This report was prepared by a team led by AECOM under contract TOS-15-F-0014 for the U.S.

Department of the Treasury

on behalf of the Build America Investment Initiative.

Authors
Toni Horst, Ph.D
Richard Mudge, Ph.D
Raymond Ellis, Ph.D
Kenneth Rubin, Ph.D

AECOM
Compass Transportation Inc.
Raymond Ellis Consulting
Rubin Mallows Worldwide Inc.

With significant technical contributions from Carey Barr, Andrea Bohmholdt, Dana Jaffe, Barrett Lane, Srividya Santhanam,
and Jason Weiss.

Disclaimer
All project costs and benefits are based on assumptions and methodologies established by the authors. All findings,
conclusions, and recommendations set forth in this study are those of the authors, and may not reflect those of the U.S.
Department of the Treasury or the Build America Investment Initiative. The inclusion of a project in this study is not itself
evidence that the project is suitable for federal funding.
AECOM is among the largest architectural and engineering consulting firms in the world and has a market share over 25
percent, as compared to the total market share of the 10 largest firms in the sectors considered in this study. AECOM has
been involved in about half of the projects identified in this study. The authors methodology for identifying these projects is
described beginning on page 9.

Contents
Executive Summary....................................................................................................................................................................... 1
1.0 Introduction........................................................................................................................................................................... 3
1.1 Purpose and Overview................................................................................................................................................. 3
2.0 Projects and Programs of Major Economic Significance..................................................................................................... 3
2.1 The 40 Projects............................................................................................................................................................ 3
2.2 Two Large-Scale Programs........................................................................................................................................ 5
2.3 Why Are Some Types of Infrastructure Missing?....................................................................................................... 5
3.0 Primary Challenges to Completion....................................................................................................................................... 6
3.1 What Are the Challenges to Completing Each Project?.............................................................................................. 6
3.2 How Could Challenges to Completion Be Addressed?............................................................................................... 7
4.0 Infrastructures Contribution to the Economy....................................................................................................................... 8
5.0 How Was the List Developed?.............................................................................................................................................. 9
5.1 How Do We Define Infrastructure?............................................................................................................................. 10
5.2 How Do We Define a Project?................................................................................................................................... 10
5.3 How Do We Define a Challenge to Completion?....................................................................................................... 10
5.4 Outline of the Approach............................................................................................................................................. 10
5.5 Creating the Initial List............................................................................................................................................... 11
5.6 Creating the Long-List................................................................................................................................................ 12
5.7 Creating the Short-List and Final List........................................................................................................................ 12
5.8 Establishing a Common Benefit-Cost Calculus......................................................................................................... 12
5.9 Identifying the Primary Challenges Faced by Projects.............................................................................................. 13
5.10 Projects that Were Not Considered for the Short-List............................................................................................... 13
6.0 What Did We Learn from Constructing the List?................................................................................................................ 14
Annex: Project Profiles................................................................................................................................................................. 15

List of Exhibits
Exhibit 1: Distribution of Projects by Region and Mode ................................................................................................................ 2
Exhibit 2: Total Net Benefits by Region and Mode ....................................................................................................................3
Exhibit 3: 40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Significance........................ 4
Exhibit 4: Primary Challenges Across the 40 Projects.................................................................................................................. 6
Exhibit 5: Development Process for the Short List of Projects.................................................................................................... 11

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40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Significance

Executive Summary
In recognition of the important role that public works
infrastructure plays in supporting national economic growth,
the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury), on behalf of
the Build America Investment Initiative, commissioned this
study. Its objective is to identify 40 proposed transportation
and water infrastructure projects in the United States of
major economic significance, but whose completion has
slowed or is in jeopardy.1 This study provides the public with
a picture of how, if completed, these proposed infrastructure
projects would have a positive impact on national and
regional economic activity, such as reducing congestion,
improving safety and reliability, decreasing flood hazard,
and other benefits.2
This study also identifies the primary challenges facing
each project, including funding shortfalls, regulatory
considerations, and lack of consensus, in an effort to inform
federal, state, and local debates over infrastructure policy.
This project-focused approach allows the reader to more
easily grasp how infrastructure investment can create real
and substantial value for businesses, consumers, travelers,
and community residents, and helps put a face to our
nations infrastructure challenge in various regions of the
country.
We were asked to focus on transportation and water
projects because such projects are primarily funded by the
public sector, and have experienced problems with moving
forward. Projects are divided into two groups: 1) those
where planning activities are underway and 2) those where
planning activities are still underway and some funds have
been obligated to permit limited implementation but delivery
of the complete project remains pending. Other important
infrastructure investments, such as those in the energy
and telecommunications sectors, were not considered.
These investments are typically funded directly by private
investors, and have not experienced the same degree of
completion uncertainty.
Different projects offer different types of benefits, and
our analytical approach was sufficiently flexible to
accommodate this diversity of outcomes. This is important
because project sponsors develop these projects to address
specific problems in their communities. For example, some
projects may deliver substantial travel time savings, but
not much savings in users travel costs. Others improve
safety, but do not add capacity. Where studies already had
assessed a project, our team evaluated the inputs and
methodology, and adjusted the values so that net benefits
would be comparable across projects. Where data was

available but a study was not completed, our team made an

estimate of each projects benefits and costs consistent with
federal assessment guidance for that type of asset.

Total Net Economic Benefits

The 40 projects identified in this study would
generate an estimated $800 billion (midpoint) of net
economic benefits across the nation if they were
completed and available for use. This represents a
range of $700 billion to $1.3 trillion in total benefits
less capital costs over $200 billion in net present
value terms.
Our team analyzed individual proposed projects having
capital costs greater than $300 million that could be
commenced (and, for many, completed) within the next five
to ten years if major obstacles to completion most often a
lack of funding are addressed.3 This minimum capital cost
threshold allowed us to focus on those projects that would
generate the largest absolute net economic benefits.
This study highlights a broad, representative sample of
projects from across the country covering all the major
types of transportation and water infrastructure such as
highways, rail, waterway navigation, and dams. Traditional
projects, as well as a few that emphasize new technology
or the use of pricing to manage capacity, are featured.
Several projects are, in fact, part of broader programs, since
they include multiple, individual projects. Many promising,
early-stage projects were not included because reliable data
needed to estimate net economic benefits were unavailable.
Undoubtedly, this study omits many good projects.
Our team also chose to highlight two important initiatives
that represent large-scale programs rather than projects.
The enormous size and transformative nature of these
programs warrant a deeper discussion around them,
separate from that of the 40 projects of major economic
significance.
An annex to this report provides in-depth profiles for all 40
projects and the two large-scale programs. Each profile is
a two-page illustrated summary that describes the project,
why it is an important investment, the market that would use
it, considerations in its delivery, and the primary challenges
to its completion, while also providing estimates of the
projects net economic benefits, capital costs, and benefitcost ratio.

We characterize projects as being economically significant if they have the potential to generate net economic benefits (benefits in excess of costs) that are large in magnitude.
Certain social welfare benefits, such as quality-of-life improvements, are difficult to measure, and were not assessed.
3
Environmental elements of project costs, such as mitigation of environmental impacts or creation of environmental amenities such as wetlands or shoreline protection were included in
project costs to the extent that project planning documents included them. In some cases, environmental costs (e.g. some externalities) were not measured by project sponsors, in which
case they were not included as project costs.
1
2

Fall 2016

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Significance

Exhibit 1: Distribution of Projects by Region and Mode

Region

Highways

Water
Resources

Railways

PortsWaterways

Air

TOTAL

South

17

West

Midwest

Northeast

National

TOTAL

14

10

40

Note:Some projects span more than one region; in those instances the project has been assigned to the region with the greatest share of the project.

The first of two major findings from this analysis is the

relative scarcity of projects that are truly national in scale,
or even cover multiple states. Most projects have a state or
metropolitan-area focus. While national projects frequently
generate the greatest economic returns because of
their larger geographic scope, they are a comparatively
small percentage of the 40 projects of major economic
significance. This is logical since, with few exceptions,
federal programs distribute funds to regional, state, or local
infrastructure agencies that make investment decisions
on projects that generate benefits at the regional, state, or
local levels. However, it also reflects a fragmented national
vision for infrastructure. With a few exceptions, our national
process for project delivery does not yield a national or
regionally coordinated outcome (the Next Generation Air
Transportation System, a project that would modernize the
air traffic control system nationwide, stands out as a notable
exception).

Total Benefit-Cost Ratio

The 40 projects identified for this study vary widely
in their size and the magnitude of the net benefits
generated. The total benefit-cost ratio across all 40
projects falls between 3.5 and 7.0. This means that
if all the projects on the list were constructed, the
nation would gain benefits in the range of $3.50 to
$7.00 for every $1.00 spent on capital costs.

The second major finding is that a lack of funds is by far

the most common challenge to completing these projects
(including those that have commenced but since been
delayed). Thirty-nine of the 40 projects require increased
funding, whether from taxes, user fees, or other sources.
The completion of these projects would deliver significant
economic benefits to every region of the nation. In some
cases, completing these projects could be transformative,
potentially offering businesses and travelers large savings
in time or cost that allow them to access larger markets or
travel more frequently. The investments encompass freight
and passenger modes with the result that the benefits
generated by these projects would span the consumer,
manufacturing, and service sectors of the national economy.
And, as noted earlier, this list is not exhaustive. There are
many good projects that have not been included primarily
due to data constraints which would still benefit the
nations economic performance if they were undertaken. In
short, overcoming the barriers to the completion of these
projects represents a large economic opportunity for the
United States.

Fall 2016

1.0 Introduction
1.1

Purpose and Overview

Treasury, on behalf of the Build America Investment

Initiative, commissioned our team to develop this study in
order to address three basic questions:

What is a representative list of significant transportation

and water infrastructure projects that have been
proposed but face challenges to completion?

What would be the economic gains to various regions

and the nation if these projects were to be completed?

What are the primary challenges to completing these

projects?

At the national level, the value of infrastructure investment

has historically been demonstrated by needs studies that
sum engineering estimates of the capital costs required to
meet broad service delivery and/or regulatory objectives.
The first such study was published in 1983, and its title
made its message clear America in Ruins.4 Since that
pioneering work, numerous updates have been published
by federal agencies and trade associations, including the
American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). ASCEs 2012
report, A Failure to Act, took this approach one step further
by estimating the loss of value associated with system
deterioration in the aggregate.
This study takes a different approach. Because the focus
is on projects, the team was able to 1) screen for the most
economically productive individual projects; 2) capture the
benefit of technology or changing operating practices that
would make existing assets more efficient; and 3) capture
detail about why there is a gap between needed and actual
investment levels other than a lack of adequate funding.
Working through the questions outlined above, our team
compiled a list of projects that have begun development,
and in some cases are moving forward, but for which there
exist barriers to completion. Projects are divided into two

groups: 1) those where planning activities are underway

and 2) those where planning activities are still underway
and some funds have been obligated to permit limited
implementation but delivery of the project remains in
jeopardy. We describe each project and its major attributes,
such as location, type of infrastructure, cost, expected net
economic benefits (benefits less costs) for the region and
the nation and critically the primary challenges they
face. By identifying specific projects, this report allows
readers to assess concretely how infrastructure impacts
their daily lives, both personally and commercially.
The studys project-based approach extends a practice
frequently used at a particular locality to a nationwide
application to help justify and motivate investment, and
complements existing national needs-based studies. By
building from a base of vetted and assessed projects, there
is an opportunity to identify actions in addition to funding
that could move these projects forward to the benefit of
communities and businesses across the nation.

2.0 Projects and Programs of

Major Economic Significance
2.1

The 40 Projects

The 40 identified projects would generate an estimated

$500 billion to $1.1 trillion of net economic benefits across the
nation if they were completed and available for use. This
represents about $700 billion to $1.3 trillion in total benefits
less capital costs over $200 billion in net present value terms.
The benefits for many of these 40 projects at the regional or
metropolitan level would be pronounced. Economic benefits
that would be seen from the completion of these projects
include, but are not limited to: safer passenger travel, more
reliable freight shipments, less congestion on highways,
and less risk of and fewer adverse consequences from
flooding. A more detailed description of how infrastructure
may positively affect the economy can be found in Section
4.0. The exhibits below illustrate that these benefits would be
distributed across every region of the United States.

Exhibit 2: Total Net Benefits by Region and Mode (40 projects)

Note: One multi-state highway project runs across the South region, leading to the large allocation of benefits in that region.
4

Choato, Pat, and Susan Walter. 1983. America in Ruins: The Decaying Infrastructure, NC: Duke University Press.

Fall 2016

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Significance

Exhibit 3: 40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of

Major Economic Significance
#

Project

Type

Region

Analysis
Period
(years)

Net Economic
Benefits(1)
$M

BenefitCost
Ratio

25

> $236,000

> 10.0

Planning/ Implementation Underway

1

I-10 Program

Highway

South

National Traffic Signal Coordination

Highway

National

35

> $3,900

> 10.0

California High Speed Rail

Railway

West

50

$195,450

4.0 7.0

Next Generation Air Traffic Control System

Air

National

18

$87,000

4.0 7.0

Positive Train Control

Railway

National

20

$40,600

4.0 7.0

Hampton Roads Crossing

Highway

South

35

$28,500

4.0 7.0

Chicago CREATE

Railway

Midwest

30

$16,800

4.0 7.0

Rural Water Supply Program

Water

West

40

$8,350

4.0 7.0

Northeast Corridor Improvements

Railway

Northeast

35

$150,000

2.0 4.0

10

Southeast High Speed Rail

Railway

South

30

$8,550

2.0 4.0

11

I-70 Missouri

Highway

Midwest

30

$7,750

2.0 4.0

I-70 East

Highway

West

35

> $15,700

> 10.0

Texas Freight Shuttle System

Railway

South

20

> $9,400

> 10.0

New Orleans Rail Gateway

Railway

South

20

> $5,500

> 10.0

Mississippi River Crossing

Highway

South

35

> $5,000

> 10.0

Medium Diversion at White Ditch

Water

South

50

> $3,500

> 10.0

Medium Diversion at Myrtle Grove

Water

South

50

> $2,500

> 10.0

Brent Spence Bridge

Highway

Midwest

20

$18,600

7.0 10.0

Savannah Harbor Expansion

Ports-IW

South

50

$4,750

7.0 10.0

Houston-Galveston Grade Crossing Improvements

Railway

South

20

$3,000

7.0 10.0

Planning Underway

10

Atchafalaya River/Navigation

Water

South

50

$2,250

7.0 10.0

11

Boston Harbor Dredging

Ports-IW

Northeast

50

$2,200

7.0 10.0

12

I-35 Trade Corridor

Highway

Midwest

35

$61,650

4.0 7.0

13

MTC Managed Lanes

Highway

West

35

$7,200

4.0 7.0

14

2nd Avenue Subway - Phase 2

Railway

Northeast

35

$22,150

2.0 4.0

15

I-11 Corridor

Highway

West

30

$19,400

2.0 4.0

16

Morganza to the Gulf

Water

South

50

$18,350

2.0 4.0

17

I-69 Extension

Highway

South

30

$13,550

2.0 4.0

18

Puget Sound Gateway - Phase 2

Highway

West

30

$5,250

2.0 4.0

19

I-5 Columbia River Crossing

Highway

West

33

$5,000

2.0 4.0

20

Fargo-Moorhead Metro

21

Sabine Neches Waterway

Water

Midwest

50

$3,350

2.0 4.0

Ports-IW

South

50

$2,350

2.0 4.0

22

Watershed Rehabilitation Program

Water

National

100

$2,200

2.0 4.0

23

Sutter Basin

Water

West

50

$1,250

2.0 4.0

24

Jacksonville Harbor Dredging

Ports-IW

South

50

$1,200

2.0 4.0

25

Soo Locks Modernization

Ports-IW

Midwest

50

$1,150

2.0 4.0

26

Long Bridge

Railway

South

20

$1,000

2.0 4.0

27

Heartland Expressway

Highway

Midwest

40

$800

2.0 4.0

28

Corpus Christi Ship Channel Implementation

Ports-IW

South

50

$650

2.0 4.0

29

Truckee River

Water

West

50

$610

2.0 4.0

(1) To recognize the natural uncertainty in any estimate of economic benefits and costs, a range of net benefits was generated. The net economic benefits were estimated as the midpoint of the
range of (1) the product of the discounted project costs and the upper bound of the benefit-cost ratio range less the value of discounted costs and (2) the product of the discounted project costs
and the lower bound of the benefit-cost ratio range less the value of discounted costs, except where there is no upper bound (i.e. > 10), in which case only the lower bound figure is reported.
Notes:
Net economic benefits are total benefits less total capital costs on a net present value basis. All benefits expressed in millions of 2015 dollars discounted at a three percent rate.
All selected projects have a capital cost of $300 million or more.
IW is the abbreviation for Inland Waterway.
One of the largest differences across project assessments was the length of the analysis periodthe time over which benefits were accrued to the project. As this is an important
difference across assessments and one that the project team could not adjust, we included the length of the assessment period in the table for the readers use in reviewing the list.

Fall 2016

While railways and highways make up the largest share of

potential benefits, there are projects across all modes/
project types that would benefit the U.S. economy if they
could be advanced.
Exhibit 3 on the previous page presents the list of 40
projects, noting each projects type, region, net economic
benefits, and ratio of net economic benefits to capital cost
(benefit-cost ratio). Reflecting underlying uncertainties, a
project's net economic benefits represents the midpoint of
the estimated range. The list is divided into two groups: 1)
those where planning activities are underway and 2) those
where planning activities are underway and some funds
have been obligated to permit limited implementation but
delivery of the complete project lags.
See the annex for in-depth profiles of each project.
Multiple transportation modes and types of water projects
are represented on the list; challenges to project delivery
are not restricted to particular types of projects. Among
those with the largest benefit-cost ratio are projects that
relieve a bottleneck in the system or otherwise improve the
performance of existing assets. Examples of these projects
include Texas Freight Shuttle, National Traffic Signal
Coordination, New Orleans Rail Gateway, NextGen, and
Chicago CREATE.
Several highway capacity or improvement projects (different
from bringing the system into a state of good repair)
generate large economic benefits because of the size of
the population served and their role connecting to marine,
rail and air facilities. The list also contains transit projects.
Though transit typically supports local mobility needs, these
should be understood to deliver national economic benefits,
because the projects included on the list unlock additional
capacity in the heart of large established urban transit
networks and thereby support the continued labor market
growth of these large urban markets.

2.2

Two Large-Scale Programs

The two programs highlighted here encompass multiple

projects, and are national in scale: 1) recapitalization of
the entire Interstate Highway system and 2) investments
to accommodate the shift to connected and automated
vehicles.
The first program, the rebuilding of the Interstate Highway
system, is one of the most important infrastructure
challenges facing the nation. In an environment
characterized by periods of uncertain and constrained funds
and eroding purchasing power, state DOTs are necessarily

scaling their annual capital programs to available resources.

