National Scenic Byway
As National Scenic Byways in to United States streets, made up, in its course by attractions with an outstanding archaeological , cultural or historical significance by an environment with high recreational and leisure value or particularly interesting natural and landscape conditions are characterized.
The corresponding intrinsic qualities that characterize such a route must be of at least significant regional importance. A smaller selection from the National Scenic Byways with landmarks of national importance that are also found in only one location in the United States are classified as All-American Roads . A road to be recognized as an All-American Road must have qualities that make it an interesting travel destination on its own.
The National Scenic Byways program, introduced in 1991, spends approximately $ 25 million per year. Roads were added to the program for the first time in 1996. As of 2005, 45 states have 27 roads recognized as All-American Roads and 98 roads as National Scenic Byways, most of them in the states of Colorado and Oregon . The longest contiguous of these roads is the Ohio River Scenic Byway (1,518 kilometers) and the shortest is the Las Vegas Strip (7.2 kilometers).
A comparable concept in Germany are the holiday routes .
History and legal basis
The recognition of a road as a National Scenic Byway and All-American Road is performed by the US Department of Transportation (Engl. United States Department of Transportation , DOT). The program is administered by the Federal Highway Administration . This publishes an invitation to tender for the nomination of corresponding roads at regular intervals. Proposals for a nomination can be submitted by any individual, by associations or by other organizations or local authorities to the authority responsible for Scenic Byways in the respective state. In most cases this is the relevant Ministry of Transport. The nominations must then be submitted to the relevant regional offices of the US Department of Transportation, who will review the documents and, if necessary, make a preselection. The proposals are then forwarded to the ministry. A commission of independent experts from the fields of tourism, transport and traffic as well as monument preservation then examines the proposals. Each member of the commission gives an individual evaluation for each nomination. The results are then compiled into a recommendation list by employees of the Department, on the basis of which the US Secretary of Transportation makes the final decision on recognition.
The program was introduced in 1991 by the US Congress as part of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) in order to preserve these interesting, but often little-traveled roads and to promote tourism and economic development in the corresponding regions. That bill allocated $ 74.3 million to the program. In 1998, the program was re-funded by the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) and $ 148 million grant. The extension of TEA-21 under the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, and Efficient Transportation Equity Act (SAFETEA) in 2005 will provide an additional $ 175 million through 2009. Since 1992, an average of approximately $ 25 million in government funding has been spent annually on the National Scenic Byways program. Starting in 2006, spending is expected to increase by $ 5 million per year to $ 43.5 million in 2009. The quota for funding from funds from the federal budget is usually 80 percent.
In May 1995, the Federal Highway Administration first published approval process guidelines, and in 1996 the first six All-American Roads and 14 other National Scenic Byways were selected. The first All-American Roads were the North Carolina portion of the Blue Ridge Parkway , the Selma to Montgomery March Byway in Alabama , the Pacific Coast Highway in California , the San Juan Skyway, and the Trail Ridge Road / Beaver Meadow Road in Colorado as well the Natchez Trace Parkway in Mississippi , Tennessee and Alabama. In further rounds of recognition in 1998 three All-American Roads and 30 National Scenic Byways, in 2000 six All-American Roads and 24 National Scenic Byways, in 2002 13 All-American Roads and 26 National Scenic Byways and in 2005 eight All-American Roads and 37 National Scenic Byways recognized. These figures include reallocations of National Scenic Byways to All-American Roads as well as the designation of additional sections of already recognized roads, so that, as of 2005, a total of 27 roads are designated as All-American Roads and 98 roads are designated as National Scenic Byways . Another tendering round took place in 2008, the nominations submitted are currently being assessed.
In 2005, the Federal Highway Administration received the Historic Preservation Award from the US Advisory Council on Historic Preservation for its activities as part of the National Scenic Byways program .
Other Scenic Byways programs
The US Department of Agriculture's forest administration has been running its own program since May 1988 to mark certain scenic roads as National Forest Scenic Byways , sometimes referred to as USDA Forest Service Byways . Similar programs also exist in most states, so that in addition to the 125 roads in the National Scenic Byways program, there are around 1,500 other roads marked as "Scenic Byway", "Scenic Highway" or "Scenic Drive" . Multiple awards for a street as part of various programs are possible.
In the context of the National Survey on Recreation and the Environment , a consumer survey conducted regularly in the USA on the subject of recreational activities, in 2002 70 percent of those questioned said that they knew the name "Scenic Byways". 38 percent were aware of the National Scenic Byways program. Around 63 percent said they occasionally use marked roads, around a third say they do so regularly.
