Final Designation of the Highway Primary Freight Network

This notice publishes the final designation of the highway- only Primary Freight Network (highway-only PFN). Section 167(d) of title 23, United States Code (U.S.C.) requires the Secretary of Transportation to establish the highway-only PFN and re-designate it every 10 years, giving consideration to certain factors. This designation meets the requirements of the law, but the Department and a multitude of public comments recognize that the highway-only PFN fails to demonstrate that freight moves through a complex and extensive network of highways, railroads, waterways, pipelines, and airways. While specific commodities are likely to be moved on a particular mode or series of modes, a complex multimodal system is required to carry the growing volume of bulk and high-velocity, high-value goods in the United States. In addition, the 27,000-mile cap required by the law does not yield a PFN representative of all the critical highway elements of the United States freight system. While the Department is designating the highway-only PFN to meet the statutory requirements of the authorizing law, the Department is concurrently and simultaneously proposing a comprehensive Multimodal Freight Network for public comment in the draft National Freight Strategic Plan to identify key infrastructure for all modes that is critical for the efficient movement of freight.