Page:America's Highways 1776–1976.djvu/368

 In order to widen Route 2 along the Ohio River, the West Virginia Department of Highways specified presplitting and benching of Round Hill. This project involved excavation of more than 5 million cubic yards of earth.

As the highway program continued to expand, one major problem was insufficiency of leadtime for the acquisition of rights-of-way. As soon as construction plans were completed, right-of-way personnel were under constant pressure to acquire the right-of-way so that the construction work could be advertised for bids.

In order to encourage early acquisition of right-of-way, BPR issued a directive in July 1956 providing that a State could be authorized to acquire right-of-way with its own funds and that later, when sufficient Federal funds were available, reimbursement for the Federal share of costs could be made back to the date of authorization to proceed. Previously, it had been customary for Federal funds to be available at the time right-of-way acquisition was authorized.

The full requirements for land cannot be determined until the exact location of the highway is known and the final design is nearly completed. In January 1958, BPR issued a directive providing that right-of-way acquisition could begin when the State had indicated on maps or drawings the proposed general location of the highway together with the approximate limits of the right-of-way and they were acceptable to BPR. Federal funds could participate in the right-of-way costs incurred at this early stage, but before final reimbursement was made for the right-of-way, the accounts had to be adjusted so that Federal funds were finally used only for the land area that was incorporated within the final right-of-way widths.

Further right-of-way developments have made necessary the discontinuance of the above two procedures. The first was in effect for about 20 years, and the second for about 10 years. For the periods of time the procedures were in effect, they helped acquire rights-of-way expeditiously.

When right-of-way was acquired in advance, the BPR and the State executed a project agreement specifying that construction on the right-of-way would be accomplished within a reasonable period of 362