December 2006 Focus - SHRP II: Continuing the Legacy of Strategic Highway Research

SHRP II: Continuing the Legacy of Strategic Highway Research

Nearly 20 years after the Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP) began in 1988, resulting in sweeping advances in the way State highway agencies design, build, and repair pavements, the newly launched SHRP II is continuing the legacy of strategic, short-term research aimed at improving performance and safety for U.S. highway users.

As authorized under the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), the $150 million, 5-year program will focus on applied research in four areas to meet the following goals:

Prevent or reduce the severity of highway crashes by understanding driver behavior (Safety).
Address the aging infrastructure through rapid design and construction methods that cause minimal disruption and produce long-lived facilities (Renewal).
Reduce congestion through incident reduction, management, response, and mitigation (Reliability).
Integrate mobility, economic, environmental, and community needs in the planning and designing of new transportation capacity (Capacity).

The program will develop recommended procedures, practices, and applications to advance the Nation's highway system in the key focus areas. "These are the critical issues that we're hearing people around the country discuss," says Ann Brach, Deputy Director of SHRP II at the Transportation Research Board (TRB).

SHRP II will develop recommended procedures and applications to advance the Nation's highway system.

The program issued its first series of requests for proposals (RFPs) for projects addressing safety, renewal, reliability, and capacity in the fall of 2006. Projects will include "Encouraging Innovation in Locating and Characterizing Underground Utilities," "Performance Specifications for Rapid Highway Renewal," "Strategies for Integrating Utility and Transportation Agency Priorities in Highway Renewal Project," and "A Plan for Developing High-Speed, Nondestructive Testing Procedures for Both Design Evaluation and Construction Inspection." The project awards will be announced this winter. RFPs for 2007 projects will be issued in March and July of 2007.

For additional information on SHRP II, contact Ann Brach at TRB, 202-334-1430 (fax: 202-334-3471; email: SHRPII@nas.edu), or visit www.trb.org/SHRPII. Updates will also be featured in TRB's weekly Transportation Research e-newsletter. To subscribe to the newsletter, send an email with the subject header of "TRB E-Newsletter" to Rhouston@nas.edu. Focus will also continue to provide updates on the progress of SHRP II.

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		December 2006
		FHWA-HRT-07-009