PRIORITIES DETERMINATION AND PROGRAMMING IN TENNESSEE

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PRIORITY RATING METHOD AND PROCEDURES FOR HIGHWAY NEEDS FORMULATION ARE DESCRIBED. SUFFICIENCY RATING FORMULAS ADOPTED BY OTHER STATES WERE EXAMINED. THE PURPOSES OF THE TENNESSEE STUDY PROJECT REQUIRED A SCREENING PROCESS WHICH WOULD ARRAY THE TOTAL NUMBER OF DEFICIENT SECTIONS WITHIN EACH HIGHWAY SUBDIVISION INTO A REASONABLE NUMBER OF PRIORITY GROUPS. THE MAJOR CRITERIA CHOSEN IN FORMULATING THE PROGRAM WERE: DEPENDABILITY OR STRUCTURAL CONDITION, FACILITY OF MOVEMENT, AND SAFETY. COMPLETION OF THE RATING PROCEDURE WAS FOLLOWED BY THE DETERMINATION OF PRIORITIES AMONG THE RATED SECTIONS. THE METHODS FOR PRIORITY DETERMINATION WERE SHAPED BY DIFFERENCES IN THE DATA AVAILABLE FOR AND THE SERVICE REQUIRED OF RURAL AND URBAN HIGHWAYS. THE FACTORS SELECTED FOR URBAN STATE HIGHWAYS WERE: CONDITION, CONJESTION, AND ROUTE CHARACTERISTICS. THE FACTORS SELECTED FOR RURAL STATE HIGHWAYS WERE: STRUCTURAL CONDITION, FACILITY OF MOVEMENT, AND SAFETY. THROUGHOUT THE PROCESS OF PRIORITY DETERMINATION, THE RURAL AND URBAN SECTIONS WITH CRITICAL DEFICIENCIES WERE TREATED SEPARATELY AND THIS SEPARATION WAS CONTINUED THROUGH THE FINAL OPERATION OF FORMING THE PROGRAMS. THE FIVE-YEAR PROGRAMS TO CORRECT A CRITICAL DEFICIENCY ON THE RURAL AND URBAN ROUTES OF THE STATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM WERE FORMULATED FROM THE PRIORITY LISTS. AS A SEQUEL TO THE PRESENT PROGRAMMING STUDY, THE SAME STUDY STAFF IS ENGAGED IN A RESEARCH PROJECT TO DETERMINE THE PRINCIPLES, CRITERIA, AND DATA REQUIRED FOR A CONTINUING CONSTRUCTION PROGRAM AND TO FORMULATE THE PROCEDURES ESSENTIAL FOR ESTABLISHING SUCH PLANNING AS A ROUTING FUNCTION OF THE DEPARTMENT.