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FHWA Highway Safety Programs

Functional Class and Ownership

Figure 6 through Figure 10 illustrate the distribution of projects by road type.

Figure 6 shows number of projects by functional class, following the HPMS classification scheme.  Figure 7 shows average total cost of projects by functional class.  Figure 8 shows the number and average total cost of projects by urban/rural designation.  Figure 9 shows projects by road ownership.  Figure 10 shows average total cost of projects by road ownership. If the functional class or road ownership was not indicated, the project is counted under the "unknown" category.  Examples of classifications in the "other" category include multiple functional classes, state or citywide implementation, or non-infrastructure projects.

Figure 6: This figure shows the number of projects by functional class, differentiating between urban and rural projects. In most classes urban and rural projects are fairly evenly distributed. However, in the major collector class, the vast majority of projects were rural.
Figure 6. Number of Projects by Functional Class

As in 2016, projects that were associated with a functional class were most often categorized as "Rural Major Collector" or "Rural Minor Arterial" (Figure 6). There were 1179 projects categorized as "Unknown" indicating the State did not assign a functional classification to the project.

Figure 7: This figure shows the average cost of projects by functional class, differentiating between urban and rural projects. In most classes urban and rural projects are fairly evenly distributed. However, in the freeway and expressway class, the cost for rural projects was much higher while in the local road or street class, the cost for urban projects was higher.
Figure 7. Average Total Cost of Projects by Functional Class

Figure 7 shows the average total cost of projects by functional class. It is important to note that not every project had an associated cost so the average is based on the number of projects which had cost information available.  Projects categorized as "Rural Principal Arterial – Freeways and Expressways" had the highest average total cost per project of $3.6 million and projects categorized as "Rural Local Road or Street" had the lowest average total cost per project of $194,500.

Figure 8: This figure shows a circle graph of the Number and Average Total Cost of Projects by Urban/Rural Designation. The inner circle shows the number of projects, the greatest part of which is rural, with 1920 projects. The outer circle shows the average total cost of projects, the greatest part of which is urban, with an average cost of about 1.2 million dollars.
Figure 8. Number and Average Total Cost of Projects by Urban/Rural Designation

Figure 8 illustrates the number and average total cost of projects by urban/rural designation. As in 2016 and 2015, there are fewer total urban projects than rural projects but the average total cost of the urban projects is greater than the average total cost of the rural projects.

Figure 9: This figure shows the number of projects by road ownership. The vast majority of projects were implemented on state owned roads.
Figure 9. Number of Projects by Road Ownership

As in 2015 and 2016, States implement most projects on roads owned by a "State Highway Agency" (Figure 9). There were 343 projects categorized as "Unknown" (indicating that the State did not indicate road ownership for a particular project). There were 86 projects categorized as "Other".

Figure 10: This figure shows the Average Total Cost of Projects by Road Ownership. The highest categories were railroad projects and town or township projects.
Figure 10. Average Total Cost of Projects by Road Ownership

Figure 10 shows the average total cost of projects by road ownership. It is important to note that not every project had an associated cost so the average is based on the number of projects which had cost information available (excluding de-obligated costs). One singular project comprised the State Toll Authority category and had the highest total cost of all categories at $282 million.  This is not included in the graph above so as not to detract from the relative average costs of the other projects.