Design

The FHWA office in Sacramento plays an important role in the construction, maintenance and operation of California's transportation infrastructure. Although the passage of TEA-21 marked an end to the period of building, the Interstate Highway System begun under President Eisenhower in the late 1950s, since TEA-21's passage California has constructed more than 2,300 miles of highways. Most of this recent construction serves large volumes of traffic and involves complex and constantly changing design, environmental and social considerations. The federal program in California expends some $2.4 billion of highway funds annually and requires considerable coordination and effort to cover the needs of our vast state with a small, highly trained staff. FHWA's day-to-day work involves oversight and consultation in planning, environmental procedures, project design, bid letting, award, construction, financial management, right-of-way, civil rights compliance and more. Additionally, the s! taff works to administer and enforce the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations and Hazardous Materials Regulations.

Downsizing during the past three decades has challenged California's division office to come up with new methods for improving the program while reducing staff. They pioneered the "inspection-in-depth" concept in the 1960s; the "stage and phase" inspection in the late 70s; process reviews and combined road plans in the 80s; and an aggressive PR/PE program in the 90s. Lining up their goals with US DOT's strategic plan means that California's FHWA Division focuses on the areas of mobility, safety, productivity, human and natural environmental protection, and national security as well as providing leadership, strategic planning assistance, information and analysis. A customer-focused approach is emphasized throughout. Specific objectives cover such important items as reducing run-off-road crashes and repairing deficient bridges to promoting freight in ITS Deployment plans and promoting long-life pavement initiatives.

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