(a) Roads and Trails in System Units.—The Secretary may construct, reconstruct, and improve roads and trails, including bridges, in System units.

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Terms Used In 54 USC 101511

  • county: includes a parish, or any other equivalent subdivision of a State or Territory of the United States. See 1 USC 2
  • State: means a State, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any other territory or possession of the United States. See 1 USC 7

(b) Approach Roads.—

(1) In general.—

(A) Designation.—When the Secretary determines it to be in the public interest, the Secretary may designate, as System unit approach roads, roads whose primary value is to carry System unit travel and that lead across land at least 90 percent owned by the Federal Government and that will connect the highways within a System unit with a convenient point on or leading to the National Highway System.

(B) Limit on length of approach roads.—

(i) In general.—A designated approach road shall not exceed—

(I) 60 miles in length between a System unit gateway and a point on or leading to the nearest convenient National Highway System road; or

(II) 30 miles in length if the approach road is on the National Highway System.


(ii) County limit.—Not to exceed 40 miles of any one approach road shall be designated in any one county.


(C) Supplementary part of system unit highway system.—An approach road designated for a System unit shall be treated as a supplementary part of the highway system of the System unit.


(2) Construction, reconstruction, and improvement.—

(A) In general.—The Secretary may construct, reconstruct, and improve approach roads designated under paragraph (1) (including bridges) and enter into agreements for the maintenance of the approach roads by State or county authorities or to maintain the approach roads when otherwise necessary.

(B) Annual allocation.—Not more than $1,500,000 shall be allocated annually for the construction, reconstruction, and improvement of System unit approach roads.


(3) Approval of secretary of agriculture required.—When an approach road is proposed under this section across or within any national forest, the Secretary shall secure the approval of the Secretary of Agriculture before construction begins.


(c) Agreement With Secretary of Transportation.—Under agreement with the Secretary, the Secretary of Transportation may carry out any provision of this section.