Green Highways Partnership: Bringing Together Transportation And The Environment
Combining safe and efficient transportation systems with environmental stewardship and sustainability is the goal of the Green Highways Partnership (GHP), launched this summer.
The partnership builds on the success of the Green Highway Forum, held in November 2005 in College Park, Maryland. Sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the event brought together more than 400 transportation and environmental professionals involved in the planning, design, construction, maintenance, and regulation of transportation projects.
“We realized that FHWA and EPA had been pursuing parallel agendas to combine transportation and environmental goals, and decided to join efforts,”says Jason Harrington of FHWA’s Office of Pavement Technology.
Based on discussions at the forum and a follow-up planning retreat held in March 2006, the GHP has formed three teams to focus on environmental stewardship, storm water management, and recycling.
The teams include members from FHWA, EPA, AASHTO, and industry associations. The three teams will initially collect data and best practices.
For example, the recycling team will compile data on the transportation sector’s reuse of industrial byproducts such as recycled concrete and asphalt, foundry sands, and fly ash. The team will then identify best practices for recycling and reuse, as well as areas where recycling practices can be improved. The team will also develop fact sheets, case studies, and a tool kit to highlight effective recycling use in transportation projects, and hold workshops for States.
“Disseminating this information will enable persons involved in the design, planning, construction, operations, and maintenance of roadways to understand the value and environmental benefit of using materials that would otherwise be disposed of,” says Harrington.
The GHP will initially work with partners in the Mid-Atlantic region. “We have received considerable interest from several regions of the country, however, and expect to expand the program in the future,” says Harrington.
For more information on the GHP, visit www.greenhighways.org.
Article derived from the June issue of the Turner Fairbanks Highway Research Center Publication, Focus, from the United States Department of Transportation – Federal Highway Administration
