Since the passage of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) in 2005, there have been several reports, studies, and web sites that describe best practices associated with the consideration of environmental factors during planning and early project development. These environmental factors include, for example, air quality, natural resources, and social and economic issues. SAFETEA-LU also requires consultation with historic preservation agencies and organizations during planning and early project development, in addition to comparing transportation plans with cultural resource inventories, if available. Unfortunately, there have been few publications and studies describing best practices for integrating historic preservation factors with planning and early project development.
This research effort aims to compile in one document descriptions of best practices for considering historic preservation factors during transportation systems planning and early project development. This project also examines how state departments of transportation (DOT) effectively engage historic preservation agencies and organizations, and Federally recognized tribes, during planning and the initial stages of project development.
The study was conducted in three stages: 1) a literature search; 2) a nationwide on-line survey of state DOTs and local planning organizations; and 3) follow-up interviews with those agencies and organizations that noted in their survey responses that they did consider historic preservation factors during either planning or early project development. The final report is available at https://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/archive/NotesDocs/25-25(49)_FR.pdf
