered as local, not interstate.) 2. Local--see public transit criteria above. Secondary Criteria Any of the following criteria could be used to justify an NHS connection to an intermodal terminal where there is a significant highway interface: 1. Intermodal terminals that handle more than 20 percent of passenger or freight volumes by mode within a State; 2. Intermodal terminals identified either in the Intermodal Management System or the State and metropolitan transportation plans as a major facility; 3. Significant investment in, or expansion of, an intermodal terminal; or 4. Connecting routes targeted by the State, MPO, or others for investment to address an existing, or anticipated, deficiency as a result of increased traffic. Proximate Connections Intermodal terminals, identified under the secondary criteria noted above, may not have sufficient highway traffic volumes to justify an NHS connection to the terminal. States and MPOs should fully consider whether a direct connection should be identified for such terminals, or whether being in the proximity (2 to 3 miles) of an NHS route is sufficient. Subparts B-C [Reserved]