Highway Planning and Construction

This Assistance Listing encompasses several transportation programs:

1) Federal-aid Highway Program: The purpose of the Federal-aid Highway Program is to assist the States in providing for construction, preservation, and improvement of highways and bridges on eligible Federal-Aid routes, (including the National Highway System (NHS) - an integrated, interconnected transportation system important to interstate commerce and travel), and for other special purpose programs and projects. This program also provides for the construction and improvement of highways in the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

2) The Federal Lands Highway Program: The Federal Lands Transportation Program (FLTP) aids the Federal Land Management Agencies (FLMAs) for Federally owned roads and trails. It provides transportation engineering services and funding for planning, design, construction, and rehabilitation of the highways and bridges that are on or provide access to federally owned lands. The Tribal Transportation Program (TTP) provides safe and adequate transportation and public road access to and within tribal communities. The Federal Lands Highway organization also provides training, technology deployment, and engineering services to other customers.

3) The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs (IIJA) Act is a once-in-a-generation investment in our infrastructure that will help grow the economy, enhance U.S. competitiveness, create good jobs, and build our safe and resilient transportation future. IIJA provides the basis for FHWA programs and activities through September 30, 2026. It makes an investment of $350 billion in highway programs. This includes the largest dedicated bridge investment since the construction of the Interstate Highway System. New programs under the IIJA focus on key infrastructure priorities including rehabilitating bridges in critical need of repair, increasing system resilience, removing barriers to connecting communities, and improving mobility and access to economic opportunity. Many of the new programs include eligibility for local governments, Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs), Tribes, and other public authorities, allowing them to compete directly for funding. IIJA also continues to focus the program on safety and performance-based investment and on accelerating project delivery through expedited environmental review and elimination of duplicate processes.

4) The Highway Infrastructure Programs in the Department of Transportation Appropriations Act, 2018, included two new competitive programs: Competitive Bridge Program and Nationally Significant Federal Lands and Tribal Projects Program. The Competitive Bridge Program was appropriated $225 million to be used for highway bridge rehabilitation or replacement projects for States that have a population density of less than 100 individuals per square mile and that demonstrate cost savings by bundling multiple highway bridge projects.

By law, the Federal-aid highway program is a federally assisted State administered program that requires each State to have a suitably equipped and organized transportation department. Therefore, most projects are administered by or through State transportation departments (State DOTs). Projects to be funded under the Federal-aid highway program are generally selected by State DOTs or MPOs, in cooperation with appropriate local officials, as specified in 23 U.S.C. and implementing regulations. Territorial highway projects are funded in the similar manner as other Federal aid highway projects, with the territorial transportation agency functioning in a manner similar to a State transportation department. Most FLTP projects are administered by the FHWA Office of Federal Lands Highway and its Divisions or by the various FLMAs.

The State DOTs generally decide which projects will be developed within funding categories and levels. The FHWA division office, located in each State, approves and executes a project agreement for each project before work can commence. There are several categories where funding is allocated at the discretion of the Secretary of Transportation and administered by the FHWA. When such funding is available, FHWA will solicit applications for candidate projects from the States. Projects administered by the FHWA Office of Federal Lands Highways or the FLMAs are subject to procurement processes identified in the Federal Acquisition Regulations. Project awards are subject the availability of funds.