AASHTO Journal - CTDOT Seeks Input on Historic Preservation Agreement

The Connecticut Department of Transportation is seeking public comment through February 24 on the draft of a new “Programmatic Agreement” with several modal administrations within the U.S. Department of Transportation that will govern how the agency reviews infrastructure projects in compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act.

[Above photo by the Connecticut DOT]

Section 106 requires federal agencies to identify and assess the effects of a project on historic properties. In practice, that means Connecticut DOT archaeologists and architectural historians carry out this work on behalf of the federal agencies and in conjunction with the Connecticut State Historic Preservation Office or SHPO, Native American tribes, consulting parties, and the public.

The Connecticut DOT said this new agreement involves the Federal Highway Administration, the Federal Railroad Administration, the Federal Transit Administration, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, and the SHPO and seeks to create more “efficient processes” for the review of historic properties that may be affected by road, rail, and transit projects across the state.

Garrett Eucalitto. Photo by Connecticut DOT.

“We are committed to ensuring that transportation projects not only meet the needs of today but also preserve and respect our rich historical and cultural assets,” said Garrett Eucalitto, commissioner of the Connecticut DOT, in a statement.

Eucalitto – who also serves as the president of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials – added that this new agreement builds off a similar decade-long accord between the agency and FHWA.

“This collaboration with our federal and state partners is crucial for maintaining transparency, efficiency, and accountability in our process, particularly when it comes to preserving the historic landscapes and structures that define our communities,” he added.
Many state departments of transportation across the country are involved in similar programmatic agreements and are also engaged in a variety of historical preservation efforts tied to transportation projects.

For example, in March 2024, the Georgia Department of Transportation and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (GDNR) signed a historic Bat Conservation Funding Programmatic Agreement that will transfer conservation funding from Georgia DOT to GDNR so as to maximize bat conservation areas while minimizing impacts to transportation project timelines.

The Bat Conservation Funding Programmatic Agreement will work in conjunction with a Programmatic Consultation Agreement developed in partnership with Georgia DOT, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the Federal Highway Administration, GDNR, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to streamline Section 7 consultation for transportation projects under the Endangered Species Act.

Those two agreements together form a first of its kind approach to protect endangered bats, creating predictability to the timeline of completing environmental documentation on transportation projects, the Georgia DOT said at the time.

And, in September 2024, the Iowa Department of Transportation – with support from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration –released a 25-minute film about the Black Hawk Bridge and that of the local communities surrounding it.

Created as a compliance requirement with the National Historic Preservation Act, the short film – entitled “Bridging Generations: The Story of the Black Hawk Bridge” – details the history of the 1,700-foot bridge that spans the Mississippi River, connecting Iowa Highway 9 in Lansing, IA, to Wisconsin Highway 82 in rural Crawford County.