The new American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Guide for Accommodating Utilities within Highway Right-of-Way will combine the utility accommodation policy and the utility accommodation guide. TRB hosted a webinar on Monday, November 6, 2023 from 12:00 PM to 1:30 PM Eastern that provided background on the laws and regulations that led to the development of the original documents and a summary of the recent NCHRP project that led to the development of the new guide. Presenters concluded with an outlook on the AASHTO publication process and the expected publication timeline.

This webinar was based on NCHRP Web-Only Document 356: Development of a Guide for Accommodating Utilities within Highways and Freeways.

This webinar was sponsored by TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program and the Standing Technical Committee on Utilities.

The slides are linked in the meeting materials. View the recorded webinar below.

Webinar agenda and presenters

1. Background on the accommodation of utilities in highway and freeway right-of-way – Cesar Quiroga, Texas A&M Transportation Institute

2. Development of a new guide – Edgar Kraus, Texas A&M Transportation Institute

3. Publication of the new guide – Casey Soneira, AASHTO

4. Question and answer session moderated by Kris Harbin, Texas A&M Transportation Institute

The first 60 minutes of the webinar were for presentations and the final 30 minutes were reserved for audience questions.

Learning Objectives

At the end of this webinar, participants can:

1. Identify laws and regulations that led to the development of the AASHTO utility accommodation guide and policy

2. Review the objectives and process to develop the AASHTO utility accommodation guide

3. Assess changes and updates to the new AASHTO utility accommodation guide compared to previous versions

Professional Development Hours

This webinar was delivered as a scheduled – e-learning live event and is categorized within RCEP as Technical, Health and Safety.

Professional Development Hours (PDHs) earned on completion of this program were reported to the Registered Continuing Education Program (RCEP). Certificates of Completion are issued to all participants via the RCEP.net online system. Complaints about registered providers may be addressed to RCEP, 1015 15th Street, NW, 8th Fl., Washington, DC, 20005.