Sponsors (2)
Official title: Require the Secretary of Transportation to establish a grant program relating to the digitization of county roads and the creation of publicly accessible road datasets, and for other purposes.
Introduced July 30, 2026 by John R. Curtis · Last progress July 30, 2026
The bill funds digitization and public publication of county road maps to improve navigation, commerce, and emergency response—particularly for rural and under-resourced areas—while imposing modest federal costs, ongoing maintenance responsibilities, administrative burdens, and potential privacy concerns for landowners.
Rural residents, drivers, businesses, and emergency responders gain standardized, publicly accessible digital county road maps that improve navigation, commerce, and emergency response times.
Counties (especially under-resourced ones) can get federal grants to convert paper maps to digital formats and hire/train staff, lowering local costs to modernize mapping systems.
Published, standardized datasets increase compatibility with third-party mapping tools and navigation systems, making routes and mapping data more reliable for drivers and taxpayers.
All taxpayers fund the program: authorization of $20 million per year (FY2026–2031) plus administrative costs increases federal spending.
Publishing detailed road-level data publicly could raise privacy or security concerns for landowners and sensitive locations unless redaction safeguards are enforced.
Counties and local governments may face administrative burdens and need staff time or matching resources to apply for subgrants and meet data standards.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Creates a DOT pilot to award grants to States to digitize county roads and publish centralized, publicly accessible statewide road datasets.
Creates a DOT pilot grant program to help States and counties digitize county road records and create centralized, public road datasets to support rural commerce, navigation, and public safety. States apply for grants, run subgrant programs to help counties convert paper records and train staff, and serve as the statewide repository for standardized, publicly accessible road data. Authorizes $20 million per year for FY2026–FY2031 (available until expended) with the pilot to be established within 180 days of enactment; requires reporting to the Secretary and limits DOT administration to up to 2% of annual funds. The grant authority sunsets September 30, 2031, and the law preserves current legal road statuses while protecting sensitive archaeological/paleontological location data from public disclosure.