Federal funding is available to the States to resurface, restore, and rehabilitate the Nation's roads - commonly referred to as 3R work. States can improve roads to the design standards for new construction or request approval from the Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) for an exception to the standards. GAO reviewed 3R projects implemented between October 1980 and June 1982. GAO found that 142 of the 327 3R projects reviewed in six States contained one or more approved exceptions to standards. The safety effects of specific exceptions are unknown and will remain so until data are developed. In approving these exceptions, FHWA's review of safety implications varied among its offices in the various States - e.g., some offices routinely made site visits or involved a safety expert, others did not. An FHWA regulation effective July 1982 allows the States to develop their own standards for 3R work subject to FHWA approval. Regardless of the standards adopted, the States can continue to request exceptions. In light of the variations in FHWA's review of safety implications in approving exceptions, GAO recommends that FHWA develop uniform procedures for reviewing 3R projects that are not designed according to applicable standards. (A)
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