April 2010 Highway Evacuations in Selected Metropolitan Areas: Assessment of Impediments April 2010 U.S. Department of Transportation FHWA -HOP1 of-10 108- 059 April 2010 Notice This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Transportation in the interest of information exchange. The U.S. Government assumes no liability for the use of the information contained in this document. The U.S. Government does not endorse products or manufacturers. Trademarks or manufacturers' names appear in this report only because they are considered essential to the objective of the document. Quality Assurance Statement The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) provides high-quality information to serve Government, industry, and the public in a manner that promotes public understanding. Standards and policies are used to ensure and maximize the quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of its information. FHWA periodically reviews quality issues and adjusts its programs and processes to ensure continuous quality improvement. U.S. Department of Transportation 2 of 108 April 2010 Technical Report Documentation Page 1. Report No. 2. Government Accession No. 3. Recipient's Catalog No. FHWA-HOP-10-059 4. Title and Subtitle 5. Report Date April 2010 Highway Evacuations in Selected Metropolitan Regions: 6. Performing Organization Code Assessment of Impediments 7. Author(s) 8. Performing Organization Report No. Kimberly C. Vásconez and Mark Kehrli 9. Performing Organization Name and Address 10. Work Unit No. (TRAIS) Federal Highway Administration, Office of Transportation Operations, Washington, DC 20590 11. Contract or Grant No. 12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address 13. Type of Report and Period Covered Emergency Transportation Operations Technical Report Office of Transportation Operations 14. Sponsoring Agency Code Federal Highway Administration HOTO 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE Washington, DC 20590 15. Supplementary Notes The FHWA recognizes the interviewers (Sandra Jackson, Tim Lane, Ray Murphy, Paul Olson, Nathaniel Price, Laurel J. Radow, and Chung Tran) and the numerous State and local officials who gave their expertise and time to aid in producing this report. 16. Abstract Almost 5 years after hurricanes Katrina and Rita battered Louisiana and Texas, respectively, public officials remain focused on the Nation’s ability to safely evacuate large numbers of people. As a part of the Fiscal Year 2010 U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) appropriations (Public Law 111-117), the U.S. Congress requested the DOT, in cooperation with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), to: • assess mass evacuation plans for the country’s high-threat, high-density areas and identify and prioritize deficiencies on those routes that could impede evacuations and • conduct an analysis of how national highway system (NHS) projects under construction west of the National Capital Region (NCR) could increase the NCR’s evacuation capacity and provide a detailed plan to accelerate such projects. The following information addresses both assessments and involves a broad view of what local authorities in 26 metropolitan areas view as the greatest impediments of their NHS routes in supporting a mass evacuation within their region, as well as a section dedicated to assessing construction and options for accelerating work along NHS routes west of the NCR that would facilitate the movement of NCR evacuees from danger as necessary. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) led the multiagency effort to gather and consolidate information. The planning, interview and review teams included representatives of various FHWA offices, the Office of the Secretary of Transportation, the DHS Office of Infrastructure Protection, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) offices of Response and of the National Capital Region Coordination (NCRC). Inquiries on the report should be directed to the authors: Jeff Lindley, Associate Administrator, FHWA Office of Operations; Mark Kehrli, Director, FHWA Office of Transportation Operations; or Kimberly C. Vásconez, Team Leader, FHWA Emergency Transportation Operations. 17. Key Words 18. Distribution Statement Evacuations plans, best practices, National Capital No restrictions. Region, traffic control, quick clearance, training, communications, 19. Security Classif. (of this report) 20. Security Classif.