While the reconstruction of relatively short interstate
segments (which does not include projects included in
Exhibit 3) is part of a national program to reconstruct the
entire interstate system, individual project segments would
not by themselves yield substantial net economic benefits.5
Recapitalization of the entire interstate highway system has
projected net economic benefits of over $1.6 trillion.
The second program, accommodating the shift to connected
and automated vehicles, or simply, autonomous vehicles,
is no less challenging and arguably even more important to
the future of the U.S. economy. There are many unknowns
that make it difficult to develop an estimate in the same way
that the 40 projects are assessed. These include the rate of
adoption and the evolution of regulation among others. Over
approximately the next 30 years, this new technology could
generate between $5.0 and $7.5 trillion in net economic
benefits. While not a traditional infrastructure project,
the public sector has several vital roles in ensuring that
adoption not be hindered. Most important of these involves
regulation, both at the state and federal level. There also
are infrastructure-related investments that would help speed
deployment, ranging from infrastructure-based sensors
to exchanging data with moving vehicles to improved and
consistent pavement markings and road signs.

2.3

Why Are Some Types of Infrastructure

Missing?

The list of infrastructure projects was not generated with

the goal of finding an equal distribution of projects across
all categories of infrastructure. Indeed, the list does not
include examples of airports, toll roads, or large water and
wastewater treatment facilities. These categories are similar
in that the majority of them are managed by independent
quasi-public regional and state authorities or by enterprise
funds of a local jurisdiction and financed by revenue
bonds secured by direct fees paid by facility users and
concessionaires.
Federal capital grants for large airports are limited to airside
facilities. Federal loans and loan guarantees via the U.S.
Department of Transportation's Transportation Infrastructure
Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) program are frequently
important in the financing of new or expanded toll roads,
but these are provided late in the process after most
project barriers have been overcome. In sum, despite the
regional and national importance of many airport and toll
road projects, they do not face the same set of funding and
financing hurdles that many other infrastructure projects
must overcome. Thus, they did not meet one of the key

T
he search for projects identified many interstate projects on state DOT capital improvement plans. These projects typically represent incremental investments (mile marker 25 to 75
for example) to improve a larger corridor that by themselves do not yield benefits on a national scale but collectively represent a much larger effort that does support national economic
outcomes.

Fall 2016

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Significance

criteria for selecting projects to be included in our list of

projects.
One important class of projects municipal water supply
and wastewater management do not meet our criteria to
appear on the list because they are driven by regulations
and compliance timetables, not explicit benefit-cost
economics. That does not mean that there is no benefit to
accelerating this class of projects. Clearly, failures to meet
regulations for environmental, public health, or service
level standards exact costs on families and businesses
that rely on clean and safe water. But by and large, these
investments follow agreed timeframes for compliance with
environmental and public health regulations and in the case
of service level standards, norms for quantity and reliability
consistent with rates and revenues agreed through either
formal regulatory or governing board policy decisions.

3.0 Primary Challenges to

Completion
3.1 What Are the Challenges to
Completing Each Project?
A review of the 40 transportation and water infrastructure
projects described in Exhibit 3 suggests that they face four
major challenges to completion: (a) limited public resources,
(b) significantly increased capital costs, (c) extended
program and project review and permitting processes, and
(d) lack of consensus among multiple public and private
sector entities. A lack of public funding is by far the most
common factor hindering the completion of transportation
and water infrastructure projects.

Exhibit 4:
Primary Challenges Across
the 40 Projects

Number of Projects

(most projects have multiple challenges)

Inadequate Funding

39

Increased Capital Costs

19

Lack of Consensus

20

Regulatory Issues

9
0

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Limited Public Sector Resources. With a few exceptions,

constrained public budgets, tight fiscal policies, and a
general reluctance to raise taxes or user fees limit available
fundingthe primary challenge to advancing the projects
identified in this study. Conditions are perhaps most striking
at the federal level, where, for example, the 18.3 cents per
gallon federal gas tax that capitalizes the federal Highway
Trust Fund (HTF) has not been raised since 1993 and
annual HTF revenues have shown limited growth as a result
of increased vehicle fuel efficiency and reduced growth in
vehicle miles traveled. Some observers believe that greater
funding for the Army Corps of Engineers direct investment
program in water resources projects are needed to maintain
current services at the Army Corps existing flood control,
navigation, hydropower, and multi-purpose projects.6
Funding at the local level where the investment rubber
meets the road has been more responsive to demand,
and fewer projects seem to be challenged by shortfalls
in local funding roadblocks, especially for the most
worthwhile of projects. Approximately half of the states
(23) have increased their transportation user fees (e.g.,
gas tax, vehicle registration fee) since 2012 and other
states are considering increases but a larger proportion
of their expenditures have been devoted to operations
and maintenance rather than capital investment. Also,
many local jurisdictions, for example, have increased both
revenues and expenditures for urban transit.
In response to growing regulations, replacement of old and
failing infrastructure, and expansion of systems to meet
growth, urban water and wastewater utilities have had to
raise water and sewer rates by three percent above inflation,
on average, every year for more than the last decade.7
Affordability concerns related to constructing expensive, but
mandated, solutions to sewer overflows during rain events
have resulted in 20- and 30-year construction programs to
solve these multi-billion dollar challenges. In some cases
The Fargo-Moorhead Flood Diversion Project for example
local sponsors of Corps of Engineers projects are
stepping forward with innovative public-private partnership
(PPP) proposals and advance funding from local sources to
accelerate construction of critical water projects. Airports
and maritime ports are organized primarily as enterprise
funds under local and state governments; most are funded
by the fees paid by users of their respective facilities or
services. As a result, fees more closely reflect services that
users demand, so raising fees to finance the construction
of needed capital facilities tends to be somewhat less
complicated.

45

E
dward E. Belk, Jr P.E., ASCE COPRI: Corps Infrastructure Strategy Overview and P3/P4 Review, presented to the ASCE COPRI P3 Subcommittee Symposium on Alternative Project
Finance, New Orleans District of the US Army Corps of Engineers, September 10, 2015.
7
National Association of Clean Water Agencies, 2014 Cost of Clean Water Index, Washington DC, 2015.
6

Fall 2016

Significantly Increased Capital Costs. Capital costs

of transportation and water infrastructure have increased
much faster than the general rate of inflation over the past
20 years at the same time that the financial resources
available for transportation and water capital investment
have declined (in real dollar terms). When projects fail to
make progress, financing costs may increase faster than
the ability and sometimes willingness of users to pay,
further complicating the delivery of good projects until
users are willing to accept higher taxes or fees. Some
projects are eventually downsized or eliminated entirely.
Increased capital costs are also a product of enhanced
design standards and regulatory requirements related to
performance, safety, environmental protection, reliability,
and resiliency. Recent decreases in energy prices may
ameliorate the rate of capital cost inflation.
Extended Review & Permitting Processes. Successful
completion of the review and permitting processes
required by the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969
(NEPA), which requires federal agencies to assess the
environmental effects of their proposed actions, is an
important part of project development. NEPA helps promote
efforts to prevent or eliminate damage to the environment,
but has also extended the schedule and generally increased
the cost of implementing major infrastructure projects. This
is a long-standing challenge that has spanned the last 20
to 30 years. Studies conducted for the Federal Highway
Administration concluded that the average time to complete
a NEPA study increased from 2.2 years in the 1970s, to 4.4
years in the 1980s, to 5.1 years in the1995 to 2001 period,
to 6.6 years in 2011.8 In recent legislation and executive
actions, policymakers have recognized the growing length
of time needed for environmental review and permitting,
and its impact on project delivery times and development
costs, and have implemented process reforms.9 Effectively
implementing these reforms going forward will be crucial to
addressing this challenge.
Lack of Consensus Among Multiple Public and Private
Sector Entities. Projects that cross jurisdictions often take
longer than those within a single jurisdiction. We found
evidence of this for several large multi-jurisdictional projects
where proponents disagreed on project components,
alignments and rights of way, allocation of project costs
and benefits, or voting structure in governing and/or
management boards. Examples include bridges that
connect two states (the I-5 Columbia River Crossing and the
Brent Spence Bridge), rail projects across state boundaries
(the NY-NJ Gateway Project included as part of the NEC
Corridor Reliability Improvements), or programs of national

scale where state and local coordination is complicated

(National Traffic Signal Coordination Program). Large
national programs often experience this same phenomenon
in the program development stage. Key differences of views
with regard to the program design are often settled through
compromises during the legislative debate. The same is true
for some regional programs where federal intervention can
avoid state confrontations, such as federal and interstate
compacts that govern water resource allocation and
management rules across multiple states.

3.2

How Could Challenges to Completion

Be Addressed?

Limitations on public sector resources are identified in this

study as the single most common factor contributing to
project completion uncertainty particularly for highway,
railway, inland waterway, and water resource projects,
which rely primarily on public funding. There has been
significant discussion over the past decade about increasing
federal taxes or fees to fund critical infrastructure programs.
In the absence of such action, however, states and local
jurisdictions have stepped up to fund an increasing share
of the infrastructure they consider important. This process
contributes to a loss of network benefits on a broader, more
coordinated scale.
Since most challenges to project completion are related to
funding, and there is clear evidence that a lack of funding
results in loss of economic output, it is fair to examine ways
in which funding might be enhanced to create positive
returns to the U.S. economy. While full consideration of
funding alternatives and public finance options are beyond
the scope of this study, it may be useful to examine broadly
several principles around which funding solutions might be
based.
Market-Based User Fees. Where infrastructure services
can be allocated unambiguously to users (beneficiaries)
according to their use and users can access infrastructure
services only by paying for them (e.g. no free riders), the
infrastructure finance literature maintains that the most
efficient form of project finance is user payments that
ideally reflect full (marginal) costs of providing (building,
operating, and maintaining) service flows.10 Resurgence in
the development of tolled highways, bridges, and tunnels
over the last 30 years, particularly in rapidly growing states
such as Florida and Texas illustrates this approach. The
introduction of reliable and enforceable electronic toll
collection coupled with open road tolling (i.e., toll collection
with no toll booths to impede traffic flow) has further

Transportation For America, State Transportation Funding: States Successfully Raising New Transportation Revenue, 2015. Accessed January 2016. http://t4america.org/maps-tools/statetransportation-funding/
National Association of Clean Water Agencies, 2014 Cost of Clean Water Index, Washington DC, 2015.
10
Congressional Budget Office (CBO), Approaches to Making Federal Highway Spending More Productive, Washington, D.C., 2016.
8

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40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Significance

accelerated growth in toll facilities. These new technologies

provide significant savings in toll collection costs and
reduced congestion through congestion-based or time-ofday pricing.
Federal Intervention for Projects of National
Significance. Strict marginal cost-based user fees may
prove inadequate for some new investments in infrastructure
technology or economic development that will generate
benefits over long periods of time. In these cases, there may
be few immediate or easily identifiable beneficiaries. Such
projects represent long-term commitments to the future with
benefits that accrue to the nation as a whole. When this is
the case, it may be more efficient from a national economic
perspective to finance such projects out of general funds
or a user-fee base that includes both present and future
beneficiaries. Road improvements to enable autonomous
vehicles may be the prime example of such a national scale
program.
Government Funding to Protect Public Goods and
Correct Market Failures. Efficiency is not the only criterion
on which to base infrastructure financing decisions. In
some cases, the outcome of infrastructure investment is
so important for the welfare of the nation as a whole that
fairness considerations require that all people receive at
least some minimal benefit, regardless of their ability to
pay. This is the rationale underlying many environmental
programs that the federal and state governments help fund,
such as federal grants to help capitalize State Revolving
Funds that finance water and wastewater infrastructure.
Environmental restoration projects, especially those that
generate benefits broadly available to individuals and
businesses in multiple geographies, also are examples for
which additional federal and/or state general funding may
be warranted.
Efficient, Alternative Project Delivery. For some types of
projects, alternative project delivery methods can accelerate
project delivery times and deliver more infrastructure
services or less risk for every public dollar invested. In
effect, more efficient project delivery substitutes in part
for more investment. Innovative project delivery methods
include Design-Build (DB), Design-Build-Finance (DBF),
Design-Build-Operate-Maintain (DBOM), and DesignBuild-Finance-Operate-Maintain (DBFOM). Innovative
procurement methods generally allow competitors to
propose alternative technical concepts (ATCs) which are
reviewed and approved in advance by the customer and
remain proprietary to the competitor proposing the ATC. The
use of ATCs encourages competitors to introduce innovative
solutions that meet client requirements but at a reduced
cost.
Leveraging Limited Government Financial Resources.
Leveraging limited federal dollars can stimulate state
and local investment as well as private investment (or
operating efficiencies) through PPPs. Virtually all surface
transportation PPP projects rely in part on a TIFIA loan
8

to finance about a third of their project costs. The 2015

Fixing Americas Surface Transportation (FAST) Act
provides sufficient funding for the USDOT to make about
$36 billion in TIFIA loans or about $7.5 billion annually.
The Railroad Rehabilitation and Infrastructure Financing
(RRIF) program administered by the Federal Railroad
Administration has $35 billion to finance the development of
railroad infrastructure. The 2014 Water Resources Reform
and Development Act (WRRDA) authorized two other
infrastructure funds designed around a leveraging concept
one to support EPAs water and wastewater grant
program and a second for the Army Corps of Engineers.
The Presidents 2017 budget calls for funding EPAs water
infrastructure fund (WIFIA) but little progress has been
made regarding the program authorized for the Corps of
Engineers.

4.0 Infrastructures Contribution

to the Economy
Infrastructure of all types, but especially transportation
and water, is the one asset that is used every day by every
business and household. Most analysis of the economic
impact of infrastructure focuses on direct benefits to
travelers and consumers and indirect benefits from people
and industries that depend on these changes.
More important, however, are changes as individuals and
businesses divert from business as usual to adjust their
practices in response to improved infrastructure. As the
transportation network is improved, either through new
assets or improvements to existing ones, travelers reap
a variety of benefits. Improvements to safety translate
into lives saved and injuries avoided. Improvements to
bottlenecks translate into time saved. New connections
allow existing trips to be made by a shorter route, translating
into reduced travel costs. And collectively, less vehicle
miles traveled and less idling to accomplish the nations
travel needs translates into cleaner air. When flooding is
avoided or cleaner water delivered, resources are not spent
recovering from damage and health is not compromised.
When these things happen, the economy typically becomes
more efficient, which supports long-term economic
competitiveness. These types of changes are not relevant
for projects with a local impact (say, adding a lane to an
existing highway) but there is a long history of private
industry change in response to investments with a national
or regional scale impact. This response can occur in several
ways:

Productivity Effects. An improved transportation
system or an expanded water resource (either larger in
size or higher in the quality of service that it provides)
allows industry to either produce the same amount of
goods and services for less or more goods and services
with no added cost.

Fall 2016

Investments to reduce travel congestion allow a national

Ex:
retailers distribution network to make the same volume of
deliveries in less time, saving driver and fleet costs.

Factor Demand Effects. An improved transport system
also allows firms and industries to change how much
they use of other economic inputs labor, intermediate
goods, and private capital. These changes may result
in greater efficiencies as the investment allows firms to
substitute for one or more of their traditional economic
inputs.
Investments to improve connectivity and travel times
Ex:
allow a manufacturer to reduce inventories of production
inputs and to consolidate its supply network, reducing
production costs overall.

utput Expansion Effects. The cost reductions or

O
increases in output caused by the first two changes will,
in turn, stimulate increased overall demand.
x: As production or distribution becomes less costly,
E
firms may pass along some portion of the savings to
consumers, who may purchase more as the price falls.

Our nations history includes a series of examples of

infrastructure investments that have generated national
economic gains on a large scale. Examples range from
the earliest decades of the republic when the Army Corps
of Engineers was tasked with opening up the Ohio and
Mississippi Rivers to the transcontinental railroads, funded
in large part by federal and state land grants (these totaled
eight to ten percent of the Continental United States).
More recently, the Interstate Highway System was a prime
mover for the nations economy for at least two decades,
accounting for fully one fourth of the nations overall gains in
productivity when it was first built.
Transportation
Today, transportation is in the midst of a quiet but profound
revolution. Urban travelers now have choices that go
beyond the classic dichotomy of private cars versus bus
and rail transit. Many of these changes take advantage
of new technology, with some of the most dramatic
changes yet to come, including self-driving vehicles. New
transportation services are now available, including many
stimulated by private entrepreneurs. These changes
also respond to market forces, including a world where
mobile communications provide near real-time access to
information for businesses and individuals. The specific
impact of these changes on demand for traditional modes,
such as private cars, transit, walking, biking, and taxis, as
well as telecommuting is unknown but will have important
implications for how we plan, fund, and operate urban and
regional transportation.

Fall 2016

Water and Wastewater

Similarly, todays wastewater management utilities, having
largely made key investments to comply with government
clean water mandates are transforming themselves into
Utilities of the Future where instead of managing waste,
they take actions to manage valuable resources such as
water, nutrients, biosolids, heat, and latent energy. When
clean water utilities reuse wastewater and offset demand
for fresh water resources, generate all the energy they
need to operate from their own digested methane, or
substitute natural green infrastructure for concrete and
steel structures, they not only reduce costs of service to
residential and business customers, they produce fewer
environmental residuals and cleaner waterways as well as
more urban green spaces for all to enjoy. These benefits,
in turn, create communities in which more people and
businesses choose to locate, helping to stimulate economic
productivity often associated with urban areas.
Environmental Restoration Projects
Environmental restoration projects bring the nations natural
capital into a state of good repair. Such projects can benefit
communities in a variety of ways such as by buffering
shore communities from hurricanes and shoreline erosion,
by mitigating flooding and damage to homes and roads,
and by providing wildlife habitat and recreational areas for
residents.

5.0 How Was the List

Developed?
The development of any list requires judgment about
which projects to include and which to exclude. This
process involved both developing criteria to identify eligible
candidates but also pragmatic compromises information
needed to estimate net economic benefits was simply
unavailable for some candidate projects. Identifying
candidate projects required a set of operational definitions.
Chiefly, these were:

How do we define infrastructure?

How do we define a project?

How do we define a challenge to completion?

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Significance

5.1

How Do We Define Infrastructure?

For the purposes of this study, infrastructure is taken to

mean traditional public works:

Highways

Railways

Airports

Maritime Ports and Inland Waterways

Water Resources
Water Supply/Wastewater Management
All share common characteristics in that they are delivered
largely through long-standing intergovernmental programs
that require legislative, executive, and sometimes judicial
action at the federal, state, and local levels. They generally
require federal or state authorization at the program or
project scale, state or local program administration and
management, a state or local government sponsor or
advocate, interaction with public and sometimes private
capital markets, user willingness to pay taxes or fees in
exchange for services, and environmental and/or economic
regulatory approvals generally at an early stage of
project delivery.

5.2

How Do We Define a Project?

