Rural Transportation Planning: How to Effectively Plan, Implement, and Communicate an Access Management Study

ABSTRACT Over the past decade, states have experienced a shortage of highway funds needed to keep up with transportation growth. When this occurs, both transportation studies and construction projects are drastically cut back. In most cases, urbanized areas tend to consume the largest percent of available funds. Hardest hit for transportation study and construction funds usually are the rural areas. This makes it difficult to establish need and fiscal priorities in rural areas. The answer: Access Management becomes the most valuable transportation and land use management tool for maintaining the integrity of rural highways. Transportation planning experience shows that the neglected rural arterials of today become the over-developed suburban arterials of the future. Anticipation of transportation needs and wants of others, with an in-depth appraisal of their present highway system, helps identify how one can manage long-term growth and ensure safe and efficient transportation solutions. The U.S. Route13/Wallops Island Access Management Study, completed by the Virginia Department of Transportation in May 2002, is a successful example of such a project. The 69-mile corridor on Virginia's isolated rural eastern shore peninsula serves interstate travelers, town residents, farm equipment, tourists, bicyclists, school buses, long haul truckers and commuters. This major access study, for the Commonwealth, looked primarily at ways to make the access to the roadway safer and more efficient. Just to name a few of the concerns that had to be addressed included: the road contains more than 1,300 driveways--most without adequate turn lanes, almost 300 median crossovers, intersecting cross roads that do not line up from one side to the other, antiquated drainage culverts that can be dangerous if you happen to leave the highway, variable-width medians and numerous speed change zones. This paper will address how we effectively planned, implemented, and communicated the outcome of an access management study based on lessons learned on this very successful Virginia experience. Topics covered will include: • Performing a needs and infrastructure assessment • Using GIS for innovative data collection, design, and analysis • Effectively linking community and interagency involvement • Creating a conceptual solution using state-of-the-art graphic and techniques • Involving and informing public and private interests • Assistance localities with zoning ordinance • Developing guidelines for future access studies • Turning the plan into a reality

Bridging Alone: Religious Conservatism, Marital Homogamy, and Voluntary Association Membership

This study characterizes social insularity of religiously conservative American married couples by examining patterns of voluntary associationmembership. Constructing a dataset of 3938 marital dyads from the second wave of the National Survey of Families and Households, the author investigates whether conservative religious homogamy encourages membership in religious voluntary groups and discourages membership in secular voluntary groups. Results indicate that couples’ shared affiliation with conservative denominations, paired with beliefs in biblical authority and inerrancy, increases the likelihood of religious group membership for husbands and wives and reduces the likelihood of secular group membership for wives, but not for husbands. The social insularity of conservative religious groups appears to be reinforced by homogamy—particularly by wives who share faith with husbands

Denmark: The Rise of Fascism and the Decline of the Nordic model

Contrary to its conventional image as a social-democratic paragon, the Danish welfare state has, in recent decades, been undergoing significant changes as a response to the intrusion of the social sphere by self-regulating markets and a final departure from Keynesian politics of universalism and solidarity. This article examines the evident decline of the Nordic model as a result of neoliberal globalisation and establishes an association between the erosion of the welfare state and the emergence of fascist political sentiment in Denmark. An analysis of the Danish People’s party and its growing public support among the disenfranchised working class communities in Denmark demonstrates how those overlooked by the free market and unrepresented by the liberal left become increasingly more receptive to the proposed social agendas of the far right campaigns

The Farm Credit Crisis: Policy Options and Consequences.

64 p

Chief of Military History (ret.)

University ofCalHomia at Los Angeles Terms expiring 199