Template for Reporting Planning Cost Estimates for Major Highway Projects

The earliest estimate of a Major Project cost usually occurs in Planning, well before the FEIS, ROD, or PS&E. It is important that Planning-stage cost estimates be as accurate as possible:

1. Major Projects within MPO planning boundaries will probably first appear in a Metropolitan Plan. At that point, Divisions should work with the MPO and state to ensure that the first cost estimate that appears in a Metro Plan is reasonable. It should not be a single, point estimate; rather, it should be a cost range, representing multiple alternatives and contingencies for the Major Project. See below for the cost parameters that should be explicitly considered for the cost range that will appear in the Metropolitan Plan. If the state or MPO questions the Division's authority to insist on reasonable cost ranges in the plan, Divisions should cite the longstanding fiscal constraint requirement for Metro Plans, as well as S-LU statutory provisions that require FHWA to increase its oversight for Major Projects.
2. Major Projects outside MPO planning boundaries usually will not appear in Statewide Plans (because most Statewide Plans are policy plans, without specific projects). For these non metro Major Projects, Divisions should meet with the state as soon as the Division becomes aware the state is contemplating a Major Project. The Division should determine when the state plans to produce its first cost estimate (e.g., for a 6-year state program of projects) and ensure that the state's first cost estimate is a cost range, not a point estimate, so that it represents multiple Project alternatives and contingencies and so that it does not pre-judge the outcome of NEPA. Also, the Division should ensure that the following cost parameters are specifically accounted for and documented in the first cost estimate range.

1. Project Scope
   1. Type of project (e.g., new facility, additional lanes, reconstruction)
   2. Overall project length
      1. At grade
      2. On structure
      3. In tunnel
   3. Number of through lanes
   4. Number of interchanges
2. Capital Costs
   1. Right-of-Way (ROW) acquisition and relocation costs
   2. Construction costs (based on unit cost factors; e.g. $ per lane mile at grade)
   3. Utility relocation costs
   4. Costs of environmental avoidance, minimization, and mitigation (e.g., wetlands avoidance or restoration)
   5. Community Impacts (including EJ, aesthetics, CSS, etc.)
3. Other Costs
   Contingency factor (generally, a percentage of total capital costs; this should consider costs of mitigating traffic operations during construction)