Like all long-lived capital investments, infrastructure projects

in these categories typically share a common value chain
from planning to preliminary engineering, environmental
review and permitting, final engineering, funding and
finance, construction, operations, and reconstruction or
decommissioning. For purposes of this study, a project
had to be sufficiently advanced in its delivery process that
a basis for estimating its capital and operating costs had
been established as had a basis for projecting its economic
benefits. Typically, this meant that a project had to have
progressed at least through planning and about half of
preliminary engineering (e.g., about 15 percent of the
design work needed to prepare a project for construction)
and for some types of infrastructure, through a portion
of the environmental review stage. A project also had to
demonstrate that it could be delivered in whole or in part
within a 10-year period. This was interpreted as requiring
that the project has applicable legislative authorization;
that funding requirements were roughly understood (even
if funding sources had not as yet been identified), and that
a local sponsor or advocate had been identified. In sum,
projects on a wish list did not qualify.

10

5.3

How Do We Define a Challenge to

Completion?

Some projects, particularly large complex projects or those

using new and untested technology, may take a decade or
more to begin to deliver benefits to the economy. A project
was considered to face a challenge to completion if it was
halted at some stage in its normal delivery process, as
identified by federal, state, local, or private proponents of
the project, and supported by reasonable evidence.
Even if a project is moving forward in some capacity, these
barriers can exist. Complex projects can face multiple
challenges, including insufficient funding and/or financing,
regulatory/permitting/legal issues, or a lack of consensus
among project stakeholders.
Municipal water supply and wastewater management
projects are not included on our list of 40 economically
important projects. Most such projects are driven by
regulatory or service level requirements and not by
economics. Many are costly in the hundreds of millions to
billions in total project costs and most deliver significant
public health, environmental, social, and economic benefits
well in excess of these costs. These large and economically
important projects can take 20-30 years to complete, which
is allowable without penalty under applicable environmental
and public health regulations. So, while project completion
can exceed our standard for challenged projects and might
otherwise be considered here, long completion times are
planned and expected, so these projects do not meet our
criteria for challenged projects.

5.4

Outline of the Approach

An overview of the study approach is provided in Exhibit

5. The study team first identified a long-list of significant
and challenged infrastructure projects in the planning or
planning/implementation stage of development. These were
then screened to select the 40 or so projects (the shortlist) that would deliver strong positive national or regional
net economic benefits if they could be accelerated. The
estimated costs and benefits of projects on the short-list
were then reviewed and for some projects, created from
project outputs, and then normalized around a common
benefit-cost calculus. The primary challenges facing the
project were then confirmed. Finally, the study team created
two-page project profiles for each of the 40 identified
infrastructure projects (which are presented as an Annex to
this document).
Key statistics characterizing projects reviewed for the longand the short-list were catalogued for future reference.
Projects are grouped by infrastructure category for ease of
access.

Fall 2016

Exhibit 5: Development Process for the Short List of Projects

Does the project face a challenge to completion?

40

5.5

Creating the Initial List

An initial list of potential projects was developed based on

news articles, published documents, and interviews with
federal and state agency representatives, regional planning
associations, and trade and professional organizations.
The criteria for inclusion on the initial universal list were
broad, with most candidate entries being included. Entries
included everything from well-defined and advanced
projects, to comprehensive plans, to well-defined visions.
The study team selected a broad range of entries for
consideration from the universal list of entries.
Initial entries were categorized by infrastructure type:

Initial entries were also grouped into one of four national

regions: Midwest, Northeast, South, and West. Several
projects covered more than one region or were national in
scope.
Initial entries were reviewed to identify which should be
considered a project for the purposes of this study using the
following criteria:

Criterion

1.1 Does the project have a sponsor? The
entry needed to have support from a viable sponsor to
have a reasonable probability of being implemented.

Criterion

1.2 Have some studies been completed?
The entry must have had some studies (e.g. technical,
environmental, or financial) completed to show it is
reasonably well defined.

Criterion

1.3 Does the project have independent utility?
The entry must be able to stand alone and not rely on
other components or predecessor (but as yet unbuilt)
projects to achieve individual benefits.

Airports
Highways
Ports/

Inland Waterways entries related to seaports
and inland waterway ports and to inland waterways
Railways

entries related to rail transportation for both
passengers and freight and both intercity and urban
Water

entries related to water resources, environmental
restoration, water supply, and wastewater management

Fall 2016

Entries meeting all of the above criteria were considered

a project and retained for further evaluation. Those that
did not were removed from the list. About 200 candidate
projects were identified.

11

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Significance

5.6

Creating the Long-List

Projects were then screened to identify those qualifying for

inclusion on the long-list of projects projects that were
capable of providing strong positive net economic benefits
on a national or regional scale using the following criteria:
Criterion

2.1 Does the project have an implementation
cost (undiscounted and not adjusted for inflation) of
at least $300 million? Projects costing less than this
amount would be unlikely to deliver significant national or
regional net economic benefits.
Criterion

2.2 Does the project face challenges to
completion? Projects facing such challenges are
those that are not being implemented according to
expected schedules because of insufficient funding, lack
consensus among the major stakeholders, or regulatory
or permitting challenges, among others.
Projects that met both these criteria were retained on the
long list of projects for further analysis. Those which did
not meet these criteria or for which sufficient data were not
available to permit evaluation did not advance for further
study. The selection of the $300 million threshold was
a judgment and reflects a tradeoff between expanding
the project search to the maximum possible scope and
considering every project regardless of its size and the
pragmatic need to have a workable number of projects and
the expectation that projects below that threshold were
unlikely to have major regional or national impacts. The
$300 million value was chosen as the study team felt it was
still on the low side for a project likely to have a regional or
national impact, thus ensuring that the maximum number of
likely projects were considered in subsequent evaluation.
About 200 projects were identified for the long list, of which
about 75 were retained for the short list.

5.7 Creating the Short-List and Final List

Some of the projects were elements of larger programs and
were therefore grouped and evaluated at the program scale.
This was done for programs whose projects would not have
gone forward on a stand-alone basis because the real value
to the nation would be delivered only if the entire program
or a large portion thereof was completed. These are clearly
identified on all study materials and in this Final Study.
Examples include the Northeast Corridor Intercity Rail
Rehabilitation Program between Washington DC, New York
City, and Boston and the California High Speed Intercity
Rail Program.
The study team selected those projects for the final list
which had significant net national or regional economic
benefits based either on estimates of costs and benefits
that had already been calculated using acceptable methods
or on interim project outputs that could be converted to
estimates of costs and benefits. Projects in the final list were
chosen based on their net economic benefits, making sure

12

that they were broadly representative of various regions of

the country, as well as the major transportation modes and
types of water projects.
Because the projects on the list are in different phases of
implementation, the full list was divided into two sections to
highlight this distinction (see Exhibit 3). Projects where the
implementation is underway but not advancing at the pace
initially anticipated are listed at the top of the table. Those in
the planning stage where implementation has not yet begun
are listed in the second section of the table.

5.8

Establishing a Common Benefit-Cost

Calculus

Projects were examined to estimate their net economic

benefit to the national economy and their benefit cost ratio.
This process relied on existing benefit-cost results, or
where an existing assessment was not available, project
data necessary to permit the project team to perform
an assessment. The project team evaluated projects
as presented by project sponsors and did not develop
independent estimates of costs, ridership, traffic volumes,
service plans, or other inputs to support the net economic
benefit assessment. The methodology and guidance for
developing project information and assessments thus
varies across projects, following the available guidance
and practice for that mode. Similarly, the level of detail with
which project information is reported varies by project for
example some studies report the summary results, others
provide year-by-year results. Collectively, these factors
prevented the project team from fully reconciling each of the
assessments. Because of these uncertainties, net project
benefits were reported in a range. If a projects BCR rose
above a 10.0 threshold, we reported the value as simply
over 10.0.
Projects with smaller benefit-cost ratios were reported in
one of three ranges: 2.0 4.0, 4.0 7.0, and 7.0 10.0. The
ranges were chosen by looking at the estimate ratios and
selecting the breakpoints based on the groupings in the
results.
In general, the process was to:

Identify

project costs and adjust to common year used
for this study

Adjust

project benefits (or estimate) to common year
used for this study

Discount costs and benefits to yield net present value

if not already discounted, adjusting to a common year
and rate. Discount rates applied to federal infrastructure
projects originate in statute and are updated periodically
by the federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
in conjunction with the federal infrastructure agencies.
The Water Resources Planning Act of 1965 and the
Water Resources Development Act of 1974, for example,

Fall 2016

require an annual determination of a discount rate for

federal water projects, including those of the US Bureau
of Reclamation and the US Army Corps of Engineers
that are covered in this project. The rate for federal fiscal
year 2017 (October 1, 2016 to September 30, 2017) was
reset to 2.875 percent on October 13, 2016, based on
guidance from the US Treasury on the average yield of
marketable US government securities with maturities of
15 years or more. The 1992 Circular A-94 (Appendix C),
pursuant to the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921, the
federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
establishes real discount rates to be used to evaluate
benefits and costs of all federal capital programs or
policies, including transportation projects like those
analyzed here, but specifically excluding federal water
projects. The rate to be applied is related to the type of
the project and its expected benefits and costs. If the
project is anticipated to have benefits to the general
public (societal benefits such as travel time savings or
crash reductions), the guidance currently suggests a
discount rate of 7 percent, which represents the real
discount rate on private investment. If the analysis
includes benefits and costs exclusively related to the
public agency, for example, an analysis of an investment
that would bring about a cost savings to the agency, the
guidance suggests using the real discount rate for publicsector investments, which is often lower due to the lower
risk associated with government borrowing. Real
discount rates for 2016 range from 1 percent (10-year
investment) to 1.5 percent (30-year investment). For
consistency, we used both a 3 percent and 7 percent
discount rate in our analysis, but for simplicity, presented
results only using a 3 percent rate.
Finally, one of the largest differences across project
assessments was the length of the analysis period the
time over which benefits were accrued to the project. As this
is an important difference across assessments and one that
the project team could not adjust, we included the length of
the assessment period in the table for the readers use in
reviewing the list.
Another challenge related to the reporting of operations
and maintenance costs; some projects had advanced to the
point of having estimates, but many had not. Presentation
of an apples to apples comparison required estimating net
economic benefits relative to capital costs only.

Fall 2016

5.9 Identifying the Primary Challenges

Faced by Projects
Information collected describing project delivery was
verified through interviews with relevant parties. In nearly all
cases, funding was an impediment to project delivery.
Lack of consensus among stakeholders was an impediment
for half of the projects. As large projects most likely to
deliver national benefits are often multimodal and multijurisdictional, this highlights the challenge of advancing
these projects. Increased capital costs as the project
develops similarly play a role in half of the projects, helping
to explain many of the funding challenges. As complex
projects advance, the engineering requirements to solve the
problem are increasingly better understood and defined
often leading to better cost estimates. Moreover, as projects
advance through the public environmental process, project
features may be added and the least cost alternative may
not be selected. Finally, a variety of regulatory issues played
a role in a quarter of the projects.

5.10 Projects that Were Not Considered for

the Short-List
In addition to the projects discussed above, certain types of
projects that might provide sufficient national or regional net
economic benefits to be advanced to the short-list were not
considered for various reasons including the following:

Publicly

available data were insufficient to project costs
and/or benefits.

Projects

critical to the U.S. economy which have high
likelihoods of being built in the future, but that are
insufficiently developed at this time.

Projects

of national significance, but that are simply slow
to complete and are therefore not facing challenges to
completion under our definition.

Projects

that do face challenges, but the net economic
benefits of which are too small to be in the list of projects
of major economic significance.

Projects without a clear sponsor.

13

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Significance

6.0

What Did We Learn from

Constructing the List?

First, there are a large number of attractive transportation

and water infrastructure projects nationwide. These cover
all modes and all regions of the country. Alone, the 40
projects identified in this study are estimated to generate net
economic benefits of $800 billion. Our analytic work showed
that there are many similar projects behind this list. As a
group, the 40 projects highlighted in this study return
between $3.50 and $7.00 for every dollar of capital
expenditure.
The greatest concentration of projects is in the South and the
West. As the fastest-growing regions of the U.S., these
regions are developing numerous projects to accommodate
their expanding economies, rising freight flows associated
with the numerous ports located here (some of the nations
busiest) and vigorous cross-border trade with Mexico. Nine of
the eleven megaregions projected to develop in the U.S.
between now and 2040 are in these regions. Railways and
highways dominate the distribution of projects by mode, but
the distinction can be misleading in some cases as these
projects are supporting other modes such as ports and
airports. For example, the Hampton Roads Crossing and the
I-5 Columbia River Crossing are both important corridors for
the maritime ports in their regions. Some I-5 Columbia River
crossing project alternatives included transit too.
Second, no surprise, but lack of adequate funds is the major
hurdle to completing these projects. While responsibility for
this shortfall can be shared among many government
agencies, it is hard not to recognize a long running reluctance
by legislative decision makers at all levels to increase funding
for infrastructure.
Third, there is limited interest in regional or even national
projects. Part of this problem results from a general reduction
in federal funds for major transportation and water
infrastructure programs. This has shifted the responsibility for
infrastructure funding to state and local governments. In one
respect, this may produce a desirable outcome these
governments are closer to the delivery of infrastructure
services and should make more efficient investment
decisions and manage limited financial resources more
carefully. However, as agencies are developing projects in
line with their own more limited resources, there are fewer
large multi-state initiatives that address the larger regional
issues created by rising freight volumes and evolving logistics
patterns for example. U.S. DOTs work to develop a national
rail and national freight plan may eventually counter this
trend.

issue related to lack of funds, but partly a lack of financial

and planning incentives. For example, the Interstate
Highway System was built rapidly once the federal match
changed from 50-50 to 90-10. Today such incentives are
limited one example is a slightly higher federal match for
freight projects that reflect a statewide freight plan.
A related problem is that most of the debate over
infrastructure tends to focus on needs, with projects of
all sizes and types lumped together. This makes it difficult
to focus on projects likely to have the largest national
economic benefits. This study aims to help re-focus the
debate on projects with significant national economic
benefits relative to their costs.
Finally, the analytic work to identify the 40 projects of
major economic significance relied on existing studies
where available. These used a variety of assumptions
and methods. Any national view regarding the value of
infrastructure would benefit from a more uniform and
consistent approach to reporting. The Corps of Engineers
water resource investment program, U.S. DOTs TIGER
program (which both use a BCR) and the Federal Transit
Administrations (FTA) New Starts Program (which uses
consistent metrics across projects but not a BCR) stand
out in this regard, but many other parts of infrastructure
development assess projects in a less formal manner. The
nations approach to developing candidate infrastructure
investments has evolved gradually over time and largely
in modal silos. A consistent set of project planning and
development guidelines could improve this process,
although care would still be needed in making inter-modal
comparisons. Similarly, care would still be needed to ensure
that state and local infrastructure financing programs
that are working well can continue to work well. A recent
Congressional Budget Office (CBO) study identified the
practice of allocating highway investment on the basis of
benefits and costs, and user fees (discussed in Section 3.2)
as two potential approaches for making highway investment
more productive.11

Today there is limited incentive for state and local agencies

to invest in projects with broad benefits. This is not just an

Ibid.

11

14

Fall 2016

Fall 2016

Planning Underway
1. I-70 East.....A-38
2. Texas Freight Shuttle System..A-40
3. New Orleans Rail Gateway....A-42
4. Mississippi River Crossing.....A-44
5. Medium Diversion at White Ditch....A-46
6. Medium Diversion at Myrtle Grove...A-48
7. Brent Spence Bridge...A-50
8. Savannah Harbor Expansion.....A-52
9. Houston-Galveston Grade Crossing Improvements...A-54
10. ARTM/MOHNL.A-56
11. Boston Harbor Dredging.A-58

Planning/Implementation Underway
1. I-10 Program.....A-16
2. National Traffic Signal Coordination ...A-18
3. California High Speed Rail.....A-20
4. Next Generation Air Traffic Control System .A-22
5. Positive Train Control...A-24
6. Hampton Roads Crossing..A-26
7. Chicago CREATE.A-28
8. Rural Water Supply Program..A-30
9. Northeast Corridor Improvements..A-32
10.
Southeast High Speed RailA-34
Photo Source: NEC Commission
11. I-70 Missouri.......A-36

Project Profiles
I-35 Trade Corridor...A-60
MTC Managed Lanes..A-62
2nd Avenue Subway Phase 2.....A-64
I-11 Corridor.......A-66
Morganza to the Gulf.A-68
I-69 Extension...A-70
Puget Sound Gateway Phase 2..A-72
I-5 Columbia River CrossingA-74
Fargo-Moorhead Metro Flood ControlA-76
Sabine Neches Waterway....A-78
Watershed Rehabilitation ProgramA-80
Photos
Photo
Source:
Source:
hsr.ca.gov
CA.gov
Sutter Basin....A-82
Jacksonville Harbor Dredging....A-84
Soo Locks Modernization.A-86
Long Bridge....A-88
Heartland Expressway..A-90
Corpus Christi Ship Channel....A-92
Truckee River.A-94
Two Large-Scale Programs
1. Accommodating Autonomous Vehicles....A-96
2. Recapitalization of the National IHS ...A-98

12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

15

A-16

Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana,

Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California
state Departments of Transportation

Related to Recapitalization of the National

Interstate Highway System

PROGAM:

PROJECT SPONSORS:

Photo Source: NEC Commission

PROJECT TYPE: Highway

U.S. REGION: South

I-10 Program

Photo Source: ADOT

growing states as well as major international airports and ports.

particularly important for interstate movements. I-10 connects several of the nations fastest

Add capacity as needed along the I-10 corridor between Florida and California. This is

delays.

Sources: (1) Wilbur Smith

Increasing national freight flows in the corridor will result in increasing congestion and

along urban sections, and from 4.1 lanes to 5.2 lanes along rural sections.

The average number of lanes needed by 2025 is expected to increase from 6 to 10.1 lanes

mileage is forecast to reach approximately 1,500 miles.

400 miles operating at an unacceptable level of service (LOS). By 2025, the deficient

The I-10 Corridor is more than 2,600 miles long. As of 2002, the Corridor had approximately

CONSIDERATIONS

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Photo Source: TxDOT

$236.0 B
BENEFIT-COST RATIO: > 10.0

NET ECONOMIC BENEFIT: >

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

Fall 2016

Fall 2016

States need funding for additional capacity to keep interstates operating at an

acceptable LOS.

Difficult to coordinate a multi-state investment strategy.

PRIMARY CHALLENGES

Provides for an improved high-speed, safe, low cost-per-mile interstate system.

Inter-regional trade, among the eight states and between the I-10 Corridor region
and the rest of the United States, generates significant economic benefits in terms of
jobs, earnings, and economic output.

With capacity improvements, travel time reliability along the Corridor is expected to
increase significantly over the forecast period, translating into significant reductions
in delay for freight and passengers.

PROJECT BENEFITS

I-10 Program

108,320,000
44,494,000
5,721,182

$
$
$
$

28,629
26,222
>262,220
>235,998
>10.0
Note: All values in 2015 dollars; values were
discounted using a 3% discount rate. O&M
excluded from costs.