(of this page) 21. No. of Pages 22. Price Unclassified Unclassified 107 Form DOT F 1700.7 (8-72) Reproduction of completed page authorized U.S. Department of Transportation 3 of 108 April 2010 Highway Evacuations in Selected Metropolitan Regions: Assessment of Impediments Foreword Almost 5 years after hurricanes Katrina and Rita battered Louisiana and Texas, respectively, public officials remain focused on the Nation’s ability to safely evacuate large numbers of people. As a part of the Fiscal Year 2010 U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) appropriations (Public Law 111-117), the U.S. Congress requested the DOT, in cooperation with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), to: • assess mass evacuation plans for the country’s high-threat, high-density areas and identify and prioritize deficiencies on those routes that could impede evacuations and • conduct an analysis of how national highway system (NHS) projects under construction west of the National Capital Region (NCR) could increase the NCR’s evacuation capacity and provide a detailed plan to accelerate such projects. The following information addresses both assessments and involves a broad view of what local authorities in 26 metropolitan areas view as the greatest impediments of their NHS routes in supporting a mass evacuation within their region, as well as a section dedicated to assessing construction and options for accelerating work along NHS routes west of the NCR that would facilitate the movement of NCR evacuees from danger as necessary. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) led the multiagency effort to gather and consolidate information. The planning, interview and review teams included representatives of various FHWA offices, the Office of the Secretary of Transportation, the DHS Office of Infrastructure Protection, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) offices of Response and of the National Capital Region Coordination (NCRC). Inquiries on the report should be directed to the authors: Jeff Lindley, Associate Administrator, FHWA Office of Operations; Mark Kehrli, Director, FHWA Office of Transportation Operations; or Kimberly C. Vásconez, Team Leader, FHWA Emergency Transportation Operations. The FHWA recognizes all of the FHWA interviewers (Sandra Jackson, Tim Lane, Ray Murphy, Paul Olson, Nathaniel Price, Laurel J. Radow, and Chung Tran) and the numerous State and local officials (listed in Appendix A) who gave their expertise and time to aid in producing this report. U.S. Department of Transportation 4 of 108 April 2010 Table of Contents Foreword……………………………………………..4 Executive Summary……………………………….6 Introduction…………………………………………..12 Regional Findings……………………………………17 Atlanta, GA Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN Baltimore, MD National Capital Region (DC, MD & Boston, MA northern VA) Charleston, SC New Orleans, LA Chicago, IL New York, NY Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX Philadelphia, PA Denver, CO Phoenix, AZ Detroit, MI Portland, OR Hampton Roads, VA San Diego, CA Houston, TX San Francisco, CA Jacksonville, FL Seattle, WA Las Vegas, NV St. Louis, MO Los Angeles, CA Tampa-St. Petersburg, FL Miami, FL Options for Accelerating Projects to Increase Evacuation Capacity West of the National Capital Region……………………………………………………………………………………….77 Summary of Findings………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….94 Appendix 1: Acknowledgments: Interviewees & Respondents……….…………………………………….98 Appendix 2: References & Plan Summary……………………………………………………………………….……..103 Appendix 3: Acronyms & Terms……………………………………………………………………………………………...106 U.S. Department of Transportation 5 of 108 April 2010 Highway Evacuations in Selected Metropolitan Regions: Assessment of Impediments Executive Summary Almost 5 years after hurricanes Katrina and Rita battered Louisiana and Texas, respectively, public officials remain focused on the Nation’s ability to safely evacuate large numbers of people. As a part of the Fiscal Year 2010 U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) appropriations (Public Law 111-117), the U.S. Congress requested the DOT, in cooperation with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), to: • assess mass evacuation plans for the country’s high- threat, high-density areas and identify and prioritize deficiencies on those routes that could impede evacuations, and • conduct an analysis of how national highway system (NHS) projects under construction west of the National Capital Region (NCR) could increase the NCR’s evacuation capacity and provide a detailed plan to accelerate such projects. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) addressed this request in two phases. First, it collaborated with DHS and internal stakeholders to identify the top 26 metropolitan areas in the country that would meet the “high-threat, high-density” criteria, but would also be representative of areas based on geographic locations and threat variances (e.g., hurricanes, hazardous materials releases, wildfire-urban interface issues, floods, and terrorist threats). The FHWA reviewed existing plans from the 26 locations and conducted interviews of FHWA Division staff, State and/or local transportation officials and State and/or local emergency management and homeland security professionals. The