Features of Scenic Byways
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Scenic Byways are mostly designed as a side route of a regular highway and are indicated accordingly by information boards. In many cases, these are older roads that have been replaced by newly built long-distance and bypass roads and have thus lost their original meaning as routes for long-distance travel and goods transport. The condition of these roads, for example with regard to their width, the number of lanes and other road construction specifications, therefore no longer corresponds in some cases to the standards that apply today. However, part of the Scenic Byways has also been modernized as part of the funding provided by the program. In addition, there are also Scenic Byways, which were designed and built from the outset as primarily tourist routes or as feeders to a specific sight. Some Scenic Byways are also designed as routes which, following their thematic orientation, consist of sections of several different regular highways. They are then not recognizable on normal road maps as a separate road with the same numbering throughout, so that in this case you have to rely on the signs as Scenic Byway. Most National Scenic Byways already indicate their relevance by a corresponding name, such as the George Washington Memorial Parkway in Virginia , the Ohio River Scenic Byway in Illinois , Indiana and Ohio , or the Native American Scenic Byway in North Dakota and South Dakota .
The total of 125 All-American Roads and National Scenic Byways are located in 45 states, with the exception of Hawaii , New Jersey , Massachusetts , Rhode Island and Texas so far . The states with most of these roads are Colorado and Oregon with ten, New Mexico with eight, and California , Illinois , Minnesota and Utah with seven All-American Roads or National Scenic Byways. 13 of these roads run through two states and three roads run through three states. The roads that cross most of the states are the Great River Road - Minnesota, Wisconsin , Iowa , Illinois, Missouri , Kentucky , Tennessee , Arkansas , Mississippi , and Louisiana , for a total of 3,330 kilometers (2,069 miles) - and the Historic National Road , which follows the first interstate highway in US history for 1,326 kilometers (824 miles) through Illinois, Indiana , Maryland , Ohio , Pennsylvania, and West Virginia . The longest contiguous road among the National Scenic Byways is the Ohio River Scenic Byway at 1,518 kilometers (943 miles) , and the shortest at 7.2 kilometers (4.5 miles) is Las, which is designated as an All-American Road Vegas Strip . A special feature of the National Scenic Byways is the Alaska Marine Highway . It is a ferry service that starts in Washington State and runs for 14,217 kilometers (8,834 miles) along the Pacific coast of Alaska. Several sections of the well-known Route 66 have been designated as a National Scenic Byway since 2005 for a total length of 2,269 kilometers (1,410 miles) under the name Historic Route 66 . The Lincoln Highway , the oldest transcontinental highway in the United States, is a 288-kilometer (179-mile) section of its original length of 5,455 kilometers (3,389 miles) in Illinois as a National Scenic Byway.
The Beartooth Highway in Montana and Wyoming , often referred to as America's most beautiful highway, was recognized as an All-American Road and also included in the National Forest Scenic Byways program and the Wyoming State Scenic Byways program. It offers a transition from dense forest to tundra-like vegetation and ice glaciers over a distance of 111 kilometers (69 miles) , and at Beartooth Pass an ascent to an altitude of 3,345 meters. The other Scenic Byways mentioned below are also characterized by their inclusion in three different Scenic Byways programs. This selection thus represents roads whose qualities as well as regional and supra-regional importance for tourism are generally recognized. Such triple recognition through the National Scenic Byways Program, the National Forest Scenic Byways Program and the respective state program applies to the Talladega Scenic Drive in Alabama , The Seward Highway in Alaska , the Coronado Trail Scenic Byway , the Kaibab Plateau North Rim Parkway and Sky Island Scenic Byway in Arizona , Talimena Scenic Drive in Arkansas and Oklahoma , Grand Mesa Scenic and Historic Byway and San Juan Skyway in Colorado , Russell-Brasstown National Scenic Byway in Georgia , Tioga Road / Big Oak Flat Road in California , Edge of the Wilderness and North Shore Scenic Drive in Minnesota , Kancamagus Scenic Byway and White Mountain Trail in New Hampshire , Trail of the Mountain Spirits Scenic Byway and Turquoise Trail in New Mexico , the Cascade Lakes Scenic Byway , the Hells Canyon Scenic Byway , the Rogue-Umpqua Scenic Byway, and the McKenzie Pass-Santiam Pass Scenic Byway in Oregon , the Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway in South Dakota , The Energy Loop: Huntington & Eccles Canyons Scenic Byways , the Flaming Gorge-Uintas Scenic Byway , Highway 12 - A Journey Through Time Scenic Byway , the Logan Canyon Scenic Byway, and the Nebo Loop Scenic Byway in Utah , Stevens Pass Greenway in Washington and the Highland Scenic Highway in West Virginia .
Individual evidence
- ^ B. Koth, G. Green: Scenic byways findings from the National Survey on Recreation and the Environment. America's Byways Resource Center, Duluth, MN 2004; Online: America's Byways® Community ( Memento from December 17, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF file, 103 kB)
literature
- National Geographic Society (Ed.): Guide to Scenic Highways and Byways. Third edition. National Geographic Books, Washington, DC 2007, ISBN 1-42-620056-0
- Jamie Jensen: Road trip USA. Volume 1: On America's back roads from east to west. Reich, Luzern 2002, ISBN 3-72-430341-6
- Jamie Jensen: Road trip USA. Volume 2: On America's Old Highways North to South. Reich, Luzern 2002, ISBN 3-72-430345-9
- Readers Digest (Ed.): The Most Scenic Drives in America: 120 Spectacular Road Trips. Reader's Digest Association, Pleasantville, NY 2005, ISBN 0-76-210580-1
