Reauthorization Roadmap

The Reathorization Roadmap has been prepared to help you understand what is at stake for the aggregates industry. Whether you are in the highway market or not, this legislation will affect your business. A second and more important objective behind this publication is to help you to be an effective advocate for the aggregates industry when Congress takes up the next surface transportation reauthorization bill.

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History of the Federal-aid Highway Program

The development of highways and highway transportation in the United States would not have been possible without a strong federal government role under the remarkably successful Federal-aid Highway Program. As the name indicates, the “Federal-aid” Highway Program is one involving joint federal-state funding and execution of the design and construction of highways on approved systems of interconnected routes in all states. Click the heading above for a short history of the Federal-aid Highway Program.

The aggregates industry's role

Since 1956 when the Interstate Highway Program was launched, $634 billion has been disbursed from the Highway Trust Fund for road and bridge projects nationwide for the construction and maintenance of the greatest public works project in our nation’s history. Throughout this time, the aggregates industry has provided the main ingredient in both asphalt and concrete to satisfy the public demand for smooth, durable pavements on our nation’s highways.

Roadmap to reauthorizing

The first and most crucial step in financing the Federal-aid Highway Program is development of authorizing legislation. Since 1916 with the passage of the Federal-Aid Road Act, these acts have provided a multi-year foundation for the Federal-aid Highway Program.

How to make your voice heard

From a citizen’s perspective, Congress can seem distant and intimidating. The debate over transportation policy and legislation is hard to follow and the legislative process is complex. Don’t let that deter you from making your voice heard. Congress is your representative institution. You pay the tax dollars to fund your government. Your federal government provides nearly half of the funding for highway construction. Your job may depend on how active you are involved in the next Federal-aid Highway Program reauthorization bill.