U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590
202-366-4000


Skip to content
Facebook iconYouTube iconTwitter iconFlickr iconLinkedInInstagram

Safety

FHWA Home / Safety / Roadway Departure / Federal-aid Reimbursement Eligibility Process

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590

Download Version
PDF [395 KB]

Logo: U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Adminstration


May 18, 2015

An open letter to all in the highway safety hardware and roadside design community:

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is revisiting its process for issuing Federal-aid eligibility letters for roadside safety hardware systems. This letter serves to notify you that FHWA is implementing some immediate process improvements as described in this letter. These changes will enhance the quality of information received by FHWA when evaluating a request for an eligibility determination, clarify the scope and purpose of the eligibility letters, and increase the amount of information available regarding the devices covered by these letters. FHWA may make more significant changes to the process in the future. Effective immediately, FHWA is implementing the following changes to the eligibility letter process for roadside safety hardware systems:

Thank you in advance for your cooperation in helping FHWA to implement these improvements. I think you will agree that they will enhance the safety of roadside safety hardware and increase the integrity and transparency of FHWA's eligibility letter determination process. We will notify you of any future improvements to the eligibility letter process. For more information, please see our website for the federal-aid reimbursement eligibity process located at http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/roadway_dept/ policy_guide /road_hardware/acceptprocess/. In the near future, we plan to add some new questions and answers relative to communications between FHWA and entities seeking a federal-aid eligibility letter for roadside hardware and what financial interest information should be disclosed in a request for a letter.

If you have any questions or comments, please contact Brian Fouch at (202) 366-0744.

Sincerely yours 
 
 
/S/ Tony Furst

Tony Furst
Associate Administrator for Safety


 

1A "significant modification" to a crashworthy device is one where analysis indicates the device may fail a testing criterion set forth under provisions of either:

  1. National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 350; or
  2. American Association of State and Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH).
Page last modified on May 18, 2017
Safe Roads for a Safer Future - Investment in roadway safety saves lives
Federal Highway Administration | 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE | Washington, DC 20590 | 202-366-4000