GOOD NEWS FROM WASHINGTON By WILLIAM T. SUNLEY, Engineer of Local Roads and Streets Credits to: Audrey J. Lyons, Local Planning & Programming Engineer.

Most likely you're familiar with the saying, "good things come to those who wait." Undoubtedly, the National Highway System (NHS) Designation Act of 1995 was worth the wait. President Clinton signed the NHS Designation Act into law on November 28, 1995, almost three months past the September 30th deadline Congress was given in the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) of 1991.

As a result of the passage of the NHS Act, a few federal mandates that were commonly perceived as creating hardships have been eliminated. The penalty for non-compliance for motorcycle helmet use is eliminated. Since Illinois did not have a law mandating motorcycle helmet use, a portion of highway funds had to be used on motorcycle safety programs. The elimination of this mandate accounts for a $13 million savings to the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) in FY96.

The mandate to use recycled paving materials (crumb rubber) in asphalt is eliminated. This was an effort to recycle tires into hot-mix asphalt, but proved to be very costly with no added benefit to the performance of the asphalt mixture. This is estimated to be a savings of $10 to $15 million to Illinois in FY 96.

The sanction of highway funds for states not implementing any or all of the management systems required in the ISTEA bill has also been eliminated. IDOT has already taken action to satisfy the management system requirements of ISTEA for the state highway system. But most local agencies who have roads and streets designated as part of the NHS will be relieved that these time consuming and potentially costly systems will be optional. This could save Illinois approximately $1 million in FY 96.

In addition to relief from the above mandates the passage of the NHS bill prohibits the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation from requiring states to expend any federal or state funds to put up metro speed limit or distance signs. The U.S. DOT is also prohibited from requiring the use of the metric system in highway design until September 30, 2000. The deadline previously established was September 30, 1996.

The bill also repeals the national speed limit for both personal and commercial vehicles. All authority of speed limits is returned to the states. Governor Edgar has stated that the maximum speed limits for interstate highways and all other routes on the state system in Illinois will be designated as 65 and 55 miles per hour respectively.

The NHS bill allows nearly $193 million in highway funds to be apportioned to Illinois. It should be emphasized that this is not new money; the apportionment of this money had been held up pending passage of the NHS legislation. This funding was contained in the Illinois Department of Transportation's five-year highway program announced in the Spring of 1995.

The provisions mentioned above have the combined ability to save Illinois several million dollars a year in highway funds. Availability of these funds is very timely, since highway funds have been constant for several years, with inflation reducing their purchasing power. The funds available from the elimination of these mandates will better serve the taxpayers' needs by funding needed highway projects.

A common sense approach used to develop the NHS bill would be a welcome trend for subsequent legislation. Hopefully, we won't have to wait so long in the future. •

January 1996 / Illinois Municipal Review / Page 7