Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
This executive summary plus thousands more available at http://www.nap.edu
Assessing and Managing the Ecological Impacts of Paved Roads
http://books.nap.edu/catalog/11535.html
Summary
11
CONCLUSION: With the exception of certain legally specified
ecological resources, such as endangered or threatened species and protected wetlands, there is no social or scientific consensus on which ecological resources affected by roads should be given priority attention. In
addition, current planning assessments that focus on transportation needs
rarely integrate other land-management objectives in their assessments.
Recommendation: A process should be established to identify and
evaluate ecological assets that warrant greater protection. This process
would require consideration not only of the scientific questions but also
of the socioeconomic issues. The Federal Highway Administration
should consider amending its technical guidance, policies, and regulations based on the results of such studies.
CONCLUSION: The state transportation project system offers the
opportunity to consider ecological concerns at early planning stages.
However, planning at spatial and temporal scales larger than those currently considered, generally does not address ecological concerns until
later in a project’s development.
Recommendation: Environmental concerns should be integrated
into transportation planning early in the planning process, and larger
spatial scales and longer time horizons should be considered. Adding
these elements would help to streamline the planning process. Metropolitan planning organizations and state departments of transportation
should conduct first-level screenings for potential environmental effects
before the development of a transportation improvement plan. Transportation planners should consider resource-management plans and other
agencies’ (such as the U.S. Corps of Engineers, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and National Park Service) environmental plans and policies as part of the planning process.
Other agencies should incorporate transportation forecasting into resource planning.
CONCLUSION: Elements of the transportation system, including
the types of vehicles and their fuels, will continue to evolve. Changes in
traffic volume and road capacity, mostly through widening of roads
rather than construction of new corridors, have smaller but nevertheless
important ecological effects compared with the creation of new, paved
roads.
This executive summary plus thousands more available at http://www.nap.edu
Assessing and Managing the Ecological Impacts of Paved Roads
http://books.nap.edu/catalog/11535.html
Summary
11
CONCLUSION: With the exception of certain legally specified
ecological resources, such as endangered or threatened species and protected wetlands, there is no social or scientific consensus on which ecological resources affected by roads should be given priority attention. In
addition, current planning assessments that focus on transportation needs
rarely integrate other land-management objectives in their assessments.
Recommendation: A process should be established to identify and
evaluate ecological assets that warrant greater protection. This process
would require consideration not only of the scientific questions but also
of the socioeconomic issues. The Federal Highway Administration
should consider amending its technical guidance, policies, and regulations based on the results of such studies.
CONCLUSION: The state transportation project system offers the
opportunity to consider ecological concerns at early planning stages.
However, planning at spatial and temporal scales larger than those currently considered, generally does not address ecological concerns until
later in a project’s development.
Recommendation: Environmental concerns should be integrated
into transportation planning early in the planning process, and larger
spatial scales and longer time horizons should be considered. Adding
these elements would help to streamline the planning process. Metropolitan planning organizations and state departments of transportation
should conduct first-level screenings for potential environmental effects
before the development of a transportation improvement plan. Transportation planners should consider resource-management plans and other
agencies’ (such as the U.S. Corps of Engineers, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and National Park Service) environmental plans and policies as part of the planning process.
Other agencies should incorporate transportation forecasting into resource planning.
CONCLUSION: Elements of the transportation system, including
the types of vehicles and their fuels, will continue to evolve. Changes in
traffic volume and road capacity, mostly through widening of roads
rather than construction of new corridors, have smaller but nevertheless
important ecological effects compared with the creation of new, paved
roads.