Highway Infrastructure: Better Alignment with Leading Practices Would Improve DOT's Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program
Fast Facts
When the Department of Transportation funded construction of the U.S. highway network decades ago, some highways cut through neighborhoods—disconnecting communities.
Now some cities are either removing highways or building structures called "caps" over certain sections of highway to reuse the land for community and economic development. In Feb. 2023, Transportation awarded funds to 45 projects through a new pilot program to reconnect communities.
But the pilot's design doesn't fully follow leading practices, such as having a plan to evaluate if it's meeting overall goals. We recommended that Transportation address this and other issues.
Plans are underway to remove a section of Interstate 81 that runs through Syracuse, New York.
Highlights
What GAO Found
In recent years, some localities have removed highways or built structures known as “highway caps” over sections of highways to repurpose the land for community or economic development. GAO identified 21 projects to remove or cap highways that received federal funding from fiscal years 2012 through 2021, the most current data available at the time of our review. Because there is no statutory or regulatory definition of a highway removal or highway cap, these projects can take many forms. For example, a highway removal project could downsize a highway to a boulevard or remove and rebuild a highway in another location. Officials from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) told GAO that, consistent with statute, these projects must have a transportation nexus to be eligible to use federal-aid highway formula grants. Further, officials said that FHWA makes eligibility decisions on a case-by-case basis according to project circumstances. These projects may also be eligible for certain DOT discretionary grants.
Through a review of eight selected highway removal and capping projects, GAO identified five key considerations to inform project sponsors' effective planning of such projects: (1) establishing goals that reflect community and transportation objectives, (2) analyzing potential project effects to weigh alternatives, (3) planning for the equitable use of project land, (4) conceptualizing removal and capping projects to engage stakeholders and address concerns, and (5) developing measures to assess community goals and other project outcomes.
While the Department of Transportation (DOT) made substantial progress implementing the first of five funding rounds of the Reconnecting Communities Pilot program, GAO found that the program does not fully align with GAO's leading practices for effective pilot program design. According to DOT officials, they faced time constraints in setting up the program and awarding initial funding, which hindered DOT's ability to fully meet all leading practices by the first round. In February 2023, DOT announced 45 projects would receive $185 million in first year awards. By taking steps now to fully align with these leading practices, DOT will be better positioned to improve future funding rounds and assess whether the pilot program is meeting its objective of reconnecting communities.
Alignment of Department of Transportation's (DOT) Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program with GAO's Leading Practices for Pilot Program Design
Why GAO Did This Study
Federal funding helped build a national network of highways, producing economic and mobility benefits. But some of these highways divided neighborhoods. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act enacted in 2021 required DOT to establish the Reconnecting Communities Pilot program to “restore community connectivity” through activities such as highway removal or capping.
The act and House Report 117-99 included provisions for GAO to review aspects of federally funded highway removal and capping projects. This report addresses: (1) highway removal and capping projects that received federal funds from 2012 through 2021; (2) key considerations for effective planning of selected projects; and (3) how the Reconnecting Communities Pilot program aligns with leading practices.
GAO reviewed relevant statutes and regulations and DOT data on federal highway funding, and interviewed state and local stakeholders for eight projects selected for a range of goals. GAO also reviewed DOT pilot program documents and compared them with leading practices for pilot program design that GAO previously identified.
Recommendations
GAO is making three recommendations to DOT on the Reconnecting Communities Pilot program: (1) establish performance measures for objectives, (2) assess data and evaluate pilot program results, and (3) identify a means to make scalability decisions. DOT concurred with GAO's recommendations.
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Transportation | The Secretary of Transportation should establish performance measures for the Reconnecting Communities Pilot program. Such performance measures should indicate DOT's progress in meeting the pilot program's objectives. (Recommendation 1) |
In 2024, DOT established these performance measures. Specifically, DOT drew from the performance measures used in several other DOT discretionary grant programs to develop a menu of nine primary performance measures that align with the pilot program's objectives. In addition, DOT created a supplemental list of seven other performance measures that also align with other pilot program objectives. By taking steps to fully align with leading practices, DOT has a means to assess whether the pilot program is making progress in achieving its objectives.
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| Department of Transportation | The Secretary of Transportation should develop and implement a plan to collect and analyze data and evaluate results of the Reconnecting Communities Pilot program. Such a plan should detail the specific data to be collected, a methodology for assessing this data, and a plan for evaluating the pilot program's results with timelines for completion. (Recommendation 2) |
As of March 2024, DOT officials told us that they have developed a draft plan to collect and analyze data to evaluate results of the Reconnecting Communities Pilot (RCP) program. Specifically, the officials told us that they have identified staff resources to implement Phase 1 of that plan, which will include research, stakeholder outreach, identification of performance measures, collection of baseline data for those measures, and completion of written case studies for each of the projects awarded capital construction grants in FY 2022. According to DOT, future phases of the plan will include projects awarded capital construction grants in future rounds, and collection of future data for selected performance measures at completion of construction, and for each of the five years after completion of construction, as required by statute. The officials stated that Phase 1 of the plan, focusing on the FY 2022 capital construction awards, will be completed in December 2024. DOT intends to include the results of phase 1 and phase 2, covering the FY 2023 capital construction grants in its report to Congress by January 1, 2026. We will continue to follow DOT's progress in implementing this recommendation.
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| Department of Transportation | The Secretary of Transportation should identify a means to assess lessons learned from the Reconnecting Communities Pilot program to inform decisions on whether or how to scale or integrate the pilot with other DOT efforts. (Recommendation 3) |
As of March 2024, DOT officials told us that the PCR program staff have collected lessons learned from the first two rounds of the program and plans to discuss them at a strategic planning session in May 2024. According to the officials, they plan to discuss how the program may adjust the Notice of Funding Opportunity, the application merit review process, and outreach activities to attract high-quality applications that benefit disadvantaged communities. In addition, the officials stated in May 2024, they plan to reach out to governmental and non-governmental stakeholders with an interest in reconnecting communities to gain additional feedback on program implementation and outcomes. The officials also said that additional lessons learned will be gathered through the evaluation of grant recipient outcomes that will be used to inform the required report to Congress by January 1, 2026. We will continue to monitor DOT's efforts to implement this recommendation.
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