Essay on How to Make the Malahat Safer

Britain’s first motorway , the 13 km Preston bypass was opened in 1958, and following this the Goverment planned to improve 6750km of road to at least dual carriageway standard to form strategic inter-urban network for England. This network was marked as a national commitment, which would enhance road safety, be easily connected to all major centres of population, promote economic growth and regional development.

One possible solution to Austin’s traffic problem is to expand the busy roadways where most traffic congestion is found. Widening these roads would help alleviate traffic issues near the downtown area of Austin as well as other busy and

These issues and many others will be fleshed out as part of a $175,000 Caltrans Sustainable Transportation Planning grant we’ve secured to come up with a comprehensive Rail Corridor Plan. With information presented comprehensively at community meetings, the Council and the public will be able to discuss the possibilities for long-term solutions such as trenching (as in Solana Beach), more under-crossings like the Swami’s pedestrian underpass at Santa Fe Drive, and all other options. Over the past 30 years, the city has seen multiple studies, and those results will be compiled and presented as part of the Rail Corridor

II. CAUSES: As a functioning asset to people, our roadways must be monitored, maintained and most importantly funded to keep the structures serving their intended uses safely. Also, we all know the adage, nothing lasts forever, and this is true with our roadways, but our society’s pollution accelerates the decay. And these are two main causes where we, as a nation have fallen short.

With the constrained scenario, traffic flow has improved, commute time has decreased, workers are getting to their places of business faster, and the businesses themselves are finding that they can transport their goods in a more timely fashion. The measures that were employed consist of adding directional bike lanes to the bridge, restriping the bridge combined with timed directional transition of the middle 5th lane, additional bus routes, and converting old buildings into domiciles. Although these measures have helped to improve traffic flow in the region, capital will have to be spent at a future date in order to add additional

The North Connex Project is a nine kilometre underground motorway, beneath Pennant Hills Road, which links the M2 to the M1. This development has been approved for construction due to the issue of traffic congestion for motorists travelling between Sydney and the north coast. The Hills M2 is the motorway connecting Sydney’s north shore and north western regions. Furthermore, the M1 Pacific Motorway links Sydney to the Central Coast, Newcastle and Hunter regions. The issue of traffic congestion is located in the West Pennant Hills area, where the M2 is, and it extends further up north to the Wahroonga area, to the M1. The development will also affect the suburbs and areas in between and surrounding West Pennant

Although Congress doubted whether it was worth the cost, “The Governor's reported, “An adequate highway system is vital to the continued expansion of the economy.” to support the expected population growth.” (Weingroff) The Highway System also provided much needed jobs to millions of men. “More than 9.5 million persons - one of every seven workers in the United States - has a job directly connected with highways or their use.

America made a multibillion dollar investment when the Federal Highway Act of 1956 was signed into law by Dwight Eisenhower. This was a milestone for America, connecting the nation like it had never been before. Since this time, however, the United States has done very little in terms of infrastructure investment. Currently, the American Society of Civil Engineers ranks America’s infrastructure as a D + (2013). American no longer leads the world in the best roads, airports, rail, or bridges. This is a serious problem that will lead to security, environmental, economic, and political issues if not addressed fully and swiftly. America needs to act promptly to revive the nation’s infrastructure system before additional nations surpass the US while the cost becomes too big to bear.

The funding sources came from the Federal which estimated about $161. 85 million, the State which estimated about $30 million, and the Local which estimated about $40.3 million. Furthermore, with this funding they were able to do add a second track and safety enhancements such as new gates, flash warning devices, raised center dividers, pedestrian crosswalk, and pavement markings. In addition to these enhancements, in some communities’ sound walls and quiet zones are being set up. The government’s goal and objective include but are not limited to: improving the transportation system with alternate travel choices, invest and deploy resources effectively and efficiently, promote community and transit oriented development, and minimize adverse environmental

FuturEBR acknowledges as much. Though its solution to traffic congestion includes road improvement projects, the plan concedes “it is not possible to build enough roads or supply enough public transit to sustain the current growth patterns.”

Within the United States Department of Transportation exists an agency called the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) which was created on October 15, 1966. The FHWA supports State and local governments in design, construction, and maintenance of the Nation’s highway system. The Administration’s mainly responsible for making sure that the highways and roads continue to be among the safest and most technologically available in the world. The FHWA core highway topics are: environmental, federal and Indian lands, highway funding, international, research and technologies, roads and bridges, road users, safety, and road operations and congestion. In order for the FHWA to cover all those topics mentioned earlier the administration has many offices one of which is the Office of Operations.

America has 5,540 deficient bridges alone, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Infrastructure Report Card. Every four years, ASCE provides America with an assessment including recommendations, condition, and needs for the nation’s infrastructure. In a basic A-F format, the Report Card is graded in eight main categories: capacity, condition, funding, future need, operation and maintenance, public safety, resilience, and innovation. This report card, since 1998, has given the nation a steady D, only rising to a D+ in the 2013 report. The Report states that there is a need of 3.6 trillion dollars in investments by 2020 to raise the grade up to a B. Funding America’s infrastructure is of major controversy and debate. Starting

If the construction process of the highway were to occur today, these factors would be put in consideration. Notably, the route experienced heavy traffic jams since it was very narrow and passed through towns, which had heightened economic opportunities. The new construction process would project the possible traffic flow along the road and construct it wide enough. For instance, having four to eight lanes would ease the traffic flow, unlike the two-lane system. Although the road was meant to connect the small town to major road networks, it was not necessary that the main highway goes directly through the towns. A new construction of the route would probably have it pass outside the towns and have feeder roads connecting the main route and the commercial

Once the roads were paved and travel was greatly improved, the biggest priority was safety. As stated by Chao during the U.S. Department of Transportation Open House, “the goal is to prevent accidents and fatalities before they happen” (16). Safety has been very important to those leading our country since the days the roads were not even paved yet, and continues to be very important to ensure the country is as efficient as possible.

Our transportation system, quite arguably, may embody our most vital system, as Infrastructure and Democracy clarifies, “access is the hallmark of a great infrastructure” (Jones, Reinecke). By great contrast, our roads remain a current issue. 42 percent of America’s urban highways remain congested, costing the United States 101 billion dollars in wasted time and fuel each year. Also, the32 percent of roads, in poor or mediocre condition, cost the average traveler $324 per year (American Infrastructure Report Card). Unfortunately, updating the highway systems seems longer than it may seem, as the Government Accountability Office (GAO) estimates that from proposal to completion most highways will need nine to nineteen years to fix (Leduc, Wilson 129). In addition to the roads, our bridges are failing just as much. One of every nine bridges within the United States is categorized as structurally deficient. The average bridge 42 years old, and in order to eliminate the bridge renovation backlog, our country would need to invest twenty and a half billion dollars until 2028 (American Infrastructure Report Card). However, in 2013, the United States only invested 12.8 billion dollars in bridge reconstruction and repair (American Infrastructure Report Card). Also, our countries transit