Michigan DOT director joins committee to study the future of interstates

Sixty years after president Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Federal Highway Act 1956 into law, the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine is to carry out a 30 month study of the future of the country’s interstate highway system. Michigan Department of Transportation director Kirk T. Steudle has been named as a member of the committee that will study the future of the US Interstate Highway System (IGS).
August 30, 2016 Read time: 2 mins

Sixty years after president Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Federal Highway Act 1956 into law, the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine is to carry out a 30 month study of the future of the country’s interstate highway system.

1688 Michigan Department of Transportation director Kirk T. Steudle has been named as a member of the committee that will study the future of the US Interstate Highway System (IGS).

The IHS is a key component of the US transportation system. While it makes up only 1.2 per cent roadway line-miles of the country's public road system, it handles nearly 25 per cent of the total vehicle miles travelled annually and almost 40 per cent of the country's total truck traffic. Little changed since its inception, the IHS of today is showing its age.

The Future Interstate Study is being carried out in accordance with Section 6021 of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act of 2015 which calls for the Transportation Research Board to conduct “a study on the actions needed to upgrade and restore the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defence Highways to its role as a premier system that meets the growing and shifting demands of the 21st century.”

The 14-member committee of experts will develop a report over the course of the project. During the first 20 months of study, the committee will meet regularly to hear from key groups, including national experts, operators and users of the interstate system and private sector stakeholders. Members have backgrounds in transportation policy and planning in both urban and rural contexts, travel demand, highway construction and operations, traffic safety, modelling, environmental and community impact mitigation, economic development, supply chains and goods movement, funding, equity and access to economic opportunity, multimodal transportation, and advanced vehicle technologies.

Steudle is the only director of a state department of transportation on the committee. Today, the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) has jurisdiction over 9,668 route miles or 32,043 lane miles (including ramps) of interstate, US and M highways.

Related Content

  • July 17, 2013
    Government to reform strategic road network in England
    The national network of motorways and trunk roads in England will get extra lanes, smoother, quieter surfaces, improved junctions and new sections in key areas under a plan launched this week by Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin. £28 (US$42.5) billion of investment, which includes a trebling of funding for motorways and major A-roads, will lead to the biggest ever upgrade of the existing network. The focus will be on cutting congestion and minimising the environmental impact of roads, including an extr
    Read More
  • April 17, 2012
    Repeal of motorcycle helmet law in Michigan is disappointing
    AAA Michigan says it is extremely disappointed that legislation which allows some motorcyclists to ride without a helmet on the state's roadways has been signed into law by Governor Rick Snyder. Public Act 98, which has now come into effect, is poor public policy and will increase motorcycle fatalities and injuries, AAA Michigan reports. The repeal erases more than three decades of Michigan's mandatory helmet law. The new law allows motorcyclists to ride without a helmet if they have a $20,000 medical poli
    Read More
  • April 22, 2022
    Peter Norton: ‘We can reintroduce freedom of choice in transportation’
    Funding for transit, cycling and walkability can be politically divisive – so why not bypass politics by letting toll payers themselves choose how a fraction of their toll is spent, asks Peter Norton
    Read More
  • March 29, 2016
    State DOTs using drones to improve safety, collect data and cut costs
    A growing number of US state departments of transportation are leveraging innovative drone technology to creatively improve safety, reduce traffic congestion and save money. According to a March 2016 survey by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), 33 state departments of transportation have or are exploring, researching, testing or using unmanned aerial vehicles, commonly referred to as drones, to inspect bridges and assist with clearing vehicle crashes, among othe
    Read More

Highlighted Content