This handbook was written and edited by the many program stakeholders that contribute to the daily operation and success of the Park Roads and Parkways Program (PRP) over the years and today. The handbook represents a multi-discipline effort by professionals from the headquarters and field staff of the National Park Service and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). It provides an excellent working representation of the Park Roads and Parkways Program business practices. The manual compiles all the important policies, procedures and key milestone events at both the project and program levels. The manual was written for a broad audience of readers to give both a general and detailed accounting on how the program and project delivery aspects of the PRP work on a daily basis. The information articulated throughout the source provides helpful pointers on how the program works as experienced and detailed by the staff that deliver the multi-million dollar transportation construction program.

These professionals are the custodians of a vast transportation system that includes approximately 5,450 miles of paved roads, 4,100 miles of unpaved roads, 1,414 bridges, 63 Tunnels and 110 alternative transportation systems (e.g., buses, trolleys, ferries and trams). The paved roads alone stretch the distance between Washington DC and Los Angeles, California. The system of paved roads and bridges represent a Federal investment of over $20 billion dollars. In Fiscal Year 2007, the program covered the coordination, scheduling and tracking of a $225 million dollar construction program, with 320 projects in 116 parks, in seven regions and 42 states. Roadways and bridges provide critical access to and within the parks. With the support of our partner the FHWA, during Fiscal Year 2007 the NPS rehabilitated and reconstructed 97 miles of roadway achieving a 99 percent obligation rate of program funds. Actual construction (e.g., paving roads and rehabilitating bridges) constituted 75 percent of the total expenditures from the Park Roads and Parkways Program. The remaining 25 percent was for design, environmental compliance, planning and administration. This handbook seeks to capture the who, what, where, when and how the stakeholders deliver the PRP.

Business practices change through improvements to streamline processes, changes in legislation, increases and decreases in funding and integration of new technologies. Accordingly, this is an evolving document that will change and adapt to meet future challenges of the Park Roads and Parkways Program.

The document is intended to provide general guidance and best practices for administering the PRP and generally caring for the road and bridge based transportation infrastructure within the National Park Service.
This document does not take the place of formal laws, codes, regulations, executive and director orders, policies, design standards and interagency agreements.