Capital Cost
Discounted Capital Cost
Discounted Benefits
Net Economic Benefits
Benefit-Cost Ratio

2015$ (M)

ECONOMIC BENEFITS AND COSTS

Population (Census, 2015 value)

Employment (BLS, 2015 value)
$
GDP (BEA, 2014 value, $M)

STATES OF FLORIDA, ALABAMA,

MISSISSIPPI, LOUISIANA, TEXAS, NEW
MEXICO, ARIZONA, AND CALIFORNIA
MARKETS SERVED:

Photos Source: FHWA

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

A-17

A-18

Individual state DOTs, cities, and Metropolitan

Planning Organizations

Institute of Transportation Engineers

PROJECT SPONSORS:

Photo Source: NEC Commission

PROJECT TYPE: Highway

U.S. REGION: National

consumption.

reduced traffic congestion, reduced emissions (including CO2), and reduced energy

Program to coordinate traffic signals nationwide provides a broad array of benefits, including

through traffic.

Sources: (1) ITE

Some cities have not made the proper investments since they do not want to encourage

estimated 5-10% of all traffic delay, or 295 million vehicle hours on major highways alone.

Delays in highway travel have been increasing, and delays at traffic signals contribute an

efficiency.

Improving traffic signal operations can have a large impact on transportation system

CONSIDERATIONS

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Photos
Source:
USDOT
Photos
Source:
Public
Domain

$3.9 B
BENEFIT-COST RATIO: > 10.0

NET ECONOMIC BENEFIT: >

National Traffic Signal Coordination

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

Fall 2016

Fall 2016

Traffic signals need to be maintained properly, creating additional local budget

issues.

While costs are low for individual traffic signals, real gains depend on corridor
improvements and many towns and cities are still short of funds.

Adaptive signal control systems are more expensive but also more effective.

Coordination among local cities and towns can be difficult since they may have
different objectives and different levels of funding.

PRIMARY CHALLENGES

Costs are low, at approximately $500 to $3,000 per intersection.

Improvements for freight and transit operations.

Fuel savings resulting from less idling and related environmental benefits including
CO2 reductions as a result of smoother traffic flow.

Delay savings, even when just considering major arterials, are significant.

PROJECT BENEFITS

321,419,000
141,958,000
17,232,618

$
$
$
$

455
435
>4,350
>3,915
>10.0

2015$ (M)

Note: All values in 2015 dollars; values were

discounted using a 3% discount rate. O&M
excluded from costs.

Capital Cost
Discounted Capital Cost
Discounted Benefits
Net Economic Benefits
Benefit-Cost Ratio

ECONOMIC BENEFITS AND COSTS

Population (Census, 2015 value)

Employment (BLS, 2015 value)
$
GDP (BEA, 2014 value, $M)

NATIONAL MARKET SERVED:

Photos Source: USDOT

Photos Source: Public Domain

National Traffic Signal Coordination

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

A-19

A-20

California High Speed Rail Authority

Federal Railroad Administration

PROJECT SPONSORS:

Photo Source: NEC Commission

PROJECT TYPE: Railway

U.S. REGION: West

Francisco.

of rail, with up to 24 stations. Full build-out of the system will connect Los Angeles to San

The high-speed rail system planned for California will eventually encompass over 800 miles

Sources: (1) CA HSR Benefit Cost Analysis

to result in deteriorating air quality, reduced reliability, and increased travel times.

future demand, and the current and projected future congestion of the system will continue

The capacity of Californias intercity transportation system is insufficient to meet existing and

CONSIDERATIONS

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Photos
Photo
Source:
Source:
hsr.ca.gov
CA.gov

260.6 B
BENEFIT-COST RATIO: 4.0 7.0

NET ECONOMIC BENEFIT: $130.3

California High Speed Rail

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

Fall 2016

Fall 2016

Logistics and scheduling at Union Station in LA

Litigation against the Authority for noncompliance with Proposition 1A and other
cases over the projects environmental certification and use of cap-and-trade money.

Funding

PRIMARY CHALLENGES

Passenger delay, operating cost and emission savings in the aviation sector due to
mode shift from air to HSR.

Travel time, reliability, safety and emission benefits for highway users traveling in
less congested conditions due to mode shift from auto to HSR.

Travel time, reliability, travel cost and productivity benefits for users transferring from
auto to HSR.

PROJECT BENEFITS

California High Speed Rail

39,145,000
16,093,000
2,305,921

2015$ (M)

$
58,794
$
43,425
$ 173,700 303,975
$ 130,275 260,550
4.0 7.0

Note: All values in 2015 dollars; values were

discounted using a 3% discount rate. O&M
excluded from costs.

Capital Cost
Discounted Capital Cost
Discounted Benefits
Net Economic Benefits
Benefit-Cost Ratio

ECONOMIC BENEFITS AND COSTS

Population (Census, 2015 value)

Employment (BLS, 2015 value)
$
GDP (BEA, 2014 value, $M)

CALIFORNIA MARKET SERVED:

Photo Source: hsr.ca.gov

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

A-21

A-22

Federal Aviation Administration in

partnership with individual airports
nationwide

PROJECT SPONSORS:

Photo Source: NEC Commission

PROJECT TYPE: Air

U.S. REGION: National

Photo Source: FAA

and digital communications.

traffic control system to a system based on satellite navigation, automated position reporting,

NextGen is a long-term initiative that is transforming the current ground-based radar air-

inefficient.
Source: FAA

navigation systems, and voice communications utilized by air traffic control outdated and

Technology advancements have made the traditional radar surveillance, ground-based

emissions, and reduces convenience to passengers.

creates delays, increases the likelihood of safety incidents involving aircraft, increases

Growth in passenger and cargo air traffic have contributed to congested airspace that

CONSIDERATIONS

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

116.0 B
BENEFIT-COST RATIO: 4.0 7.0

NET ECONOMIC BENEFIT: $58.0

Next Generation Air Traffic Control System

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

Fall 2016

Fall 2016

Rollout is slower than planned due to insufficient funding by airports/airlines and

disagreements among implementation partners that have slowed decision-making
by FAA.

PRIMARY CHALLENGES

Provide a better travel experience, with less time spent sitting on the ground and
holding in the air, increases airport access, predictability, and reliability.

Fuel savings and reduced GHG and emissions.

Greater airspace safety and security by proactively identifying and resolving

potential hazards and a reduction in delays experienced by airlines and passengers.

Increase air transportation-system capacity by allowing the nations airports to use

existing runway and terminal capacity more efficiently.

PROJECT BENEFITS

PHOTOSOURCE:
SOURCE: Amtrak
Flickr Creative Commons
PHOTO

2015$ (M)

$
25,312
$
19,340
$ 77,360 135,380
$ 58,020 116,040
4.0 7.0

Note: All values in 2015 dollars; values were

discounted using a 3% discount rate. O&M
excluded from costs.

Capital Cost
Discounted Capital Cost
Discounted Benefits
Net Economic Benefits
Benefit-Cost Ratio

ECONOMIC BENEFITS AND COSTS

Population (Census, 2015 value)

Employment (BLS, 2015 value)
GDP (BEA, 2014 value, $M)

321,419,000
141,958,000
17,232,618

Photo Source: FAA

NATIONAL MARKET SERVED:

Next Generation Air Traffic Control System

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

A-23

A-24

US Department of Transportation

Individual privately-owned railroads

Commuter rail lines

Amtrak

PROJECT SPONSORS:

Photo Source: NEC Commission

PROJECT TYPE: Railway

U.S. REGION: National

crews in safely managing train movements.

positioning systems and wayside computer control systems that aid dispatchers and train

trains. PTC systems utilize advanced technologies including digital radio links, global

stream of data transmitted by wireless signals about the location, speed, and direction of

derailments, and incursions into roadway work limits. PTC sends and receives a continuous

Positive Train Control (PTC) systems will prevent train-to-train collisions, overspeed

Railroads must self-fund PTC.

Congressional deadline of December 2018.

track.

Sources: (1) AAR

Freight railroads will ultimately be required to install PTC on an estimated 60,000 miles of

CONSIDERATIONS

Photo Source: FRA

Photos Source: NEC Future

54.1 B
BENEFIT-COST RATIO: 4.0 7.0

NET ECONOMIC BENEFIT: $27.1

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Positive Train Control

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

Fall 2016

Fall 2016

Interoperability among systems

Meeting the December 2018 deadline

PRIMARY CHALLENGES

Because of modal diversions, highway accident costs, air pollution, and rail
accidents would be reduced. Shippers would receive a benefit from service quality
improvements.

When fully up and running, PTC will complement existing safety technologies in
important ways. It will help prevent train collisions, derailments caused by high
speeds, unauthorized incursions by trains onto sections of track where maintenance
is taking place, and movement of a train through a track switch left in the wrong
position.

PROJECT BENEFITS

PHOTOSOURCE:
SOURCE: Amtrak
Flickr Creative Commons Photo Source: FRA
PHOTO

Positive Train Control

321,418,820
141,958,417
17,232,618

$
10,000
$
9,022
$ 36,088 63,154
$ 27,066 54,132
4.0 7.0

Note: All values in 2015 dollars; values were

discounted using a 3% discount rate. O&M
excluded from costs.

Capital Cost (total program)

Discounted Capital Cost
Discounted Benefits
Net Economic Benefits
Benefit-Cost Ratio

2015$ (M)

ECONOMIC BENEFITS AND COSTS

Population (Census, 2015 value)

Employment (BLS, 2015 value)
GDP (BEA, 2014 value, $M)

NATIONAL MARKETS SERVED:

Photos Source: Gulf

Photo
Coast
Source:
Rail District
FRA
Photo
Source:
AAR

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

A-25

A-26

Virginia Department of Transportation

PROJECT SPONSORS:

Photo Source: NEC Commission

PROJECT TYPE: Highway

U.S. REGION: South

New interchanges and connections for existing highways and new roadways, and a tunnel to

Sources: (1) HRT Planning Organization

Connect ports, the military, and major freight corridors to controlled access highways.

existing I-64 Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel.

Improve accessibility, mobility, and goods movement to help relieve congestion at the

CONSIDERATIONS

multimodal traffic.

the west of the existing I-664 Monitor Merrimac Memorial Bridge Tunnel for vehicular and

Widen I-664 to the I-64/I-264 interchange in Chesapeake, VA.

Bridge Tunnel with a connection from the new bridge tunnel to Norfolk and Portsmouth.

The program would provide a new crossing parallel to the I-664 Monitor Merrimac Memorial

Photos Source: VDOT

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Photo Source:

38.0 B
BENEFIT-COST RATIO: 4.0 7.0

NET ECONOMIC BENEFIT: $19.0

Hampton Roads Crossing

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

Fall 2016

Fall 2016

Funding

PRIMARY CHALLENGES

The Port of Virginia is able to accommodate post-Panamax ships and is a

designated strategic military port.

Other benefits include improved regional travel times, improved safety, direct
connections to the port and Navy, accommodating future growth in the western part
of the region.

Increases travel at underutilized Monitor Merrimac Memorial Bridge Tunnel by an

average of over 63,000 vehicles per day.

Reduces congestion at Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel for an average of over

90,000 vehicles per day.

PROJECT BENEFITS

Photos Source: VDOT

Hampton Roads Crossing

8,383,000
3,812,000
462,861

82,689,000
9,727,377
Employment (BLS, 2015 value)
GDP (BEA, 2014 value, $M)

2015$ (M)

$
8,171
$
6,328
$ 25,312 44,296
$ 18,984 37,968
4.0 7-0
Note: All values in 2015 dollars; values were
discounted using a 3% discount rate. O&M
excluded from costs.

Capital Cost
Discounted Capital Cost
Discounted Benefits
Net Economic Benefits
Benefit-Cost Ratio

ECONOMIC BENEFITS AND COSTS

185,224,000
Population (Census, 2015 value)

STATES EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER

MARKETS SERVED:

Population (Census, 2015 value)

Employment (BLS, 2015 value)
$
GDP (BEA, 2014 value, $M)

VIRGINIA MARKET SERVED:

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

A-27

A-28

State of Illinois

City of Chicago

Metra

Amtrak

Freight railroads

PROJECT SPONSORS:

Photo Source: NEC Commission

PROJECT TYPE: Railway

U.S. REGION: Midwest

The full program includes 37 freight, 7 passenger, and 25 grade separation projects.

freight rail infrastructure and enhance the quality of life for Chicago-area residents.

CREATE will invest in improvements to increase the efficiency of the region's passenger and

roadways.

Sources: (1) CREATE Program

At-grade rail crossings negatively impact communities and cause chronic traffic delays on

passenger service, and make it harder for farmers to make a profit.

levels of air pollution, raise safety concerns, adversely affect the reliability and speed of rail

Freight rail delays lead to increased traffic congestion on roadways, generate unnecessary

30 hours for freight trains to pass through the Chicago region.

Due to geometric constraints and shared tracks with passenger operations, it can take up to

CONSIDERATIONS

Photos Source: createprogram.org

22.4 B
BENEFIT-COST RATIO: 4.0 7.0

NET ECONOMIC BENEFIT: $11.2

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Photo Source:

Chicago CREATE

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

Fall 2016

Fall 2016

Funding

PRIMARY CHALLENGES

Sustainability through fuel savings resulting from increased rail capacity and avoided
truck trips, reduced motorist trips, and reduced emissions due to fuel savings.

Safety from grade separation projects and truck travel avoided.

Increased rail capacity and logistics cost savings through avoided truck diversions
and avoided highway pavement damage.

Reduced delay to passenger trains, freight trains, and motorists at grade

separations and on the highway due to avoided truck traffic.

PROJECT BENEFITS

Chicago CREATE

321,419,000
141,958,000
17,232,618

9,555,000
4,557,000
610,552

2015$ (M)

$
3,910
$
3,741
$ 14,964 26,187
$ 11,223 22,446
4.0 7.0
Note: All values in 2015 dollars; values were
discounted using a 3% discount rate. O&M
excluded from costs.

Capital Cost (total program)

Discounted Capital Cost
Discounted Benefits
Net Economic Benefits
Benefit-Cost Ratio

ECONOMIC BENEFITS AND COSTS

Population (Census, 2015 value)

Employment (BLS, 2015 value)
$
GDP (BEA, 2014 value, $M)

NATIONAL MARKETS SERVED:

Population (Census, 2014 value)

Employment (BLS, 2015 value)
GDP (BEA, 2014 value, $M)

CHICAGO MSA MARKET SERVED:

Photos Source: createprogram.org

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

A-29

A-30

Photo Source: EPA

States of New Mexico, North Dakota, South

Dakota, Minnesota, Montana and Iowa

North Central Montana Regional Water

Authority

Rocky Boy's Reservation

Garrison Diversion Conservancy District

Eastern New Mexico Water Utility Authority

Fort Peck Tribes

Dry Prairie Rural Water Authority

Bureau of Reclamation

PROJECT SPONSORS:

Photo Source: NEC Commission

PROJECT TYPE: Water

U.S. REGION: West

Photo Source: Bureau of Reclamation

construction of a project requires a specific Act of Congress.

in 17 states, to undertake appraisal investigations and feasibility studies, however,

serve rural communities (less than 50,000 people) and Indian tribes and tribal organizations

As part of the Rural Water Supply Program, financial and technical assistance is provided to

minerals unsafe for long-term human consumption.

Sources: Bureau of Reclamation and Project Sponsors

Some water supplies contain high levels of manganese, iron, sulfate, copper and other

extensive regulatory violations and water system shutdowns.

Poor water quality and inconsistent water pressure due to aging infrastructure causing

population.

Insufficient water is limiting economic growth and ability to meet demands of increasing

CONSIDERATIONS

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Photo Source: EPA

11.1 B
BENEFIT-COST RATIO: 4.0 7.0

NET ECONOMIC BENEFIT: $5.6

Rural Water Supply Program

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

Fall 2016

Fall 2016

A lack of Federal funding at an adequate level significantly extends each projects

completion date, increasing the total project cost and affecting the sponsor's ability
to provide matching funding.

Federal funding for selected projects has not been adequate to complete the project
and does not cover cost increases due to inflation.

PRIMARY CHALLENGES

Expands economic development opportunities.

Deliver safe and reliable water supply to meet the long-term water needs of rural
and disadvantaged communities.

PROJECT BENEFITS

PHOTO SOURCE: Flickr Creative Commons

Photos Source: EPA

111,678,000
47,838,000
$
6,233,933

$
$
$
$

2,236
1,854
7,416 12,978
5,562 11,124
4.0 7.0

2015$ (M)

Note: All values in 2015 dollars; values were

discounted using a 3% discount rate;
O&M excluded from costs.

Capital Cost
Discounted Capital Cost
Discounted Benefits
Net Economic Benefits
Benefit-Cost Ratio

ECONOMIC BENEFITS AND COSTS

Population* (Census, 2015 value)

Employment (BLS, 2015 value)
GDP (BEA, 2014 value, $M)

AZ, CA, CO, ID, KS, MT, NE, NV, NM, ND,
OK, OR, SD, TX, UT, WA, WY MARKETS
SERVED:

Rural Water Supply Program

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

A-31

A-32

Individual state DOTs, including

Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode
Island, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New
York, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and
the District of Columbia

Amtrak

Federal Railroad Administration

Corridor operators including SEPTA,

NJTransit, MTA, MetroNorth, VRE, MARC,
MBTA

PROJECT SPONSORS:

Photo Source: NEC Commission

PROJECT TYPE: Railway

U.S. REGION: Northeast

cannot be supported by the existing corridor infrastructure.

changes in travel preference, will increasingly require a level of service and connectivity that

D.C. to Boston, MA. Growth in population and employment in the region, combined with

Improvements to passenger rail transportation in the Northeast Corridor from Washington,

needed to support continued economic growth.

Sources: (1) NEC FUTURE

environmentally sustainable, and cost-effective movement of passengers and goods is

A transportation system that provides capacity and options for reliable, efficient,

resulted from insufficient investment to maintain a state of good repair.

The quality of service falls short due to the aging and obsolete infrastructure that has

CONSIDERATIONS

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Photos Source: NEC Future

225.0 B
BENEFIT-COST RATIO: 2.0 4.0

NET ECONOMIC BENEFIT: $75.0

Northeast Corridor Improvements

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

Fall 2016

Fall 2016

Governance

Funding

PRIMARY CHALLENGES

Improved reliability would benefit both intercity travelers and transit commuters who
share the corridor.

Travel times between the regions economic centers would be reduced.

Collectively, the investments would improve the state of good repair and reliability.

PROJECT BENEFITS

PHOTOSOURCE:
SOURCE: Amtrak
Flickr Creative Commons
PHOTO

69,005,000
32,424,000
4,355,899

$
100,800
$
75,000
$ 150,000 300,000
$ 75,000 225,000
2.0 4.0

Note: All values in 2015 dollars; values were

discounted using a 3% discount rate. O&M
excluded from costs.

Capital Cost
Discounted Capital Cost
Discounted Benefits
Net Economic Benefits
Benefit-Cost Ratio

2015$ (M)

ECONOMIC BENEFITS AND COSTS

Population (Census, 2015 value)

Employment (BLS, 2015 value)
$
GDP (BEA, 2014 value, $M)

DC, VA, MD, DE, NJ, PA, NY, CT, RI, AND
MA MARKETS SERVED:

Photos Source: NEC Future

Northeast Corridor Improvements

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

A-33

A-34

Individual state DOTs, including DC,

Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina,
and Georgia

Federal Railroad Administration

Photo Source: Virginia CTB

PROJECT SPONSORS:

Photo Source: NEC Commission

PROJECT TYPE: Railway

U.S. REGION: South

Photo Source: dc2rvarail.com

Photo Source: SEHSR

SEHSR would connect to the Northeast Corridor in Washington, DC.

