The Legislature hereby finds and declares as follows: improving the efficiency, cost effectiveness and performance of all branches of government can only be achieved with proper oversight, accountability, and transparency in government decision making and processes for service delivery; a long-range program of highway development and maintenance in Alabama (herein "the state") is vital to the safety of the traveling public as well as the industrial and agricultural growth of the state; the highway system in the state must be adequate to meet expanding needs; highway construction, maintenance, and administration to support such a system should include long-range planning, soundness in scope of the highway program, efficient performance, and fiscal responsibility in both policy and planning; the use of a long-range highway program will further the judicious expenditure of highway funds, will promote the public safety and convenience, will enhance public confidence in the responsible expenditure of public funds, and will result in tangible benefits to the public by providing a sound program to facilitate vehicular traffic and safety; such a long-range program will establish continuity in highway construction, modification, and maintenance programs, thereby enabling the Alabama Department of Transportation (herein "ALDOT" or "the transportation department") to operate at maximum efficiency with greater returns in highway benefits for the amount of public funds expended; citizens should be aware of how highway funds will be expended as far in advance of the actual expenditures as possible; because changing routes affect people's travel times and patterns as well as property values, all plans for such changes should be transparent and made known well in advance of their implementation; achieving an appropriate balance in highway decision making is an important goal; the development of highway plans and budgets for their implementation is a primary responsibility of the transportation department working under the direction of the Governor; effective highway state plans are well organized with defined processes for identifying all potential sources of innovation, including, but not limited to, broad stakeholder engagement and partnerships, shared performance metrics and evidenced-based practices, adoption of the most cost effective technology in materials and components of road and bridge construction, and cost effective and efficient organizational structures and operations; appropriate legislative oversight procedures are necessary to fulfill the goals set forth above; a Joint Transportation Committee of the Legislature will develop expertise pertaining to highway matters within both legislative bodies and will contribute actively to the Legislature's deliberations with respect to highway funding and plans; expertise pertaining to such highway matters may be developed by evaluating best practices utilized in other states to maintain efficient and effective transportation projects and operations; a Joint Transportation Committee will insure that ALDOT operations and road or bridge construction projects are analyzed for efficiency and effectiveness; and the creation of such Joint Transportation Committee is appropriate and desirable.
Last modified: May 3, 2021