roadside1On Monday, June 8 the CAMPO Board will vote on which projects to fund with the federal economic stimulus allotment. One project under consideration is the Highway Emergency Response Operator (HERO) roadside assistance program. CATC and other business organizations are advocates of this cost-effective strategy to reduce congestion on IH-35.

With a $2 million jumpstart using American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (AARA) funds, the HERO program can provide relief almost immediately for the heavily congested segment of IH-35 in Hays, Travis, and Williamson counties. The program can be sustained with a combination of future local Federal discretionary funds (STPMM) and private sponsorships. The most recent example of this is the Georgia Department of Transportation’s collaborative sponsorship with State Farm Insurance, in which State Farm will provide $5.1 million ($1.7m/year) in sponsorship fees over the next three years to support the Georgia DOT HERO program.

Fiscal constraints curtail the region’s ability to add enough road capacity to meet demand, so we must use make the best use of existing roadways. Roadway operational improvement is THE most effective means of reducing congestion. HERO should be implemented and the stimulus money allows us to do it now.