Richmond, Hampton Roads, Raleigh, Charlotte, and Atlanta.

Extending high-speed passenger rail services from Washington, D.C. south through

Sources: (1) Southeast Corridor PRCIP SDP

the airports along the Eastern seaboard are nearing the limits of capacity.

Parts of the corridor, especially along I-95, are highly congested. Regional highways and

passenger rail services.

regions transportation capacity and reliable mode choices through improvements in

The goal is to improve intercity travel and mobility between Atlanta and DC by expanding the

CONSIDERATIONS

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Photo Source: GDOT

12.8 B
BENEFIT-COST RATIO: 2.0 4.0

NET ECONOMIC BENEFIT: $4.3

Southeast High Speed Rail

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

Fall 2016

Fall 2016

Trackage rights agreements

Funding

PRIMARY CHALLENGES

The availability of a reliable and high-speed connection between the regions

economic centers would support long-term economic development in the region.

Reductions in passenger vehicles result in safety savings, emissions reductions,

highway congestion savings, highway maintenance savings, and land value
accretion.

PROJECT BENEFITS

Photo Source: dc2rvarail.com

Photo Source: NC DOT

34,209,000
15,082,000
1,725,090

$
$
$
$

4,644
4,254
8,508 17,016
4,254 12,762
2.0 4.0

2015$ (M)

Note: All values in 2015 dollars; values were

discounted using a 3% discount rate. O&M
excluded from costs.

Capital Cost
Discounted Capital Cost
Discounted Benefits
Net Economic Benefits
Benefit-Cost Ratio

ECONOMIC BENEFITS AND COSTS

Population (Census, 2015 value)

Employment (BLS, 2015 value)
$
GDP (BEA, 2014 value, $M)

DC, VA, NC, SC, AND GA MARKETS

SERVED:

Southeast High Speed Rail

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

A-35

A-36

Missouri Department of Transportation

National Interstate Highway System

PROGRAM:

PROJECT SPONSORS:

Photos
Photo Source:
Source:NEC
improvei70.org
Commission

PROJECT TYPE: Highway

U.S. REGION: Midwest

I-70 Missouri

as part of interstate routes.

and St. Louis. The corridor is truck-heavy both between Kansas City and St. Louis and also

Reconstruct and add capacity (approximately 200 miles) in Missouri between Kansas City

service.

By the year 2030, all segments of I-70 are expected to operate at unacceptable levels of

the problem.

economic activity. Deteriorating pavement and poorly functioning interchanges compound

Many portions of the facility are strained beyond capacity, increasing delays and dampening

largest cities and carrying more rural daily traffic than any other route.

I-70 is the most important transportation corridor in Missouri, connecting the states two

CONSIDERATIONS

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

11.6 B
BENEFIT-COST RATIO: 2.0 4.0

NET ECONOMIC BENEFIT: $3.9

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

Fall 2016

Fall 2016

Funding

PRIMARY CHALLENGES

Additional lanes and frontage roads will allow for redundancies and improve
response times to regional and national emergencies.

The selected alternative will generally be constructed along the existing alignment to
preserve the general location of the existing facility.

The project will upgrade substandard bridges, interchanges, and roadways.

The increased capacity and improved roadway geometrics will improve operational
conditions, relieve congestion and reduce the density of traveling vehicles, thereby
reducing the crash rate, improving freight movement efficiencies, and providing
increased accessibility to recreational activities.

PROJECT BENEFITS

I-70 Missouri

6,084,000
2,764,000
279,835

21,855,000
10,086,000
1,160,527

$
$
$
$

4,208
3,854
7,708 15, 416
3,854 11,562
2.0 4.0

2015$ (M)

Note: All values in 2015 dollars; values were

discounted using a 3% discount rate. O&M
excluded from costs.

Capital Cost
Discounted Capital Cost
Discounted Benefits
Net Economic Benefits
Benefit-Cost Ratio

ECONOMIC BENEFITS AND COSTS

Population (Census, 2015 value)

Employment (BLS, 2015 value)
$
GDP (BEA, 2014 value, $M)

KANSAS, MISSOURI, AND ILLINOIS

MARKETS SERVED:

Population (Census, 2015 value)

Employment (BLS, 2015 value)
$
GDP (BEA, 2014 value, $M)

MISSOURI MARKET SERVED:

Photo Source: improvei170.org

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

A-37

A-38

Colorado Department of Transportation

Recapitalization of the National Interstate

Highway System

PROGAM:

PROJECT SPONSORS:

Photo Source: NEC Commission

PROJECT TYPE: Highway

U.S. REGION: West

I-70 East

lanes in each direction of the highway from I-25 to Tower Road to improve mobility.

the highway between Columbine Street and Clayton Street. It also would add managed

below grade on the existing alignment, and place a nearly four-acre landscaped cover over

The project in Denver would remove the deteriorating, 50-year old viaduct, rebuild I-70

and I-25.

Sources: (1) FHWA

The corridor also connects to a nationally-recognized bottleneck at the intersection of I-70

safety concerns, and transportation infrastructure deficiencies in the corridor.

The need arises from increased transportation demand, limited transportation capacity,

access, and mobility and addresses congestion on I-70, a key east-west national corridor.

The purpose of the project is to implement a transportation solution that improves safety,

CONSIDERATIONS

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Photos Source: CDOT

$15.7 B
BENEFIT-COST RATIO: > 10.0

NET ECONOMIC BENEFIT: >

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

Fall 2016

Fall 2016

Funding

PRIMARY CHALLENGES

Daily vehicle hours traveled will decrease with the build alternative, resulting in travel
time savings for users.

Implementation of managed lanes will provide additional benefits to operations of I70 as a whole, will preserve capacity on I-70, and will provide reliable travel times.
The general purpose lanes in these alternatives will operate slightly less efficiently
than the managed lanes.

The addition of new lanes, improvement to ramps, addition of auxiliary lanes,

improvements to roadways, and modification of interchanges will better facilitate
traffic movements.

PROJECT BENEFITS

I-70 East

5,457,000
2,516,000
305,871

11,364,000
5,298,000
590,309

$
$
$
$

1,904
1,744
>17,440
>15,696
>10.0
Note: All values in 2015 dollars; values were
discounted using a 3% discount rate. O&M
excluded from costs.

Capital Cost
Discounted Capital Cost
Discounted Benefits
Net Economic Benefits
Benefit-Cost Ratio

2015$ (M)

ECONOMIC BENEFITS AND COSTS

Population (Census, 2015 value)

Employment (BLS, 2015 value)
$
GDP (BEA, 2014 value, $M)

UTAH, COLORADO, AND KANSAS

MARKETS SERVED:

Population (Census, 2015 value)

Employment (BLS, 2015 value)
$
GDP (BEA, 2014 value, $M)

COLORADO MARKET SERVED:

Photos Source: CDOT

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

A-39

A-40

TxDOT

Freight Shuttle International

Texas A&M Transportation Institute

FSS Consortium

PROJECT SPONSORS:

Photo Source: NEC Commission

PROJECT TYPE: Railway

U.S. REGION: South

private ROW.

an electric, elevated guideway built on highway right-of-way or other available public or

FSS will use single-unit transporters propelled by linear induction motors to move freight on

Cuidad Juarez, Mexico.

The project would construct 11.7 miles of cross-border FSS connecting El Paso, TX to

an elevated and secure guideway between specially designed, secure terminals.

The Freight Shuttle System (FSS) is an automated system of transport vehicles operating on

border crossing processes are inefficient.

Source: TxDOT

experience truck volumes during peak hours that exceed capacity. In addition, the existing

Major landside ports-of-entry to the U.S., including those along the U.S./Mexico border,

CONSIDERATIONS

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

PhotosSource: TxDOT

$9.4 B
BENEFIT-COST RATIO: > 10.0

NET ECONOMIC BENEFIT: >

Texas Freight Shuttle System

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

Fall 2016

Fall 2016

Funding

PRIMARY CHALLENGES

Enables trucking interests, retailers and manufacturers to improve their supply chain
efficiency by automating freight movement.

Reduces border congestion, security, infrastructure damage, air quality, carbon

emissions and fossil fuel dependency.

PROJECT BENEFITS

PHOTOSOURCE:
SOURCE: Amtrak
Flickr Creative Commons
PHOTO

$
$
$
$

1,094
1,046
>10,460
>9,414
>10.0
Note: All values in 2015 dollars; values were
discounted using a 3% discount rate. O&M
excluded from costs.

Capital Cost
Discounted Capital Cost
Discounted Benefits
Net Economic Benefits
Benefit-Cost Ratio

2015$ (M)

ECONOMIC BENEFITS AND COSTS

Population (Census, 2014 value)

Employment (BLS, 2015 value)
$
GDP (BEA, 2014 value, $M)

321,413,000
141,958,000
17,232,618

Photos Source: TxDOT

NATIONAL MARKET SERVED:

Texas Freight Shuttle System

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

A-41

A-42

Louisiana Department of Transportation and

Development

New Orleans Regional Planning Commission

Freight operators

PROJECT SPONSORS:

Photo Source: NEC Commission

PROJECT TYPE: Railway

U.S. REGION: South

Photos Source: LA DOTD

region. Significant planning work is ongoing.

operational deficiencies, improve safety, and facilitate emergency evacuation from the

designed to collectively reduce vehicle congestion, correct rail and roadway physical and

accommodate growing rail traffic. The Project is a program of individual improvements

The New Orleans Rail Gateway is the fourth largest in the country. Upgrades are required to

Sources: (1) LA DOTD (2) New Orleans Rail Gateway Infrastructure Feasibility Analysis

a combined 30 hours of delay per day.

bridges. The Gateway rail network is operating near capacity with freight trains experiencing

and western Class I railroads and also has one of the four major Mississippi River rail

The New Orleans Gateway is one of five major rail interchange points between the eastern

CONSIDERATIONS

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

$5.5 B
BENEFIT-COST RATIO: > 10.0

NET ECONOMIC BENEFIT: >

New Orleans Rail Gateway

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

Fall 2016

Fall 2016

Governance and coordination of multiple stakeholder interests

Funding

PRIMARY CHALLENGES

Addressing capacity constraints and delay issues could expedite the transfer of
railcars between the eastern and western railroads, reduce transit time and costs
that are borne by shippers, and eventually benefit the consumer by providing a lower
cost of living.

PROJECT BENEFITS

PHOTOSOURCE:
SOURCE: Amtrak
Flickr Creative Commons
PHOTO

Photo Source: LA DOTD

321,413,000
141,958,000
17,232,618

1,252,000
563,000
80,278

$
$
$
$

721
615
>6,150
>5,535
>10.0
Note: All values in 2015 dollars; values were
discounted using a 3% discount rate. O&M
excluded from costs.

Capital Cost
Discounted Capital Cost
Discounted Benefits
Net Economic Benefits
Benefit-Cost Ratio

2015$ (M)

ECONOMIC BENEFITS AND COSTS

Population (Census, 2015 value)

Employment (BLS, 2015 value)
$
GDP (BEA, 2014 value, $M)

NATIONAL MARKET SERVED:

Population (Census, 2014 value)

Employment (BLS, 2015 value)
$
GDP (BEA, 2014 value, $M)

NEW ORLEANS MSA MARKET SERVED:

New Orleans Rail Gateway

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

A-43

A-44

Tennessee Department of Transportation

Arkansas Department of Transportation

PROJECT SPONSORS:

Photo Source: NEC Commission

PROJECT TYPE: Highway

U.S. REGION: South

Photos Source: TDOT

and commerce.

crashes, hostile acts, or other catastrophe to maintain local, regional, and national traffic flow

Tennessee area. This includes safeguarding cross-river mobility against earthquakes,

The new bridge will improve cross-river mobility for people and freight in the Memphis,

to the south and 90 miles to the north.

Source: Mississippi River Crossing Feasibility and Location Study

redundancy north or south of Memphis since the next nearest bridge crossings lie 70 miles

There are two highway bridge crossings near downtown, but there is little highway

closures or restrictions due to vehicular incidents, earthquakes, and other catastrophes.

crossings of the Mississippi River. The crossings are susceptible to bridge failure and

The Memphis area is a major multi-modal distribution center with limited rail and highway

CONSIDERATIONS

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

$5.0 B
BENEFIT-COST RATIO: > 10.0

NET ECONOMIC BENEFIT: >

Mississippi River Crossing

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

Fall 2016

Fall 2016

Funding

PRIMARY CHALLENGES

Improve efficiency and effectiveness of the transportation system by diverting traffic

from the downtown crossings and providing an alternate route.

Meet current and future transportation demand as traffic continues to increase and
freight traffic is expected to double in the next two decades.

Enhance freight movement for the five Class 1 railroads that serve Memphis and the
inland port.

Capacity relief will decrease operating costs and travel times, and improve economic
competitiveness for businesses in the region and increase the quality of life for
residents.

Mobility for future growth including lower transportation costs for goods, enhanced
productivity, and competitiveness for Memphis area businesses.

PROJECT BENEFITS

Photo Source: TDOT

Mississippi River Crossing

12,571,000
5,206,000
521,947

$
$
$
$

603
561
>5,610
> 5,049
>10.0

Note: All values in 2015 dollars; values were

discounted using a 3% discount rate. O&M
excluded from costs.

Capital Cost
Discounted Capital Cost
Total Discounted Benefits
Net Economic Benefits
Benefit-Cost Ratio

2015$ (M)

ECONOMIC BENEFITS AND COSTS

Population (Census, 2015 value)

Employment (BLS, 2015 value)
GDP (BEA, 2014 value, $M)

TENNESSEE, ARKANSAS, AND

MISSISSIPPI MARKETS SERVED:

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

A-45

A-46

US Army Corps of Engineers

Louisiana Coastal Area Program

PROGRAM:

Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority

PROJECT SPONSORS:

PROJECT TYPE: Water

U.S. REGION: South

Restore functional hydrology and improve habitat conditions for fish and wildlife.

between the Mississippi River and River aux Chenes ridges for wetland restoration.

Construct diversion to provide additional freshwater, nutrients, and fine sediment to the area

Sources: USACE, CPRA

With an average loss of about 275 acres of marsh per year, the ecosystem is vulnerable to

complete collapse.

Recent hurricanes and tropical storms have also caused significant damage and land loss.

erosion.

Wetlands deteriorating due to subsidence, lack of sediment and nutrient deposition, and

CONSIDERATIONS

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Photos Source: USACE

$3.5 B
BENEFIT-COST RATIO: > 10.0

NET ECONOMIC BENEFIT: >

Medium Diversion at White Ditch

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

Fall 2016

Fall 2016

Pending agreement between USACE and the State of Louisiana.

Recommended plan exceeds the cost authorization for this project.

PRIMARY CHALLENGES

Restore functional hydrology.

Maintain the current marsh habitat of 41,200 acres by restoring sediment inputs
averaging about 1.3 million cubic yards per year.

Contribute to achieving and sustaining a larger coastal ecosystem that can support
and protect the environment, economy, and culture of southern Louisiana.

Restore and maintain ecological integrity, including habitats, communities, and

populations of native species.

PROJECT BENEFITS

$
$
$
$

421
391
>3,910
>3,519
>10.0

2015$ (M)

Note: All values in 2015 dollars; values were

discounted using a 3% discount rate;
O&M excluded from costs.

Capital Cost
Discounted Capital Cost
Discounted Benefits
Net Economic Benefits
Benefit-Cost Ratio

ECONOMIC BENEFITS AND COSTS

Population (Census, 2015 value)

Employment (BLS, 2015 value)
GDP (BEA, 2014 value, $M)

4,671,000
1,987,000
251,673

Photo Source: USACE

LOUISIANA MARKET SERVED:

Medium Diversion at White Ditch

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

A-47

A-48

US Army Corps of Engineers

Louisiana Coastal Area Program

PROGRAM:

Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority

PROJECT SPONSORS:

PROJECT TYPE: Water

U.S. REGION: South

Compliment sediment diversion through dedicated dredging along the Mississippi River.

degraded existing fresh to brackish wetlands in shallow open water areas.

Construct control structure to divert additional sediment and nutrients to nourish highly

Moderately high wetland loss rates are primarily caused by the altered hydrology associated

wetland types will continue to shift towards more saline habitats.

Sources: USACE, CPRA

Without remediation, about 14,500 acres of wetlands will be lost over the next 20 years and

with navigation and flood control projects, as well as oil and gas activities.

Substantial loss of wetlands with a shift to more saline marshes in the last 50 years.

CONSIDERATIONS

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Photos Source: USACE

$2.5 B
BENEFIT-COST RATIO: > 10.0

NET ECONOMIC BENEFIT: >

Medium Diversion at Myrtle Grove

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

Fall 2016

Fall 2016

Pending agreement between USACE and the State of Louisiana.

Funding has not been obligated to construct project (partial funding could come from
Coastal Wetlands Planning Protection and Restoration Act).

PRIMARY CHALLENGES

Preservation and maintenance of critical coastal geomorphic structures and critical

areas within the coastal ecosystem.

Sustainable reintroduction of riverine resources.

Contribute to achieving and sustaining a larger coastal ecosystem that can support
and protect the environment, economy, and culture of southern Louisiana.

Restore and maintain ecological integrity, including habitats, communities, and

populations of native species.

Provide up to 13,400 acres of new emergent marsh and prevent the loss of another
6,300 acres of marsh.

PROJECT BENEFITS

4,671,000
1,987,000
251,673

$
$
$
$

302
281
>2,810
>2,529
>10.0

2015$ (M)

Note: All values in 2015 dollars; values were

discounted using a 3% discount rate;
O&M excluded from costs.

Capital Cost
Discounted Capital Cost
Discounted Benefits
Net Economic Benefits
Benefit-Cost Ratio

ECONOMIC BENEFITS AND COSTS

Population (Census, 2015 value)

Employment (BLS, 2015 value)
GDP (BEA, 2014 value, $M)

LOUISIANA MARKET SERVED:

Photo Source: USACE

Medium Diversion at Myrtle Grove

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

A-49

A-50

Ohio and Kentucky state Departments of

Transportation

Recapitalization of the National Interstate

Highway System

PROGAM:

PROJECT SPONSORS:

Photo Source:
Commission
Photos
Source:NEC
brentspencebridgecorridor.com

PROJECT TYPE: Highway

U.S. REGION: Midwest

due in large part to limited visibility and safety concerns.

The bridge was listed as "functionally obsolete" by the National Bridge Inventory in 1998,

north as Michigan to as far south as Florida.

Kentucky area, but it also connects 10 States (including Kentucky and Ohio) from as far

The bridge carries both I-75 and I-71 traffic through the Greater Cincinnati and Northern

Sources: (1) Report to Congress

current volume and certainly cannot meet increasing demand.

Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee. The aging bridge does not adequately serve

and is important to commerce in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa,

The Brent Spence Bridge is a key part of Americas mid-west transportation infrastructure

CONSIDERATIONS

22.3 B
BENEFIT-COST RATIO: 7.0 10.0

NET ECONOMIC BENEFIT: $14.9

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Brent Spence Bridge

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

Fall 2016

Fall 2016

Disagreements between Ohio and Kentucky and local communities about proposed
tolls for the bridge

Funding

PRIMARY CHALLENGES

Other positive impacts include economic returns on increased transportation

network efficiencies.

The project will improve delivery times, reduce congestion costs resulting from
excessive time spent in traffic, and improve national productivity and economic
performance.

PROJECT BENEFITS

Brent Spence Bridge

16,039,000
7,293,000
763,845

2015$ (M)

$
2,826
$
2,480
$ 17,360 24,800
$ 14,880 22,320
7.0 10.0

Note: All values in 2015 dollars; values were

discounted using a 3% discount rate. O&M
excluded from costs.

Capital Cost
Discounted Capital Cost
Discounted Benefits
Net Economic Benefits
Benefit-Cost Ratio

ECONOMIC BENEFITS AND COSTS

Population (Census, 2015 value)

Employment (BLS, 2015 value)
$
GDP (BEA, 2014 value, $M)

OHIO AND KENTUCKY MARKETS

SERVED:

Photo Source: brentspencebridgecorridor.com

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

A-51

A-52

Georgia Ports Authority

US Army Corps of Engineers

PROJECT SPONSORS:

Photo Source: NEC Commission

PROJECT TYPE: Ports-Waterways

U.S. REGION: South

Extend entrance channel by 7 miles

Construct three bend wideners and two meeting areas
Enlarge turning basin and terminals

demanded of world trade.

Sources: USACE, Georgia Ports Authority

Port is not able to efficiently accommodate the growing number of large container vessels

CONSIDERATIONS

Deepen the Savannah Harbor federal shipping channel from a depth of 42 feet to 47 feet

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Photos Source: Georgia Ports Authority

5.7 B
BENEFIT-COST RATIO: 7.0 10.0

NET ECONOMIC BENEFIT: $3.8

Savannah Harbor Expansion

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

Fall 2016

Fall 2016

Available funding (federal plus local) does not currently cover the project cost,
extending the project completion date, increasing the total project cost.

PRIMARY CHALLENGES

Able to accommodate supersized cargo ships expected to begin arriving through an

expanded Panama Canal.

Reduced meeting area and tide delays as a result of channel modifications, which
reduce congestion within the harbor.

Reduction in harbor transit times and consequent vessel delays.

PROJECT BENEFITS

185,224,000
82,689,000
$
9,727,377

$
$
$
$

691
633
4,431 6,330
3,798 5,697
7.0 10.0
Note: All values in 2015 dollars; values were
discounted using a 3% discount rate;
O&M excluded from costs

Capital Cost
Discounted Capital Cost
Discounted Benefits
Net Economic Benefits
Benefit-Cost Ratio

2015$ (M)

ECONOMIC BENEFITS AND COSTS

Population (Census, 2015 value)

Employment (BLS, 2015 value)
GDP (BEA, 2014 value, $M)

STATES EAST OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER

MARKET SERVED:

Population (Census, 2015 value)

Employment (BLS, 2015 value)
GDP (BEA, 2014 value, $M)

10,215,000
4,260,000
474,697

Photos Source: Georgia Ports Authority

GEORGIA MARKET SERVED:

Savannah Harbor Expansion

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

A-53

A-54

Gulf Coast Rail District

PROJECT SPONSORS:

Photo Source: NEC Commission

PROJECT TYPE: Railway

U.S. REGION: South

operating performance.

switching, and track capacity designed to increase train speeds and improve system

improve the throughput capacity for existing mainline tracks by making investments in yards,

locations in the 8-county Greater Houston region. Additional investments were proposed to

Rail infrastructure investments included those designed to address congestion at key

system.

Sources: (1) Gulf Coast Freight Rail District

decisions, they are hesitant due to chronic congestion in specific subdivisions in the rail

Although businesses in several sectors are ready to make expansions and investment

infrastructure in the Houston region.

Shippers expressed a general dissatisfaction with the quality and quantity of rail

CONSIDERATIONS

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Photos Source:
Coast
RailFuture
District
PhotosGulf
Source:
NEC

3.6 B
BENEFIT-COST RATIO: 7.0 10.0

NET ECONOMIC BENEFIT: $2.4

Houston-Galveston Grade Crossing Improvements

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

Fall 2016

Fall 2016

Funding

PRIMARY CHALLENGES

Re-routing of about 30 trains from the East Belt to the West Belt, thereby reducing
overall train delays.

New trackage is designed to relieve congestion by allowing trains to pass one

another along the highly trafficked Glidden Subdivision.

Extensions and expansions of second main tracks, and extension of the Englewood
East yard tracks to increase the receiving capacity for the Englewood Yards.

Addresses congestion at five of the most significant rail system bottlenecks in the
region.

PROJECT BENEFITS

PHOTOSOURCE:
SOURCE: Amtrak
Flickr Creative Commons
PHOTO

27,469,000
11,807,000
1,641,044

$
433
$
402
$ 2,814 4,020
$ 2,412 3,618
7.0 10.0

Note: All values in 2015 dollars; values were

discounted using a 3% discount rate. O&M
excluded from costs.

Capital Cost
Discounted Capital Cost
Discounted Benefits
Net Economic Benefits
Benefit-Cost Ratio

2015$ (M)

ECONOMIC BENEFITS AND COSTS

Population (Census, 2015 value)

Employment (BLS, 2015 value)
GDP (BEA, 2014 value, $M)

TEXAS MARKET SERVED:

Photos Source: Gulf Coast Rail District

Houston-Galveston Grade Crossing Improvements

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

A-55

A-56

US Army Corps of Engineers

Louisiana Coastal Area Program

PROGRAM:

Coastal Protection and Restoration

Authority

PROJECT SPONSORS:

PROJECT TYPE: Water

U.S. REGION: South

ARTM/MOHNL

Bayou Chene/GIWW system.

constrictions in the GIWW, and diverting additional Atchafalaya River freshwater into the

the northern Terrebonne Marshes through repairing banks along the GIWW, enlarging

Operation of the Houma Navigation Lock (ARTM/MOHNL) will increase freshwater flow into

Convey Atchafalaya River Water to Northern Terrebonne Marshes and Multipurpose

waterways, which currently benefit from protection provided by the wetlands.

Sources: USACE, CPRA

endangered species, as well as potential impacts to oil and gas infrastructure and navigable

Loss of wetlands will have negative impacts on essential fish habitats and threatened and

ecosystem degradation to the Northern Terrebonne Marshes.

Natural processes combined with human activities have accelerated wetland loss and

CONSIDERATIONS

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Photos Source: USACE

2.7 B
BENEFIT-COST RATIO: 7.0 10.0

NET ECONOMIC BENEFIT: $1.8

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

Fall 2016

Fall 2016

Pending agreement between USACE and the State of Louisiana

PRIMARY CHALLENGES

Increase residence time of freshwater and reduce salinity levels.

Increase sediment and nutrient load to surrounding wetlands.

Achieve and maintain characteristics of sustainable marsh hydrology.

Prevent, reduce, and/or reverse future wetland loss.

Restore and maintain ecological integrity, including habitats, communities, and

populations of native species.

PROJECT BENEFITS

ARTM/MOHNL

4,671,000
1,987,000
251,673

$
$
$
$

332
304
2,128 3,040
1,824 2,736
7.0 10.0

2015$ (M)

Note: All values in 2015 dollars; values were

discounted using a 3% discount rate;
O&M excluded from costs.

Capital Cost
Discounted Capital Cost
Discounted Benefits
Net Economic Benefits
Benefit-Cost Ratio

ECONOMIC BENEFITS AND COSTS

Population (Census, 2015 value)

Employment (BLS, 2015 value)
GDP (BEA, 2014 value, $M)

LOUISIANA MARKET SERVED:

Photos Source: USACE

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

A-57

A-58

Massachusetts Port Authority

US Army Corps of Engineers

PROJECT SPONSORS:

Photo Source: NEC Commission

PROJECT TYPE: Ports-Waterways

U.S. REGION: Northeast

2.6 B
BENEFIT-COST RATIO: 7.0 10.0

Additional shipping channels in port will be deepened to a depth of 40 feet.

demanded of world trade.

Sources: USACE, Massachusetts Port Authority

Port is not able to efficiently accommodate the growing number of large container vessels

customers, and other terminal operators.

adequate channel dimensions, particularly depth, to meet the needs of Massport, its

Growth in waterborne shipping of containers and bulk commodities is constrained by lack of

CONSIDERATIONS

Widen and deepen main shipping channel to a depth of 47 feet.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Photos Source: Massport

NET ECONOMIC BENEFIT: $1.8

Boston Harbor Dredging

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

Fall 2016

Fall 2016

Available funding (federal plus local) covers design work but not the full capital
project cost, extending the project completion date and increasing the final cost to
deliver the project.

PRIMARY CHALLENGES

Use of dredged material, particularly the large volume of rock that channel
deepening would yield, for habitat creation and enhancement or other purposes.

Minimize the cost of transporting existing cargo volumes and anticipated future
increases in cargo volumes to and from New England in an environmentally
acceptable and sustainable manner.

Effectively and efficiently accommodating existing and prospective deep-draft vessel

traffic in the Port of Boston.

PROJECT BENEFITS

Boston Harbor Dredging

6,794,000
3,482,000
455,732

$
317
$
294
$ 2,058 2,940
$ 1,764 2,646
7.0 10.0
Note: All values in 2015 dollars; values were
discounted using a 3% discount rate;
O&M excluded from costs

Capital Cost
Discounted Capital Cost
Discounted Benefits
Net Economic Benefits
Benefit-Cost Ratio

2015$ (M)

ECONOMIC BENEFITS AND COSTS

Population (Census, 2015 value)

Employment (BLS, 2015 value)
GDP (BEA, 2014 value, $M)

MASSACHUSETTS MARKET SERVED:

Photos Source: Massport

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

A-59

A-60

Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa,

and Minnesota state Departments of
Transportation

Recapitalization of the National Interstate

Highway System

PROGAM:

PROJECT SPONSORS:

Photo Source: NEC Commission Photo Source: USDOT

PROJECT TYPE: Highway

U.S. REGION: Midwest

between Mexico, the US, and Canada.

Includes special provisions for truck-only lanes. Connections enhance NAFTA trade

the route to meet demand.

Upgrades bridge structures to maintain integrity and widens I-35 along approximately 65% of

maintaining the existing facility to rehabilitate pavements and bridge decks.

to accommodate future public traffic volumes as allowed by available right of way. Includes

Recommended investment strategy for upgrading the I-35 Corridor from Texas to Minnesota

Sources: (1) Iowa DOT

activity. Project presents a strategy to guide future, potential improvements to I-35.

I-35 is ideally positioned to be a major route for increasing levels of international trade

CONSIDERATIONS

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Photo Source: USDOT

82.2 B
BENEFIT-COST RATIO: 4.0 7.0

NET ECONOMIC BENEFIT: $41.1

Photo Source: Public Domain

I-35 Trade Corridor

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

Fall 2016

Fall 2016

Cohesive planning among impacted states

Funding

PRIMARY CHALLENGES

Encourage NAFTA-related trade.

The economic impact of the project will support jobs, income, wages, and value
added.

Implementation of improvements along I-35 will improve travel times along the
corridor and reduce vehicle operating costs and accident costs.

PROJECT BENEFITS

Photo Source: Public Domain

I-35 Trade Corridor

48,989,000
22,060,000
2,735,404

$
$
$
$

15,606
13,693
54,772 95,851
41,079 82,158
4.0 7.0

2015$ (M)

Note: All values in 2015 dollars; values were

discounted using a 3% discount rate. O&M
excluded from costs.

Capital Cost
Discounted Capital Cost
Discounted Benefits
Net Economic Benefits
Benefit-Cost Ratio

ECONOMIC BENEFITS AND COSTS

Population (Census, 2015 value)

Employment (BLS, 2015 value)
$
GDP (BEA, 2014 value, $M)

TEXAS, OKLAHOMA, KANSAS, MISSOURI,

IOWA, AND MINNESOTA MARKETS
SERVED:

Photo Source: FHWA

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

A-61

A-62

Alameda County Transportation

Commission (ACTC)

Metropolitan Transportation Commission

(MTC)

California Highway Patrol (CHP)

Caltrans

Contra Costa Transportation Authority

(CCTA)

Solano Transportation Authority (STA)

PROJECT SPONSORS:

Photo Source: NEC Commission

PROJECT TYPE: Highway

U.S. REGION: West

and bus ridership, as well as create transparency for customers.

The mission of Express Lanes is to provide a reliable travel choice, encourage ridesharing

HOT, express toll lanes) throughout the San Francisco Bay Area operated under MTC.

The Express Lanes network is comprised of specially-designated highway lanes (HOV,

transportation system, particularly the freeways.

Sources: (1) MTC

must take a harder look at ways to more actively manage the performance of its

limited opportunities for system expansion, and scarce transportation funding, the Bay Area

Given current congestion, projected population and job growth, increased travel demand,

and lost productivity for Bay Area travelers.

Persistent congestion on Bay Area freeways continues to cause significant delay, emissions,

CONSIDERATIONS

Photos Source: mtcexpresslanes.org

9.6 B
BENEFIT-COST RATIO: 4.0 7.0

NET ECONOMIC BENEFIT: $4.8

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

MTC Managed Lanes

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

Fall 2016

Fall 2016

Photo Source: FHWA

Funding

PRIMARY CHALLENGES

Express Lanes are free for qualifying carpools, vanpools, motorcycles and other tollexempt vehicles.

Express/managed lanes are designed to improve overall mobility in the Bay Area.

PROJECT BENEFITS

Photo Source: Public Domain image

attributed to Kevin Casper

MTC Managed Lanes

4,594,000
2,255,000
411,969

$
$
$
$

2,000
1,592
6,368 11,114
4,776 9,552
4.0 7.0

Note: All values in 2015 dollars; values were

discounted using a 3% discount rate. O&M
excluded from costs.

Capital Cost
Discounted Capital Cost
Discounted Benefits
Net Economic Benefits
Benefit-Cost Ratio

2015$ (M)

ECONOMIC BENEFITS AND COSTS

Population (Census, 2014 value)

Employment (BLS, 2015 value)
$
GDP (BEA, 2014 value, $M)

SAN FRANCISCO MSA MARKET SERVED:

PhotoSource:
FHWA

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

A-63

A-64

New York MTA

Federal Transit Administration

PROJECT SPONSORS:

Photo Source: NEC Commission

PROJECT TYPE: Railway

U.S. REGION: Northeast

Builds on the Phase I investment which is substantially complete.

Sources: (1) City University of New York

competitiveness of the nations largest urban economy will erode.

Without the ability of New Yorks transit system to accommodate additional growth, the

during peak periods. There is no ability for the transit system to support additional growth.

The existing Lexington Line provides north-south mobility and operates at full capacity

corridor in the nation.

The area served by the 2nd Avenue Subway is the densest, highest value commercial

CONSIDERATIONS

Extension of the 2nd Avenue Subway in New York City from 125th Street to Wall Street.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Photos Source: MTA

33.2 B
BENEFIT-COST RATIO: 2.0 4.0

NET ECONOMIC BENEFIT: $11.1

2nd Avenue Subway Phase 2

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

Fall 2016

Fall 2016

Funding for Phase 2

PRIMARY CHALLENGES

Reduce travel times for those on the far east side of Manhattan and those traveling
from the east side to west Midtown.

Improved access to labor and businesses.

Will decrease crowding on the adjacent Lexington Avenue Line.

PROJECT BENEFITS

PHOTOSOURCE:
SOURCE: Amtrak
Flickr Creative Commons
PHOTO

Photos Source: MTA

20,093,000
9,279,000
1,558,518

$
$
$
$

12,600
11,056
22,112 44,224
11,056 33,168
2.0 4.0
Note: All values in 2015 dollars; values were
discounted using a 3% discount rate. O&M
excluded from costs.

Capital Cost
Discounted Capital Cost
Discounted Benefits
Net Economic Benefits
Benefit-Cost Ratio

2015$ (M)

ECONOMIC BENEFITS AND COSTS

Population (Census, 2014 value)

Employment (BLS, 2015 value)
$
GDP (BEA, 2014 value, $M)

NEW YORK CITY MSA MARKET SERVED:

2nd Avenue Subway Phase 2

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

A-65

A-66

Arizona Department of Transportation

Nevada Department of Transportation

PROJECT SPONSORS:

Photo Source: NEC Commission

PROJECT TYPE: Highway

U.S. REGION: West

I-11 Corridor

routes north and south of both cities via the potential Intermountain West Corridor.

Bi-state Corridor interstate highway to link Phoenix, AZ and Las Vegas, NV, as well as new

Sources: (1) Nevada and Arizona DOTs

This connection would support the growth of the Megaregions in the Southwest.

Phoenix and Las Vegas are the largest neighboring cities not connected by an interstate.

manufacturing capabilities with Mexico and Canada.

Intermountain West with needed north-south transportation capacity to expand its

This investment would address ongoing growth in the regional economy, while providing the

CONSIDERATIONS

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Photos Source: AZDOT

29.1 B
BENEFIT-COST RATIO: 2.0 4.0

NET ECONOMIC BENEFIT: $9.7

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

Fall 2016

Fall 2016

Funding

PRIMARY CHALLENGES

Travel time savings and vehicle operating cost savings result from improved
reliability and changes in average network speeds with the project.
The I-11 and Intermountain West Corridor may result in new trips that would not
have otherwise been made. Induced trips create both travel time and vehicle
operating cost impacts, as well as increased economic and social activity.
Safety benefits occur as traffic switches to the safer Interstate level road.
Crash reduction factors for new roadway improvements as well as changes in VMT
results in safety benefits.
Due to more reliable transport times and lower transport costs as a result of the I-11
and Intermountain West Corridor improvements, local manufacturers may choose to
hold less inventory and reduce overhead costs. As a result, the manufacturing and
machinery industries may become more competitive or profitable, resulting in freight
logistics benefits.

PROJECT BENEFITS

I-11 Corridor

9,719,000
3,878,000
421,592

$
$
$
$

11,370
9,699
19,398 38,796
9,699 29,097
2.0 4.0

2015$ (M)

Note: All values in 2015 dollars; values were

discounted using a 3% discount rate. O&M
excluded from costs.

Capital Cost
Discounted Capital Cost
Discounted Benefits
Net Economic Benefits
Benefit-Cost Ratio

ECONOMIC BENEFITS AND COSTS

Population (Census, 2015 value)

Employment (BLS, 2015 value)
$
GDP (BEA, 2014 value, $M)

ARIZONA AND NEVADA MARKETS

SERVED:

Photos Source: AZDOT

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

A-67

A-68

Louisiana Coastal Protection and

Restoration Authority Board

Terrebonne Levee and Conservation

District

US Army Corps of Engineers

PROJECT SPONSORS:

Photo Source: NEC CommissionPhoto Source: USACE

PROJECT TYPE: Water

U.S. REGION: South

Located about 60 miles southwest of New Orleans, LA.

navigational passage and tidal exchange.

