II

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1243

To amend title 23, United States Code, to enhance safety on 2-lane rural

highways.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

OCTOBER 1, 1997

Mr. KERREY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Envionment and Public Works

A BILL

To amend title 23, United States Code, to enhance safety

on 2-lane rural highways.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Rural Highway Safety

5 Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. RURAL 2-LANE HIGHWAY SAFETY PROGRAM.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 1 of title 23, United

8 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the follow9 ing:
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1 ‘‘§ 162. Rural 2-lane highway safety program

2 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab4 lish a 2-lane rural highway safety program (referred

5 to in this section as the ‘program’) to ensure the

6 systematic reconstruction of rural 2-lane arterial and

7 collector highways of substantial length that are not

8 on the National Highway System.

9 ‘‘(2) PRINCIPLES.—Reconstruction under the

10 program shall be carried out in accordance with

11 state-of-the-art principles of—

12 ‘‘(A) safe alignment and cross-section de13 sign;

14 ‘‘(B) safe roadside conditions;

15 ‘‘(C) safety appurtenances;

16 ‘‘(D) durable and safe pavement design

17 (especially long-term skid resistance);

18 ‘‘(E) grade crossing safety; and

19 ‘‘(F) traffic engineering.

20 ‘‘(3) COOPERATION WITH STATES AND PRIVATE

21 SECTOR.—The Secretary shall carry out the pro22 gram in cooperation with State highway departments

23 and private sector experts in highway safety design,

24 including experts in highway safety policy.

25 ‘‘(b) APPORTIONMENT.—For each fiscal year, the

26 Secretary shall apportion—
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1 ‘‘(1) 50 percent of the amount made available

2 under subsection (e) to the States in the ratio

3 that—

4 ‘‘(A) the number of miles in the State of

5 rural 2-lane arterial and collector surface roads

6 that are not on the National Highway System;

7 bears to

8 ‘‘(B) the number of miles in all States of

9 rural 2-lane arterial and collector surface roads

10 that are not on the National Highway System;

11 and

12 ‘‘(2) 50 percent of the amount made available

13 under subsection (e) to the States in the ratio

14 that—

15 ‘‘(A) the percentage of the population of

16 the State that resides in rural areas; bears to

17 ‘‘(B) the percentage of the population of

18 all States that resides in rural areas.

19 ‘‘(c) SELECTION OF PROJECTS.—

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The States shall select

21 projects to receive funding under the program based

22 on—

23 ‘‘(A) criteria established in cooperation

24 with the Secretary and other persons that give

25 priority to highways associated with persistently
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1 high rates of fatal and non-fatal injuries due to

2 accidents; and

3 ‘‘(B) to the maximum extent practicable,

4 value engineering and life-cycle cost analysis.

5 ‘‘(2) COMPATIBILITY WITH MANAGEMENT SYS6 TEMS.—To the extent that a State selects projects

7 in accordance with a functioning safety, pavement,

8 bridge, or work zone management system, projects

9 selected under the program shall be compatible with

10 each management system.

11 ‘‘(3) STATEWIDE TRANSPORTATION PLAN12 NING.—The selection of projects by a State under

13 the program shall be carried out in a manner con14 sistent with the statewide transportation planning of

15 the State under section 135.

16 ‘‘(d) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than December

18 31, 2003, the Secretary shall submit a report to

19 Congress on the results of the program.

20 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—The report shall include—

21 ‘‘(A) detailed travel and accident data by

22 class of vehicle and roadway; and

23 ‘‘(B) an evaluation of the extent to which

24 specific safety design features and accident
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1 countermeasures have resulted in lower accident

2 rates, including reduced severity of injuries.

3 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

4 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section

5 $150,000,000 for fiscal year 1998, $125,000,000 for fis6 cal year 1999, $125,000,000 for fiscal year 2000,

7 $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2001, $100,000,000 for fis8 cal year 2002, and $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2003.’’.

9 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The analysis for

10 chapter 1 of title 23, United States Code, is amended by

11 adding at the end the following:

‘‘162. Rural 2-lane highway safety program.’’.

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