Federal-aid Highway Act of 1964

FEDERAL-AID HIGHWAY ACT OF 1964

TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 1964

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON ROADS OF THE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC WORKS, Washington, D.C.

The subcommittee met at 10 a.m., pursuant to call, in room 1302, Longworth Building, Hon. George H. Fallon presiding.

Mr. FALLON. The subcommittee will be in order.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Subcommittee on Roads of the Public Works Committee is meeting this morning for the consideration of a bill to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 1966 and 1967 for the construction of certain highways in accordance with title 23 of the United States Code and for other purposes. Three bills are being introduced.

(The bills, H.R. 9905, H.R. 9906, and H.R. 10055, are as follows:)

[H.R. 9905, 88th Cong., 2d sess.]

A BILL To authorize appropriations for the fiscal years 1966 and 1967 for the construction of certain highways in accordance with title 23 of the United States Code, and for other purposes

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

SHORT TITLE

SECTION 1. This Act may be cited as the "Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1964”.

AUTHORIZATIONS

SEC. 2. For the purpose of carrying out the provisions of title 23 of the United States Code the following sums are hereby authorized to be appropriated:

(1) For the Federal-aid primary system and the Federal-aid secondary system and for their extension within urban areas, out of the Highway Trust Fund, $1,000,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1966, and $1,000,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1967. The sums authorized in this paragraph for each fiscal year shall be available for expenditure as follows:

(A) 45 per centum for projects on the Federal-aid primary highway system;

(B) 30 per centum for projects on the Federal-aid primary highway system; and

(C) 25 per centum for projects on extensions of the Federal-aid primary and Federal-aid secondary highway systems in urban areas.

(2) For forest highways, $33,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1966, and $33,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1967.

(3) For forest development roads and trails, $70,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1966, and $85,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1967. (4) For public lands development roads and trails, $2,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1966, and $4,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1967.

(5) For park roads and trails, $22,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1966, and $25,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1967.

(6) For parkways, $16,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1966, and $16,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1967.

(7) For Indian reservation roads and bridges, $16,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1966, and $18,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1967. (8) For public lands highways, $9,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1966, and $9,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1967.

[H.R. 9906, 88th Cong., 2d sess.]

A BILL To authorize appropriations for the fiscal years 1966 and 1967 for the construction of certain highways in accordance with title 23 of the United States Code, and for other purposes

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

SHORT TITLE

SECTION 1. This Act may be cited as the "Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1964".

AUTHORIZATIONS

SEC. 2. For the purpose of carrying out the provisions of title 23 of the United States Code the following sums are hereby authorized to be appropriated:

(A) 45 per centum for projects on the Federal-aid primary highway system;

(B) 30 per centum for projects on the Federal-aid secondary highway system; and

(C) 25 per centum for projects on extensions of the Federal-aid primary and Federal-aid secondary highway systems in urban areas.

(2) For forest highways, $33,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1966, and $33,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1967.

(3) For forest development roads and trails, $70,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1966, and $85,00, for the fiscal year ending June 3, 1967.

(4) For public lands development roads and trails, $2,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1966, and $4,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1967. (5) For park roads and trails, $22,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1966, and $25,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1967.

(6) For parkways, $16,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1966, and $16,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1967.

(7). For Indian reservation roads and bridges, $16,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1966, and $18,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1967. (8) For public lands highways, $9,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1966, and $9,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1967.

[H.R. 10055, 88th Cong., 2d sess.]

A BILL To authorize appropriations for the fiscal years 1966 and 1967 for the construction of certain highways in accordance with title 23 of the United States Code, and for other purposes

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

SHORT TITLE

SECTION 1. This Act may be cited as the "Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1964.”

AUTHORIZATIONS

SEC. 2. For the purpose of carrying out the provisions of title 23 of the United States Code the following sums are hereby authorized to be appropriated:

(1) For the Federal-aid primary system and the Federal-aid secondary system and for their extension within urban areas, out of the Highway Trust Fund, $975,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1966, and $975,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1967. The sums authorized in this paragraph for each fiscal year shall be available for expenditure as follows:

(A) 45 per centum for projects on the Federal-aid primary highway system;

(B) 30 per centum for projects on the Federal-aid secondary highway system; and

(C) 25 per centum for projects on extensions of the Federal-aid primary and Federal-aid secondary highway systems in urban areas.

(2) For forest highways, $33,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1966, and $33,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1967.

(3) For public lands highways, $3,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1966, and $3,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1967.

(4) For forest development roads and trails, $85,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1966, and $95,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1957. (5) For public lands development roads and trials, $2,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1966, and $2,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1967. (6) For park roads and trails, $23,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1966, and $23,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1967.

(7) For parkways, $11,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1966, and $11,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1967.

(8) For Indian reservation roads and bridges, $18,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1966, and $18,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1967.

TECHNICAL AMENDMENT TO TITLE 23

SEC. 3. The second paragraph of subsection (b) of section 101 of title 23, United States Code, is amended by striking out "thirteen years" and inserting in lieu thereof "fifteen years" and by striking out "June 30, 1969", and inserting in lieu thereof "June 30, 1971".