Designed to provide hurricane and storm damage reduction benefits while ensuring

Navigational Canal, an adjoining floodgate, and a dam closure.

About 98-miles of earthen levee, 23 water control structures, a lock complex in the Houma

Source: USACE

The area is also significantly affected by tides emanating from the Gulf of Mexico.

over time, resulting in greater damage and safety concerns in the vicinity of Houma, LA.

Extreme deterioration of coastal marshes have steadily increased storm surge inundation

CONSIDERATIONS

Photo Source: Louisiana Recovery Authority

27.5 B
BENEFIT-COST RATIO: 2.0 4.0

NET ECONOMIC BENEFIT: $9.2

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Photo Source:

Morganza to the Gulf

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

Fall 2016

Fall 2016

No Federal funds have been appropriated for construction.

While state and local funds have been used to construct interim features, additional
funding is needed to complete the project.

PRIMARY CHALLENGES

Floodgates would reduce storm damage during tropical storms and allow navigable
waterways to remain open during non-storm conditions.

Beneficial to marshes and wetlands in the Terrebonne Basin.

Provides a safe harbor for fishermen in a storm event.

Protect against tidal and storm surge up to a Category 3 hurricane.

Safety of more than 150,000 people and 1,700 square miles of farmlands, industrial
and residential areas.

PROJECT BENEFITS

PHOTO SOURCE: Amtrak

Morganza to the Gulf

$
$
$
$

10,746
9,166
18,332 36,664
9,166 27,498
2.0 4.0

2015$ (M)

211,000
100,000
13,198

Note: All values in 2015 dollars; values were

discounted using a 3% discount rate;
O&M excluded from costs

Capital Cost
Discounted Capital Cost
Discounted Benefits
Net Economic Benefits
Benefit-Cost Ratio

ECONOMIC BENEFITS AND COSTS

Population (Census, 2015 value)

Employment (BLS, 2015 value)
GDP (BEA, 2014 value, $M)

HOUMA BAYOU CANE THIBODAUX

MSA MARKET SERVED:

Photo Source: USACE

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

A-69

A-70

Indiana Department of Transportation

Kentucky Department of Transportation

Mississippi Department of Transportation

Arkansas Department of Transportation

Louisiana Department of Transportation

Texas Department of Transportation

PROJECT SPONSORS:

Photo Source: Public Domain image

attributed to Billy Hathorn
Photo Source: NEC Commission

PROJECT TYPE: Highway

U.S. REGION: South

I-69 Extension

Photo Source: FHWA

Michigan will provide access for the auto markets between Detroit and Mexico.

Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas. Connection to the existing I-69 in

Extension of I-69 from Indianapolis to the Mexico border through Indiana, Kentucky,

manufacturing along the potential corridor.

Sources: (1) Wilbur Smith and HNTB

Better connections are needed between auto parts distributors in Mexico and auto

and facilitate economic development.

The corridor upgrade to interstate designation will improve international and interstate trade,

has designated the new interstate to be I-69.

North American trade route, an international trade route, and a NAFTA corridor. Congress

The corridor was designated a High Priority Corridor of National Significance in ISTEA, is a

CONSIDERATIONS

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Photo Source: Public Domain image

attributed to Mark Robinowitz

20.3 B
BENEFIT-COST RATIO: 2.0 4.0

NET ECONOMIC BENEFIT: $6.8

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

Fall 2016

Fall 2016

Photo Source: Public Domain image attributed

to Chicago Independent Media Center

Funding
Coordination among states

PRIMARY CHALLENGES

Improves international and interstate movement of freight.

Improves capacity to meet current and future needs.
Facilitates economic development and enhances domestic and international growth
through efficient and flexible transportation.
Facilitates connections to intermodal facilities and major ports along the corridor.
Facilitates the safe and efficient movement of people and goods resulting in
improved reliability and time savings and vehicle operating cost savings.
Directly connects urban areas of Indianapolis, Evansville, Memphis,
Shreveport/Bossier City, Houston, Laredo, Brownsville, and the Lower Rio Grande
Valley with an interstate.

PROJECT BENEFITS

Photo Source: Public Domain image

attributed to MUTCD

I-69 Extension

55,755,000
22,807,000
2,815,783

$
$
$
$

10,500
6,775
13,550 27,100
6,775 20,325
2.0 4.0

2015$ (M)

Note: All values in 2015 dollars; values were

discounted using a 3% discount rate. O&M
excluded from costs.

Capital Cost
Discounted Capital Cost
Discounted Benefits
Net Economic Benefits
Benefit-Cost Ratio

ECONOMIC BENEFITS AND COSTS

Population (Census, 2015 value)

Employment (BLS, 2015 value)
$
GDP (BEA, 2014 value, $M)

INDIANA, KENTUCKY, TENNESSEE,

MISSISSIPPI, ARKANSAS, LOUISIANA,
AND TEXAS MARKETS SERVED:

Photo Source: FHWA

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

A-71

A-72

Washington State Department of

Transportation

PROJECT SPONSORS:

Photos Source: WSDOT

Photo Source: NEC Commission

PROJECT TYPE: Highway

U.S. REGION: National

Builds on substantial Phase I investment in corridor.

Sources: (1) WSDOT

improve freight mobility within the states most traveled freight corridor.

time between Seattle and Tacoma, to improve access to SeaTac International Airport, and to

The major goals of this project are to provide a significant time savings to peak-hour travel

CONSIDERATIONS

Provides improved connections to the Port of Seattle and the Port of Tacoma.

corridor connections to I-5.

congestion and improve freight mobility by completing the long-planned SR 167 and SR 509

The SR 509, I-5 and SR 167 Puget Sound Gateway Project in Seattle would relieve traffic

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

7.9 B
BENEFIT-COST RATIO: 2.0 4.0

NET ECONOMIC BENEFIT: $2.6

Puget Sound Gateway Phase 2

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

Fall 2016

Fall 2016

Funding

PRIMARY CHALLENGES

Provides quantifiable travel time savings, vehicle operating cost savings, safety
savings, air quality/global warming savings, and noise/external cost savings.

Provides direct access to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport from the south, better
connecting the states hub airport to I-5 and improving movement of air cargo.

3,671,000
1,902,000
300,827

$
$
$
$

3,000
2,632
5,264 10,528
2,632 7,896
2.0 4.0
Note: All values in 2015 dollars; values were
discounted using a 3% discount rate. O&M
excluded from costs.

Capital Cost
Discounted Capital Cost
Discounted Benefits
Net Economic Benefits
Benefit-Cost Ratio

2015$ (M)

ECONOMIC BENEFITS AND COSTS

Population (Census, 2014 value)

Employment (BLS, 2015 value)
$
GDP (BEA, 2014 value, $M)

Improves regional mobility and relieves traffic congestion on local roads and
highways by providing new and more efficient travel options, improving overall
system performance for freight, commuters and transit.

Completes critical freight links between the ports of Seattle and Tacoma and key
distribution centers, warehouses, and industrial areas in King and Pierce counties.

SEATTLE MSA MARKET SERVED:

USDOT
PhotosPhotoSource:
Source: Public
Domain

PROJECT BENEFITS

Photo Source: WSDOT

Puget Sound Gateway Phase 2

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

A-73

A-74

Washington State Department of

Transportation

Oregon State Department of

Transportation

Federal Highway Administration

Federal Transit Administration

With input from Metro (the metropolitan

planning organization in Portland),
Southwest Washington Regional
Transportation Council, TriMet, C-TRAN,
and the cities of Portland and Vancouver

PROJECT SPONSORS:

Photo Source: NEC Commission

PROJECT TYPE: Highway

U.S. REGION: West

proposed on the bridge to connect Vancouver, WA to Portlands rail network.

highways and influences the operating performance of this international corridor. Light rail is

Columbia River between Portland and Vancouver serves two international ports, 5 major

commerce link for the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The segment crossing the

I-5 is the only continuous north/south interstate highway on the West Coast, providing a

The existing I-5 bridges do not meet current seismic standards.

Sources: (1) Columbia River Crossing Economic Benefits Analysis

stretched far beyond capacitythe hours of stop-and-go traffic grow every year.

carries more than 130,000 automobiles, buses, and trucks each weekday. The bridges are

four decades apart. The crossing, which served 30,000 vehicles per day in the 1960s, now

The existing I-5 crossing of the Columbia River consists of two side-by-side bridges, built

CONSIDERATIONS

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Photos Source: Columbia River Crossing Coalition

7.5 B
BENEFIT-COST RATIO: 2.0 4.0

NET ECONOMIC BENEFIT: $2.5

I-5 Columbia River Crossing

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

Fall 2016

Fall 2016

Photo Source: Columbia River Crossing Coalition

Competition from the nearby I-205 bridge

Disagreements among multiple stakeholders and state DOTs

Funding

Disagreement over need for light rail system

PRIMARY CHALLENGES

Market access impacts include positive changes to freight delivery markets,

logistics, labor markets, and business productivity.

Traveler savings for both passengers and truck freight from improved system
efficiency impacts include savings in travel time, reliability, vehicle operating costs,
safety and emissions.

PROJECT BENEFITS

Photo Source: Public Domain

11,199,000
4,947,000
635,684

$
$
$
$

2,712
2,484
4,968 9,936
2,484 7,452
2.0 4.0

Note: All values in 2015 dollars; values were

discounted using a 3% discount rate. O&M
excluded from costs.

Capital Cost
Discounted Capital Cost
Discounted Benefits
Net Economic Benefits
Benefit-Cost Ratio

2015$ (M)

ECONOMIC BENEFITS AND COSTS

Population (Census, 2015 value)

Employment (BLS, 2015 value)
$
GDP (BEA, 2014 value, $M)

WASHINGTON AND OREGON MARKETS

SERVED:

I-5 Columbia River Crossing

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

A-75

A-76

City of Fargo, ND

City of Moorhead, MN

US Army Corps of Engineers

PROJECT SPONSORS:

PROJECT TYPE: Water

U.S. REGION: Midwest

nonresidential structures.

Incorporate non-structural measure to reduce flood risk to selected residential and

risk of flooding.

Construct retention dams and 36 mile diversion channel around Fargo-Moorhead to reduce

Significant emergency measures have been implemented multiple times to prevent

Source: USACE

Red River has exceeded flood stage in 49 of the past 110 years.

catastrophic flooding.

Average annual flood damages are estimated at more than $195 million.

CONSIDERATIONS

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Photos Source: USACE

5.0 B
BENEFIT-COST RATIO: 2.0 4.0

NET ECONOMIC BENEFIT: $1.7

Fargo-Moorhead Metro Flood Control

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

Fall 2016

Fall 2016

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has denied a permit application for
the proposed Fargo-Moorhead Flood Risk Management Project.

Available funding (federal and local) sources are not sufficient to complete the
project.

PRIMARY CHALLENGES

Protect vibrant local economy, which generates $4.35 billion in annual non-farming
wages and over $2.77 billion in annual taxable sales along with $14 billion in
property value.

Reduce significant costs incurred during emergency flood fights.

$
1,897
$
1,665
$3,330 6,660
$1,665 4,995
2.0 4.0

Note: All values in 2015 dollars; values were

discounted using a 3% discount rate;
O&M excluded from costs.

Capital Cost
Discounted Capital Cost
Discounted Benefits
Net Economic Benefits
Benefit-Cost Ratio

228,000
140,000
15,026

2015$ (M)

ECONOMIC BENEFITS AND COSTS

Population (Census, 2015 value)

Employment (BLS, 2015 value)
GDP (BEA, 2014 value, $M)

Risk of a catastrophic flood event would be reduced for the Fargo-Moorhead

Metropolitan Area.

Maintain manufacturing base of region (many companies stated they would relocate
outside of the United States if facilities flooded).

FARGO MSA MARKET SERVED:

Photo Source: USACE

PROJECT BENEFITS

Fargo-Moorhead Metro Flood Control

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

A-77

A-78

Sabine Neches Navigation District

US Army Corps of Engineers

PROJECT SPONSORS:

Photo Source: NEC Commission

PROJECT TYPE: Ports-Waterways

U.S. REGION: South

Louisiana to allow for larger vessels and lessen congestion.

Sources: USACE, Sabine Neches Navigation District

that has occurred over the last century.

The most significant trend adversely affecting the study area is the high rate of wetland loss

as one of the busiest ports for military cargo in the world.

Congestion is increased during times when the SNWW serves an important military function

crude oil and LNG vessels, and dangerous cargo transits.

Navigational safety on the SNWW is a concern given the large traffic base, the number of

CONSIDERATIONS

Photos Source: Sabine Neches Navigation District

Deepen and widen the Sabine-Neches Waterway (SNWW) along the border of Texas and

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

3.5 B
BENEFIT-COST RATIO: 2.0 4.0

NET ECONOMIC BENEFIT: $1.2

Sabine Neches Waterway

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

Fall 2016

Fall 2016

Available funding (federal plus local) does not currently cover the project cost,
extending the project completion date, increasing the total project cost.

PRIMARY CHALLENGES

National security.

Maintain the ecological value of coastal and estuarine resources within the project
area.

Improve safety for all vessels.

Improve the navigational efficiency along the SNWW waterway.

PROJECT BENEFITS

PHOTOSOURCE:
SOURCE: Amtrak
Flickr Creative Commons
Photo Source: Sabine Neches Navigation District
PHOTO

Sabine Neches Waterway

32,140,000
13,794,000
1,892,716

2015$ (M)

$
1,262
$
1,173
$2,346 4,692
$1,173 3,519
2.0 4.0
Note: All values in 2015 dollars; values were
discounted using a 3% discount rate;
O&M excluded from costs

Capital Cost
Discounted Capital Cost
Discounted Benefits
Net Economic Benefits
Benefit-Cost Ratio

ECONOMIC BENEFITS AND COSTS

Population (Census, 2015 value)

Employment (BLS, 2015 value)
GDP (BEA, 2014 value, $M)

TEXAS AND LOUISIANA MARKET

SERVED:

Photo Source: USACE

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

A-79

A-80

Local sponsors and dam owners located

across the country

Natural Resource Conservation Service

PROJECT SPONSORS:

PROJECT TYPE: Water

U.S. REGION: National

been reclassified as high hazard due to downstream development.

Rehabilitate aging dams that are reaching the end of their 50-year design lives and/or have

Source: NRCS

Over the next 10 years, another 3,500 dams will have met or exceeded their design life.

life.

During the past 20 years, more than 4,300 dams reached or exceeded their 50-year design

should fail.

Many of these dams are classified as high hazard with a potential for loss of life if the dam

CONSIDERATIONS

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Photos Source: NRCS

3.3 B
BENEFIT-COST RATIO: 2.0 4.0

NET ECONOMIC BENEFIT: $1.1

Watershed Rehabilitation Program

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

Fall 2016

Fall 2016

Funding

PRIMARY CHALLENGES

Rehabilitated dams would reduce potential for catastrophic failure and loss of life.

Creates rural economic growth and job opportunities.

Rehabilitated dams would continue to provide flooding and erosion damage

reduction, improved wildlife habitat, recreation, and improved water quality through
sediment and erosion control.

PROJECT BENEFITS

PHOTO SOURCE: Amtrak

321,419,000
141,958,000
$ 17,232,618

2015$ (M)

$
1,200
$
1,099
$2,198 4,396
$1,099 3,297
2.0 4.0
Note: All values in 2015 dollars; values were
discounted using a 3% discount rate;
O&M excluded from costs.

Capital Cost
Discounted Capital Cost
Discounted Benefits
Net Economic Benefits
Benefit-Cost Ratio

ECONOMIC BENEFITS AND COSTS

Population (Census, 2015 value)

Employment (BLS, 2015 value)
GDP (BEA, 2014 value, $M)

NATIONAL MARKET SERVED:

Photo Source: NRCS

Watershed Rehabilitation Program

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

A-81

A-82

State of California

Sutter County

Central Valley Flood Protection Board

Sutter-Butte Flood Control Agency

US Army Corps of Engineers

PROJECT SPONSORS:

Photo Source: NEC Commission

PROJECT TYPE: Water

U.S. REGION: West

Sutter Basin

Restore the ecosystem for the communities of Yuba City, Live Oak, Gridley, and Biggs.

The unique geography, small number of transportation corridors, and population distribution

Sources: USACE

Economically disadvantaged community with a vulnerable senior population.

cause ineffective or hazardous evacuation conditions.

The existing project levees within the study area are at risk of failure.

CONSIDERATIONS

Strengthen 41.4 miles of existing project levees to reduce risk of flood damage.

Photos Source: USACE

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Photo Source:

1.9 B
BENEFIT-COST RATIO: 2.0 4.0

NET ECONOMIC BENEFIT: $0.6

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

Fall 2016

Fall 2016

USACE policy restricts woody vegetation on Federal project levees, consequently,

about 20 acres of riparian vegetation may require removal to comply with the policy,
resulting in effects on fish and wildlife habitat and social values like recreation and
aesthetics. This policy has led to an environmental dispute with those who would
preserve the vegetation and question the necessity of the removal.

PRIMARY CHALLENGES

Increase recreational resources.

Increase developable land by about 30,000 acres.

Reduce the risk of flooding to 27 critical infrastructure facilities.

Reduce the risk of flooding for 88,000 people.

Five additional evacuation routes.

PROJECT BENEFITS

PHOTOSOURCE:
SOURCE: Amtrak
Flickr Creative Commons
PHOTO

Sutter Basin

$
709
$
631
$1,262 2,524
$ 631 1,893
2.0 4.0

2015$ (M)

170,000
41,000
5,472

Note: All values in 2015 dollars; values were

discounted using a 3% discount rate;
O&M excluded from costs.

Capital Cost
Discounted Capital Cost
Discounted Benefits
Net Economic Benefits
Benefit-Cost Ratio

ECONOMIC BENEFITS AND COSTS

Population (Census, 2014 value)

Employment (BLS, 2015 value)
GDP (BEA, 2014 value, $M)

YUBA-SUTTER MSA MARKET SERVED:

Photos Source: USACE

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

A-83

A-84

Jacksonville Port Authority

US Army Corps of Engineers

PROJECT SPONSORS:

Photo Source: NEC Commission

PROJECT TYPE: Ports-Waterways

U.S. REGION: South

Photo Source: USACE

40 feet to a maximum depth of 47 feet.

Increase the depth of the existing channel along the St. Johns River from its current depth of

require a deeper channel.

Sources: USACE, Jacksonville Port Authority

Super Post-Panamax Vessels (PPX2) vessels are displacing less efficient vessels and

logistical activity.

have expressed interest in growing the local economy by making Jacksonville a hub for

Government and business leaders at the state and local level along with the local sponsor

works to expedite the permitting and review process.

