Alternative Fuel Corridors are designated by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and are part of a national network of roadways that provide sufficient alternative fuel and charging facilities. Nationwide, 55 corridors spanning 35 states and nearly 85,000 miles were included in the first round of designations. The Dallas-Fort Worth region is proud to have several interstate highways receiving designations as both “signage-ready” and “signage-pending” for natural gas and propane refueling, as well as electric vehicle recharging.
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Section 1413 of the FAST Act requires nationally designated Alternative Fuel Corridors inclusive of electric vehicle (EV) charging, hydrogen, propane, and natural gas fueling stations. The goal is to create and expand a national network for alternative fueling and charging infrastructure with correlated signage throughout the National Highway System. Through state departments of transportation proposals, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) designates this network of eligible roadways that provide sufficient alternative fuel and charging facilities for drivers across the country.
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The Dallas-Fort Worth region is proud to have several interstate highways receiving designations as both “corridor ready” and “corridor pending” for compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied natural gas (LNG), propane, as well as EVs.
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In 2016, the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) submitted a proposal to the US Department of Transportation to assist in making Alternative Fuel Corridor designations that included interstates connecting Dallas-Fort Worth to other regions in the state. The FHWA included 55 routes spanning 35 states covering 85,000 miles in the first round of designations. For the 2017 nomination round, all proposals were required to come from the state Departments of Transportation. For this round, NCTCOG recommended the inclusion of several additional corridors, inclusive of US highways, for the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT)-submitted nomination and provided technical information to TxDOT to support these corridor inclusions. (See pages 195-223 of the Regional Transportation Council Agenda here). The FHWA announced its second round of alternative fuel corridor designations on March 9, 2018. As a result of both the first and second round of designations, there are 84 corridors spanning 44 states covering over 100,000 miles nationwide.
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On July 23, 2018, the Dallas-Fort Worth Clean Cities gave a regional update on Alternative Fuel Corridors to the NCTCOG public meeting. A copy of that presentation and meeting recording can be found here.
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On June 27, 2018, TxDOT approved a policy update to the state's Sign Guidelines and Applications Manual, which pertains to the use of general services signing for alternative fuel facilities located along conventional highways. The approved policy will be included in the next revision of the Manual, but it is effective immediately.
The policy update expands on the eligibility requirements for alternative fuel facilities requesting signing, and on sign placement and design guidelines. For more information on the approved signing policy, please visit the link below:
TxDOT Alternative Fuel Station Signage Policy
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For more information visit the FHWA Alternative Fuel Corridors website: https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/alternative_fuel_corridors/
