Editing Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1973 (section)

==About the act==
The legislation reauthorized the Federal-Aid Highway Act through the end of fiscal year 1976 (September 30, 1976). Appropriations were made for interstate highway construction through fiscal year 1979 (September 30, 1979).<ref name="MaddenVoted" />

The total cost of the legislation was $20 billion over fiscal years 1974, 1975, and 1976. The act included the following funding provisions:<ref name="RussellApprove" />
*Interstate highway system: $9.75 billion was appropriated for interstate highway construction in fiscal years 1977, 1978, and 1979.<ref name="MaddenVoted" /> Funds for urban interstate construction were permitted to be transferred elsewhere in-state for the construction of non-interstate roads. Interstate highway construction funds were also permitted to be used to construct [[Parking#Fringe parking|fringe]] and corridor parking, preferential [[bus lane]]s, or other minor facilities for mass transit on interstates. The law required all interstate construction to be scheduled by July 1, 1974.
*Urban highway construction: $780 million was appropriated in fiscal year 1974, and $800 million per year in fiscal years 1975 and 1976.
*Urban primary and secondary road construction: For urban primary and secondary road construction, $290 million was appropriated in fiscal year 1974, and $300 million per year in fiscal years 1975 and 1976. Priority was given to primary urban roads connecting to interstate highways. No mileage minimums or caps were specified for these connector roads.
*Rural primary road construction: $680 million was appropriated in fiscal year 1974, and $700 million per year in fiscal years 1975 and 1976.
*Rural secondary road construction: $390 million was appropriated in fiscal year 1974, and $400 million per year in fiscal years 1975 and 1976.
*Mass transit: In fiscal year 1974, states may cancel highway construction projects and return the money to the Highway Trust Fund. They may then apply for and receive the same amount in general federal revenues, and expend the money on mass transit. In fiscal year 1975, states may apply to use up to $200 million of the $800 million appropriation for the national urban highway program to purchase buses. In fiscal year 1976, states may apply to use up to all of the $800 million appropriation for the national urban highway program to construction [[Rapid transit|subways]], [[commuter rail]], or [[light rail]], or to purchase [[rolling stock]] for the same.  States must contribute $1 in spending for every $9 of federal money spent. States were permitted to issue contracts for future mass transit capital improvement construction up to $3 billion. (However, there was a carryover of $3.1 billion from the [[Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964]], so total construction authority was $6.1 billion.)
*Highway safety: For improving [[railway]]-road crossings, and for a highway design improvement program within DOT, $455 million was appropriated in fiscal 1974, and $800 million per year in fiscal 1975 and 1976.

New programs established by the act included:
*Highway Safety Improvement:  The act provided funding for capital improvements to roads that improved safety, such as [[Guard rail#Automotive safety|guard rails]] or improved railway-road at-grade crossings. The act also required DOT to establish program of data collection, research, and demonstration programs to improve highway safety by improving highway construction standards. Additionally, DOT was authorized to pay for demonstration projects to determine the effectiveness of [[road surface marking]]. Finally, as part of the [[War on Drugs]], DOT was required to study the effect of illegal drug use on traffic and driver safety. DOT was also required to study ways in which the [[mass media]] could be used to inform the public about the number and severity of highway accidents, and educate them about how to reduce highway accidents.<ref>Office of Technology Assessment, p. 88.</ref>
*Connector roads: A new program permitted states to seek federal funding to build roads (not to exceed {{convert|10|mi|km}} in length) in high-traffic urban areas, so long as these roads connected with the Interstate Highway System. Funding for such roads was limited to $150 million in fiscal years 1974, 1975, and 1976.<ref name="RussellApprove" />
*National Scenic Highways: Section 134(a) of the act authorized DOT to conduct a study examining the feasibility of establishing a national scenic highway system.

Specific projects required by the act, although far less numerous than in previous legislation, included:<ref name="RussellApprove" />
*$10 million for a high-speed bus transportation program between Washington, D.C., and [[Dulles International Airport]].
*A requirement that the state of Virginia issue a draft [[environmental impact statement]] regarding the construction of [[Interstate 66]] by October 1, 1974.
*That the District of Columbia construct the Three Sisters Bridge over the Potomac River.<ref>Eisen, Jack. "Congress Renews Mandate On Three Sisters Bridge." ''Washington Post.'' August 21, 1973.</ref>