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Roadway Alignments as Assets: Evaluating Alternatives for Valuing Major Highway Corridor Rights of Way

Project Details
STATUS

Completed

START DATE

05/01/03

END DATE

12/31/03

RESEARCH CENTERS InTrans, CTRE, MTC
SPONSORS

Iowa Department of Transportation
Midwest Transportation Consortium

Researchers
Principal Investigator
David Plazak

About the research

In most highway asset management exercises, real estate used in alignments is considered to be an asset class that does not depreciate. Although the treatment of right of way assets as non-depreciable real property may be appropriate as an accounting exercise, the fact is that the real estate contained in transportation corridors can in fact lose value from a traffic service point of view. Such facilities become functionally obsolete in that they no longer serve the purpose which was intended when they were planned, designed and built.

This report is intended to begin a discussion of the topic of how highway alignments ought be valued as assets as opposed to how they generally are valued, at either book value or replacement value, since it can be shown that some highway alignments do in fact depreciate in value.


Funding Sources:
Iowa Department of Transportation
Midwest Transportation Consortium

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