Economic Analysis of Completing the Appalachian Development Highway System: Technical Report

This report is the second volume of a study that analyzed the effect of Appalachian Development Highway System (ADHS) development on economic growth in Appalachia, and the future economic benefits and costs of completing the system.

The purposes of this study were to describe the effects the ADHS’s development has had in connecting Appalachian people and businesses to economic markets, and its impacts on the Region’s economy; assess improvements in travel performance, trade, and economic development that can be expected from ADHS completion; and calculate the benefits and costs of completing the system, the return on investment of completing major corridors, and the transportation benefits and economic impacts of accelerating completion of the system.

Volume one of the study, Appalachian Development Highway System Economic Analysis Study: Synthesis of Findings to Date, reviewed and summarized the findings of previously published studies on the impacts of the ADHS on economic growth and transportation connectivity in Appalachia.

The ADHS was authorized by Congress with the purpose of stimulating economic development by reducing isolation and improving access for an economically depressed region that had been largely left unserved by the interstate highway system. ADHS completion will link the system to an integrated transportation network that will connect Appalachia to domestic and global markets.

Executive Summary (PDF: 4.3 MB)

Technical Report (PDF: 7.3 MB)

Related Files

Economic Analysis of Completing Corridor V in Mississippi
In May 2019 the Economic Development Research Group completed a companion piece to the 2017 ADHS Economic Impact Study regarding the potential impacts of completing ADHS Corridor V in Mississippi. In addition to the attached write-up which summarizes EDRG’s key findings and analyses, some of the quantitative results regarding supply chain and freight productivity impacts were utilized by Mississippi DOT in their grant application for USDOT’s 2019 INFRA program.
EDRG Analysis of Completing Corridor V (PDF: 450 KB)

Mississippi DOT INFRA Grant Application

ARC-FHWA Webinar 12/13/2017: Economic Impacts of the Appalachian Development Highway System
ARC and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) held a one-hour webinar on December 13, 2017, to examine the findings of the study Economic Analysis of Completing the Appalachian Development Highway System. ARC and FHWA staff reviewed the study’s methods and key findings, and discussed the role the ADHS plays in the Appalachian Region's economic development.
Watch the recorded webinar
Download the webinar presentation (PDF: 5 MB)