The Port of Jacksonville is mentioned in the Presidents We Cant Wait initiative, which

CONSIDERATIONS

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

1.8 B
BENEFIT-COST RATIO: 2.0 4.0

NET ECONOMIC BENEFIT: $0.6

Jacksonville Harbor Dredging

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

Fall 2016

Fall 2016

Available funding does not currently cover the project cost, extending the project
completion date, increasing the total project cost, and delaying benefits.

PRIMARY CHALLENGES

Allow for larger vessels to access the channel; therefore reducing transportation
costs and providing increased navigational safety, while avoiding or minimizing
impacts to environmental resources.
Deeper channels can accommodate an increase in the TEU weight, which means
that the cargo is relatively denser. Denser cargoes imply that more freight can be
stored per unit volume.
The increase in forecasted cargo requires a greater number of port calls in the
future, and greater port traffic in the future means greater cost savings with deeper
channel depths.
Port able to accommodate supersized cargo ships expected to begin arriving
through an expanded Panama Canal.

PROJECT BENEFITS

185,224,000
82,689,000
$
9,727,377

2015$ (M)

$
673
$
616
$1,232 2,462
$ 616 1,848
2.0 4.0
Note: All values in 2015 dollars; values were
discounted using a 3% discount rate;
O&M excluded from costs

Capital Cost
Discounted Capital Cost
Discounted Benefits
Net Economic Benefits
Benefit-Cost Ratio

ECONOMIC BENEFITS AND COSTS

Population (Census, 2015 value)

Employment (BLS, 2015 value)
GDP (BEA, 2014 value, $M)

STATES EAST OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER

MARKET SERVED:

Population (Census, 2015 value)

Employment (BLS, 2015 value)
GDP (BEA, 2014 value, $M)

20,271,000
8,075,000
838,939

Photos Source: USACE

FLORIDA MARKET SERVED:

Jacksonville Harbor Dredging

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

A-85

A-86

US Army Corps of Engineers

PROJECT SPONSOR:

Photo Source: NEC Commission

PROJECT TYPE: Ports-Waterways

U.S. REGION: Midwest

Photos Source: USACE

Any type of service disruption or closure may result in delays to vessel transit.
Closures of the ageing Poe Lock are expected to increase.
In the event of a closure (short or long term) of the Poe Lock, there may not be viable

alternatives to transporting the more than 40 million tons of iron ore and coal to U.S.
Source: USACE
manufacturers along the Great Lakes.

More than 60% of the current U.S. and Canadian fleet is restricted by size to the Poe Lock.

CONSIDERATIONS

shipping.

the Great Lakes to access the St. Lawrence Seaway and use the lakes for commercial

facilities connect the Great Lakes in Michigan, permitting shippers in the western portion of

Rehabilitate or construct second lock for the Poe Lock at the Soo Lock system. These

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

1.7 B
BENEFIT-COST RATIO: 2.0 4.0

NET ECONOMIC BENEFIT: $0.6

Soo Locks Modernization

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

Fall 2016

Fall 2016

Available funding (federal plus local) does not currently cover the project cost,
extending the project completion date, increasing the total project cost.

PRIMARY CHALLENGES

Federal guidance (followed by the US Army Corps of Engineers) does not fully
capture impacts to the nation for each closure of the Poe Lock.

Other factors such as Canadian vessel movements, commodities, and outages from
additional lock components, can be expected to further increase benefits.

Enhanced reliability of the locks would lower the operators risk profile to prospective
lenders. This would make lenders more inclined to finance the operators capital
investments (e.g., fleet improvements, infrastructure, plant operations).

Increased reliability, fewer outages and less delay would allow shippers to move
more tonnage during the shipping season with greater efficiency and fewer
emissions.

PROJECT BENEFITS

Soo Locks Modernization

9,923,000
4,265,000
448,244

46,787,000
21,515,000
2,368,286

$
626
$
582
$1,164 2,328
$ 582 1,746
2.0 4.0
Note: All values in 2015 dollars; values were
discounted using a 3% discount rate;
O&M excluded from costs

Capital Cost
Discounted Capital Cost
Discounted Benefits
Net Economic Benefits
Benefit-Cost Ratio

2015$ (M)

ECONOMIC BENEFITS AND COSTS

Population (Census, 2015 value)

Employment (BLS, 2015 value)
GDP (BEA, 2014 value, $M)

GREAT LAKE STATES MARKET SERVED:

Population (Census, 2015 value)

Employment (BLS, 2015 value)
GDP (BEA, 2014 value, $M)

MICHIGAN MARKET SERVED:

Photos Source: USACE

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

A-87

A-88

Virginia Railway Express

Virginia Department of Transportation

District Department of Transportation

CSX

Amtrak

PROJECT SPONSORS:

Photo Source: NEC Commission

PROJECT TYPE: Railway

U.S. REGION: South

Long Bridge

longer-distance or intercity passenger rail traffic and commuter rail traffic.

Today the bridge carries local, regional, and national freight traffic, along with regional and

railroad crossing directly connecting the Commonwealth of Virginia and the District.

railroad crossing of the Potomac River east of Harpers Ferry, West Virginia and the only

infrastructure and a critical component in the national system of railroads. It is the only

The Long Bridge is an important element of the District of Columbia transportation

Northern Virginia with gridlock.

Source: Long Bridge 2014 TIGER Application

the aged bridge structure to the limits of its functional capacity and threatening the District and

trains are added to the ever-increasing number of freight and intercity passenger trains, pushing

The volume of rail traffic on the bridge is growing as more local commuter trains and regional

CONSIDERATIONS

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Photo Source: DDOT

1.5 B
BENEFIT-COST RATIO: 2.0 4.0

NET ECONOMIC BENEFIT: $0.5

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

Fall 2016

Fall 2016

Funding

PRIMARY CHALLENGES

Time savings translate into person hours saved for rail passengers, highway users
(if future demand for commuter rail service cannot be accommodated with a new
bridge), operating cost savings for both passenger and freight operators, inventory
savings for freight shippers, and reduced vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in an already
congested Washington, D.C. MSA.

A new four-track Long Bridge would create the bridge capacity needed to
accommodate project growth in VRE, Amtrak, and freight traffic and offer significant
time savings for these passengers and goods.

PROJECT BENEFITS

PHOTOSOURCE:
SOURCE: Amtrak
Flickr Creative Commons
PHOTO

Long Bridge

6,034,000
2,581,000
471,584

$
575
$
511
$ 1,022 2,044
$ 511 1,533
2.0 4.0
Note: All values in 2015 dollars; values were
discounted using a 3% discount rate. O&M
excluded from costs.

Capital Cost
Discounted Capital Cost
Discounted Benefits
Net Economic Benefits
Benefit-Cost Ratio

2015$ (M)

ECONOMIC BENEFITS AND COSTS

Population (Census, 2014 value)

Employment (BLS, 2015 value)
$
GDP (BEA, 2014 value, $M)

WASHINGTON, D.C. MSA MARKET

SERVED:

Photos Source: DDOT

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

A-89

A-90

Nebraska Department of Roads

Colorado Department of Transportation

Wyoming Department of Transportation

South Dakota Department of

Transportation

PROJECT SPONSORS:

Photo Source: NEC Commission

PROJECT TYPE: Highway

U.S. REGION: Midwest

498 miles is located within Nebraskas borders.

extends from Mexico to Canada. Approximately 200 miles of the Heartland Expressways

The Heartland Expressway is a key portion of the larger Ports-to-Plains Corridor that

mobility.

Sources: (1) NDOR

especially in Colorado, and contributes to homeland security issues involving defense

The lack of north-south highways contributes to increasingly severe traffic congestion,

Highway System

1991 (ISTEA), which calls for the development of High Priority Corridors on the National

Fulfillment of the legislative intent of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of

CONSIDERATIONS

1.2 B
BENEFIT-COST RATIO: 2.0 4.0

NET ECONOMIC BENEFIT: $0.4

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Photos Source: NDOR

Heartland Expressway

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

Fall 2016

Fall 2016

Funding

PRIMARY CHALLENGES

Saves travel times for existing and diverted corridor users

Enhances safety through modifications that better enable passenger cars and
oversize trucks to share the road

Increases intermodal transportation by improving links between roadway, railway

and airport facilities

Improves the efficiency of commerce and travel by providing for increased

transportation demand resulting from new regional sources of energy development,
expanding agricultural markets, and commercial development

PROJECT BENEFITS

Heartland Expressway

1,896,000
1,002,000
111,007

2015$ (M)

$
568
$
414
$ 828 1,656
$ 414 1,242
2.0 4.0

Note: All values in 2015 dollars; values were

discounted using a 3% discount rate. O&M
excluded from costs.

Capital Cost
Discounted Capital Cost
Discounted Benefits
Net Economic Benefits
Benefit-Cost Ratio

ECONOMIC BENEFITS AND COSTS

Population (Census, 2015 value)

Employment (BLS, 2015 value)
$
GDP (BEA, 2014 value, $M)

NEBRASKA MARKET SERVED:

Photos Source: NDOR

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

A-91

A-92

The Port of Corpus Christi Authority

US Army Corps of Engineers

PROJECT SPONSORS:

Photo Source: NEC Commission

PROJECT TYPE: Ports-Waterways

U.S. REGION: South

Photos Source: Port Corpus Christi

larger vessels.

Deepen existing ship channel to a depth of 52 feet and widen it to 530 feet to accommodate

A record 8,528 vessels passed through the port in 2014.

Sources: USACE, The Port of Corpus Christi Authority

vessels.

channel to its authorized depth to provide for safe and efficient navigation of commercial

Periodic dredging of the La Quinta Channel Extension Deepening is needed to maintain the

channel.

more pressure on the nation's 5th largest port to deepen and widen the existing ship

More energy companies are trying to reduce costs by using larger cargo vessels, placing

CONSIDERATIONS

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

1.0 B
BENEFIT-COST RATIO: 2.0 4.0

NET ECONOMIC BENEFIT: $0.3

Corpus Christi Ship Channel

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

Fall 2016

Fall 2016

Congressional reauthorization of the project may be required before construction of

the Main Channel and Barge Lanes Elements of the Corpus Christi Ship Channel
project can commence. The process for moving forward is in negotiation.
Available funding (federal plus local) does not currently cover the project cost,
extending the project completion date, increasing the total project cost and delaying
benefits.

PRIMARY CHALLENGES

Provide channel access to a proposed multi-purpose dock and container handling

facility.
Barge lanes and a deeper channel will increase maritime safety and reduce costly
vessel delays, leading to a reduction in transportation costs.
The ecosystem restoration components will protect and enhance several important
habitats. In addition, the improvements include constructing approximately 1,000
acres of shallow water habitat using dredged material.

PROJECT BENEFITS

39,029,000
16,669,000
$ 2,195,925

$
358
$
328
$ 656 1,312
$ 328 984
2.0 4.0
Note: All values in 2015 dollars; values were
discounted using a 3% discount rate;
O&M excluded from costs

Capital Cost
Discounted Capital Cost
Discounted Benefits
Net Economic Benefits
Benefit-Cost Ratio

2015$ (M)

ECONOMIC BENEFITS AND COSTS

Population (Census, 2015 value)

Employment (BLS, 2015 value)
GDP (BEA, 2014 value, $M)

TX, OK, AR, LA MARKETS SERVED:

Population (Census, 2015 value)

Employment (BLS, 2015 value)
GDP (BEA, 2014 value, $M)

27,469,000
11,807,000
1,641,044

Photo Source: Port Corpus Christi

TEXAS MARKET SERVED:

Corpus Christi Ship Channel

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

A-93

A-94

Truckee River Flood Management

Authority

US Army Corps of Engineers

PROJECT SPONSORS:

Photo Source: NEC Commission

PROJECT TYPE: Water

U.S. REGION: West

Truckee River

Photo Source: USACE

Truckee River in Nevada from U.S. Route 395 to the town of Vista, NV.

Flood risk management and recreation features along approximately six miles of the

The Truckee River is no longer a stable river system.

barriers.
Source: USACE

Passage of spawning fish species from Pyramid Lake is obstructed by various artificial

fish species.

Truckee River causing adverse effects on the aquatic ecosystem, including special status

The quality and quantity of riparian and related floodplain habitats have diminished along the

Truckee Meadows.

Flooding from the Truckee River poses a life and safety hazard to downtown Reno and

CONSIDERATIONS

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Photo Source:

921 M
BENEFIT-COST RATIO: 2.0 4.0

NET ECONOMIC BENEFIT: $307

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

Fall 2016

Fall 2016

Funding.

In 2012, the study was re-scoped to assess the feasibility of modifying the
Congressionally-authorized project to reduce flood damages in the Truckee
Meadows project area while avoiding or minimizing adverse effects.

PRIMARY CHALLENGES

Fish and wildlife enhancement features, consisting of riparian plantings, marsh

habitat preservation, and fish habitat improvements.

Recreation features include a new pedestrian/bike bridge, bike lanes on bridges,

pedestrian/bike paths, and new access sites and improvements in downtown Reno.

Project features are designed to provide 100-year flood protection in high-value

commercial and industrial areas near the Truckee River, including the Reno-Tahoe
International Airport.

PROJECT BENEFITS

PHOTOSOURCE:
SOURCE: Amtrak
Flickr Creative Commons
PHOTO

Truckee River

$
336
$
307
$ 614 1,228
$ 307 921
2.0 4.0

Note: All values in 2015 dollars; values were

discounted using a 3% discount rate;
O&M excluded from costs.

Capital Cost
Discounted Capital Cost
Discounted Benefits
Net Economic Benefits
Benefit-Cost Ratio

318,000
211,000
20,554

2015$ (M)

ECONOMIC BENEFITS AND COSTS

Population (Census, 2010 value)

Employment (BLS, 2015 value)
GDP (BEA, 2014 value, $M)

RENO-SPARKS AREA MSA MARKET

SERVED:

Photo Source: USACE

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

A-95

A-96

Primarily private vehicle manufacturers

and owners and technology firms

Some infrastructure investments from

individual state DOTs

Some federal grants to support technology

development

Federal and state regulatory agencies

PROJECT SPONSORS:

Photo Source: NEC Commission

PROJECT TYPE: Highway

U.S. REGION: National

Photo Source: Google

No set of consistent state (and perhaps federal) safety regulations currently exist.
More technical development is called for in order to handle poor weather, local roads, V2V
communication, and interface with the driver.
State and local governments have yet to decide how these new vehicles affect investment
and operations.

Sources: USDOT, Morgan Stanley

Several auto manufacturers will have semi-autonomous vehicles (for expressways and
major arterials during good weather) available later this year. Fully autonomous cars (all
roads) will likely be available before the end of the next decade.

CONSIDERATIONS

Autonomous vehicles represent a breakthrough in surface transportation. They depend on

in-vehicle technology including vehicle to vehicle communication (V2V). V2I refers to a
variety of ways to share vehicle information with other public and private users.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Photo Source: USDOT

7.5 T
BENEFIT-COST RATIO: 7.0 > 10.0

NET ECONOMIC BENEFIT: $5.0

Accommodating Autonomous Vehicles

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

Fall 2016

Fall 2016

Photo Source: USDOT

Other effects including changes in transit use, urban form, and VMT.

Financial impacts on state and local agencies.

Uncertainty over pace of deployment of new vehicles and critical mass needed in
order to generate significant safety and capacity benefits.

Consistent national and/or state regulations regarding safety and technical

compatibility while not discouraging innovation.

PRIMARY CHALLENGES

Potential efficiency gains from freight and transit operations.

Improved roadway capacity since there will be fewer crashes and autonomous
vehicles will allow reduced space between traveling vehicles.

Improved access for people who are mobility impaired whether due to disabilities or
age.

Autonomous cars bring obvious social benefitssignificant reduction in highway

fatalities, fewer road crashes, reduced traffic congestion, higher occupant
productivity, fuel savings.

PROJECT BENEFITS

PHOTOSOURCE:
SOURCE: Amtrak
Flickr Creative Commons
PHOTO

321,419,000
141,958,000
17,232,618

$
$
$
$

1.3
0.83
5.8 8.3
5.0 7.5
7.0 10.0

2015$ (T)

Note: All values in 2015 dollars; values were

discounted using a 3% discount rate. O&M
excluded from costs.

Capital Cost
Discounted Capital Cost
Total Discounted Benefits
Net Economic Benefits
Benefit-Cost Ratio

(Assumes Low Costs and Benefits)

ECONOMIC BENEFITS AND COSTS

Population (Census, 2015 value)

Employment (BLS, 2015 value)
GDP (BEA, 2014 value, $M)

NATIONAL MARKET SERVED:

Photo Source: Google

Accommodating Autonomous Vehicles

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

A-97

A-98

Individual State DOTs

Federal Highway Administration

The nation's 46,876 mile IHS has long provided a consistent, national network for freight and
personal movement, but most infrastructure is now more than fifty years old. NCHRP
developed options to recapitalize the network, including additional capacity where needed.
This project follows the "Reduced Service/Lower Investment" scenario that includes one half
of the cost-effective lane additions.

State and federal funds for highways has not kept pace with the growth in demand for travel.
Some states have been able to increase highway revenues, but their focus has been on
maintenance and in-state improvements rather than inter-state routes.
The recent FAST Act provides no net growth in federal funds.

Sources: NCHRP, FHWA

Cost-effective and reliable movement of freight remains vital to future economic growth.

CONSIDERATIONS

Photo Source: USDOT

3.1 T
BENEFIT-COST RATIO: 4.0 > 7.0

NET ECONOMIC BENEFIT: $1.6

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Photo Source: Public Domain image

attributed to Richmond Times-Dispatch

PROJECT SPONSORS:

Photo Source: NEC Commission

PROJECT TYPE: Highway

U.S. REGION: National

Recapitalization of the National Interstate Highway

System (IHS)

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

Fall 2016

Fall 2016

Will the growth in autonomous cars and trucks call for a different roadway system?
For example, truck pelotons may need truck-only lanes, at least during part of the
day.

Local opposition is likely regarding environmental concerns and different

development scenarios.

Need to find incentives for states to focus on inter-state connections. As with the
original Interstate, federal incentives would help.

Adequate funds are key, given the political reluctance in many states to increase
highway user fees.

PRIMARY CHALLENGES

Supports access to other parts of the freight network, including ports, airports, and
intermodal freight.

Encourages business access to national and regional markets.

Provides a reliable and safe national road network.

PROJECT BENEFITS

PHOTOSOURCE:
SOURCE: Amtrak
Flickr Creative Commons
PHOTO

321,419,000
141,958,000
17,232,618

$
$
$
$

0.79
0.52
2.1 3.6
1.6 3.1
4.0 7.0

2015$ (T)

Note: All values in 2015 dollars; values were

discounted using a 3% discount rate. O&M
excluded from costs.

Capital Cost
Discounted Capital Cost
Total Discounted Benefits
Net Economic Benefits
Benefit-Cost Ratio

(Assumes Low Costs and Benefits)

ECONOMIC BENEFITS AND COSTS

Population (Census, 2015 value)

Employment (BLS, 2015 value)
GDP (BEA, 2014 value, $M)

NATIONAL MARKET SERVED:

Photos Source: FHWA

Recapitalization of the National Interstate Highway

System (IHS)

40 Proposed U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Projects of Major Economic Signficance

A-99