Mr. FALLON. H.R. 9905 and H.R. 9906 are identical, H.R. 10055 is the administration's recommendation. The first two are the recommendation of the chairman of the subcommittee and the ranking member. There are not too many members of the subcommittee here this morning but I hope some will drop in from time to time. I like to think the reason they are not here is that they have so much confidence in those present that they feel that the job can be well done by those in attendance alone.

It is true that the bill is not a controversial bill. The only difference from the bill I introduced from the bill that passed this committee and the House last year is that we increased the amount for the ABC roads $25 million, making a total of $1 billion for 1966 and 1967.

The reason for that was that when we first passed the interstate bill, the speaker at that time, Mr. Rayburn, was very much concerned about what would happen to the ABC highway bills in the future if the money in the accelerated proportion was going to the interstate defense system. For that reason we arranged for the ABC program to have first call on the trust fund. That was the No. 1 thing we did to guarantee Mr. Rayburn and a lot of other Members that the ABC programs would not be forgotten.

Secondly, we committed ourselves to the Congress that we would increase it in $25 million increments each year until it reached a billion dollars.

You will recall that due to some difficulty with the trust fund several times that we carried it at the same figure for 4 years. But we feel now that this is the time for us to keep our commitment to the many Members who do not have any interstate system in their districts or even near their districts. They gave us very generous support for the interstate program and we feel that we owe them this recognition of the ABC system of highways.

Our first witness this morning is Mr. Rex Whitton from the Department of Commerce and the Federal Highway Administrator of the Bureau of Public Roads. Mr. Whitton.

STATEMENT OF REX M. WHITTON, FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATOR, BUREAU OF PUBLIC ROADS; ACCOMPANIED BY F. C. TURNER, CHIEF ENGINEER, AND L. K. BRIDWELL, DEPUTY FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATOR

Mr. WHITTON. Mr. Chairman, may I bring L. K. Bridwell and Mr. Frank Turner, chief engineer, with me, please?

Mr. FALLON. We welcome you and your associates here this morning. Mr. Bridwell or Mr. Turner are not strangers to the committee. They have been here many times officially and unofficially. We have always been very happy to have you, Mr. Whitton, and your associates.

Mr. WHITTON. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and members of the committee. We are happy to have the opportunity again of appearing before this committee. We enjoy being in your company.

If it is agreeable to you, I would like to begin my statement with a brief summary of progress on the Federal-aid highway program and related Bureau activities. There are portions of this prepared statement that I would like to skip in the interest of time and I would like to have it all made a part of the record, if it please the chairman. Mr. FALLON. Without objection, it is so ordered.

Mr. WHITTON. I am pleased to advise you again that the highway program is on schedule in relation to the revenues available in the highway trust fund. Since July 1, 1956, revenues accruing to the fund have totaled $19.012 billion, and expenditures have totaled $18.652 billion. On January 1, 1964, the balance in the highway trust fund was $360 million.

The status of improvement of the Interstate System as of December 31, 1963, is shown on the enclosed map and chart, figures 1 and 2, and summarized by States in the enclosed table 1.

As of March 1, 1964, some form of work has been completed or is underway on 33,950 miles or 83 percent of the 41,000-mile Interstate System.

Total interstate mileage improved and open to traffic on March 1— 16,650 miles represents an increase of 2,314 miles during the past 14 months. This total includes 12,124 miles improved with interstate funds, 2,179 miles improved with other public funds, and 2,347 miles of toll roads incorporated into the system as authorized by the 1956 legislation.

Work was underway on March 1 on 17,300 miles of the Interstate System, including 5,175 miles actually under construction contract and 12,125 miles on which engineering or right-of-way acquisition was underway.

Interstate projects totaling $9.9 billion have been completed since July 1, 1956. The completed projects include construction contracts at a total cost of $8.3 billion and engineering and right-of-way acquisition totaling $1.6 billion.

Interstate projects underway or authorized on December 31, 1963, totaled $8.5 billion. The work underway included construction contracts totaling $5 billion and engineering and right-of-way acquisition totaling $3.5 billion.

We have reached almost the halfway point in project authoriza tions for completion of the Interstate System. As shown in table 2 covering work authorized through February 29, 1964, preliminary engineering work has been authorized covering 80 percent of the total program, about 66 percent of the right-of-way acquisition work has been authorized, and contracts have been awarded on 43 percent of the construction work.

In total, the work authorized to date represents 48 percent of the total cost of the Interstate System as developed in the 1961 estimate. The estimated cost of completing the Interstate System was reported to the Congress in January 1961 (H. Doc. 49, 87th Cong., 1st sess.). The ratios of actual costs to estimated costs for work authorized from January 1, 1960, through December 31, 1963, are as follows:

Table 3 shows by State the status of active and completed projects financed from Federal-aid interstate funds.

Agreements for the control of outdoor advertising on the Interstate System have been signed with 20 States having a designated Interstate mileage of 11,615 miles. The 1958 act provided for Federal payment from the general fund of the Treasury of an additional one-half of 1 percent of the cost of constructing the Interstate System, to States that entered into agreements and controlled outdoor advertising. Payments are made on State claims submitted after final construction costs are determined. Bonus payments totaling $209,234 covering control on 75 miles had been made to five States as of February 29, 1964, as shown by table 4. Payments will be made to the remaining States as soon as vouchers are submitted and processed.

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Federal-aid Highway Act of 1964: Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Roads ...