ITE BRIEFING INTEGRATING CONTEXT SENSITIVE SOLUTIONS IN PLANNING AND PROJECT DEVELOPMENT PROCESSES

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ITE BRIEFING INTEGRATING CONTEXT
SENSITIVE SOLUTIONSIN PLANNING AND PROJECT
DEVELOPMENT PROCESSES

• Janet DIgnazio
• IFC International
• Angelo Papastamos
• Utah Department of Transportation

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CSS in Planning Project Development Processes

• Background
• CSS definition and principles
• CSS in transportation planning
• Application of principles
• Selected case studies
• CSS in project development
• Application of principles
• Selected case studies

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What is CSS?

• Context sensitive solutions (CSS) is a
  collaborative, interdisciplinary approach that
  involves all stakeholders to develop a
  transportation facility that fits its physical
  setting and preserves scenic, aesthetic, historic
  and environmental resources, while maintaining
  safety and mobility. CSS is an approach that
  considers the total context within which a
  transportation improvement project will exist."
  -- Federal Highway
  Administration

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CSS Principles

• Strive towards a shared stakeholder vision to
  provide a basis for decisions
• Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of
  contexts
• Foster continuing communication and collaboration
  to achieve consensus
• Exercise flexibility and creativity to shape
  effective transportation solutions
• Preserve and enhance community and natural
  environments

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CSS in Planning

• Strive towards a shared stakeholder vision to
  provide a basis for decisions
• Entire systems planning area
• Multiple political jurisdictions
• Linkage to land use planning
• Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of
  contexts
• Natural and human
• Protected and community valued
• Asset to the community

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CSS in Planning

• Foster continuing communication and collaboration
  to achieve consensus
• Multi-disciplinary teams
• Stakeholder involvement
• Partnerships
• Exercise flexibility and creativity to shape
  effective transportation solutions
• Multi-modal
• Operational
• Non-transportation

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CSS in Planning

• Preserve and enhance community and natural
  environments
• Integrated planning
• Consultation
• GIS

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CSS in Planning

• FHWAs Report Integrating CSS in the
  Transportation Planning Process
• Literature review and annotated bibliography
• Extensive survey of MPOs
• Recasting of CSS Principles for application to
  LRP
• CSS in Planning Toolkit
• to investigate emerging successful practices,
  case studies, and policy guidance that can
  promote CSS principles in the transportation
  planning process

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CSS in Planning

• Case Studies for three planning processes
• State Long Range Planning
• MPO Planning
• Corridor Planning

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State Long Range Planning

• New Hampshire Transportation Business Plan
• Strategic plan for long term transportation goals
  and priorities
• Visioning policy framework for state LRP
• Driving purpose To ensure that transportation
  was serving the broader quality of life goals for
  the state

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State Long Range Planning

• Development led by Citizens Advisory Committee
• 24 members representing widely diverse
  perspectives
• natural resource interests
• transit agencies
• community development organizations
• State and county political leaders
• freight industry groups
• public health promotion organizations
• non-profit service groups
• DOT officials

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State Long Range Planning

• Strive towards a shared stakeholder vision to
  provide a basis for decisions
• Diversity of members on CAC
• CAC led public involvement process
• Create shared vision of transportation needs
• Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of
  contexts
• Required everyone understand transportation links
  to growth, development, and quality of life
• Dealt with the tension and trade-offs inherent in
  providing transportation to meet diverse goals

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State Long Range Planning

• Foster continuing communication and collaboration
  to achieve consensus
• Explicit strategic goal CAC would contribute to
  developing a culture of respectful
  communication
• Recommendation Clarify language to create more
  transparent and accessible process
• Preserve and enhance community and natural
  environments
• Diverse representation on CAC

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State Long Range Planning

• Exercise flexibility and creativity to shape
  effective transportation solutions
• State, region and local recommendations
• Strong support for transit and land use
  integration
• Focus on existing system
• Wellness Program for existing system
• Connectivity of local streets
• Corridor agreements for major roads
• Operational and demand management recommendations

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MPO Long Range Planning

• Albany, New York New Visions 2021
• Substantial increase in travel demand
• Emerging high tech employment sector
• Suburban residential development growth
• 79 political jurisdictions
• Backcasting process

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MPO Long Range Planning

• Regional consensus
• Region cannot build its way out of transportation
  problems
• Quality of life, mobility and economic vitality
  dependent on land use-transportation connection
• Need aggressive land use and demand management
  actions to meet social, economic and
  environmental goals

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MPO Long Range Planning

• Integrated planning features
• MPO supported linkage to land use
• Land use planning assistance to local
  jurisdictions
• 50 collaborative, jointly funded studies valued
  at 3 million

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MPO Long Range Planning

• Strive towards a shared stakeholder vision to
  provide a basis for decisions
• Visioning process
• Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of
  contexts
• Integrated planning to help establish context
• Preserve and enhance community and natural
  environments
• Unique natural areas and parkland identified and
  protected during planning process

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Corridor Planning

• NDOT I-15 Landscape Aesthetics Corridor Plan
• Pattern and Palette of Place adopted by NDOT in
  2002
• Landscape and aesthetics master plan for 230
  miles of road from CA to AZ border
• Includes overall landscape and aesthetic policies
  and guidelines to implement these in corridor
  planning and project development
• I-15 one of first corridors addressed

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Corridor Planning

• Broad based goals of corridor plans
• Improve safety for users
• Enhance environmental health
• Preserve communities identity
• Support states tourism economy
• Focus of planning effort to celebrate the
  uniqueness of Nevadas communities

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Corridor Planning

• Shared stakeholder vision
• Extensive public involvement
• User friendly tools for communicating
• Diagrams, maps and photos
• Schematic descriptions linked to specific
  locations and corridor segments
• Diagrams of prototypical road segments
  interchanges
• Design options for bridges presented
• Locations for welcome centers, scenic overlooks
  rest areas identified

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Corridor Planning

• Comprehensive understanding of contexts
• Master plan to set overall context
• Individual corridor plans to celebrate local
  differences
• Foster continuing communication and collaboration
  to achieve consensus
• Overall principles and specific details on
  specific design elements
• Cost estimates for construction and maintenance
• Including local understanding of local commitment
  for maintenance

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Corridor Planning

• Preserve and enhance community and natural
  environments
• Native or desert adapted landscaping
• Corridor segments determined by context

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QUESTIONS
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• Angelo Papastamos
• Utah Department of Transportation

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What is CSS?

• Context sensitive solutions (CSS) is a
  collaborative, interdisciplinary approach that
  involves all stakeholders to develop a
  transportation facility that fits its physical
  setting and preserves scenic, aesthetic, historic
  and environmental resources, while maintaining
  safety and mobility. CSS is an approach that
  considers the total context within which a
  transportation improvement project will exist."
  -- Federal Highway Administration

27
CSS Principles

• Strive towards a shared stakeholder vision to
  provide a basis for decisions
• Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of
  contexts
• Foster continuing communication and collaboration
  to achieve consensus
• Exercise flexibility and creativity to shape
  effective transportation solutions
• Preserve and enhance community and natural
  environments

28
CSS in Project Development

• Strive towards a shared stakeholder vision to
  provide a basis for decisions.
• Entire systems planning area
• Multiple political jurisdictions
• Linkage to land use planning
• Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of
  contexts.
• Natural and human
• Protected and community valued
• asset to the the community

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PART 2 PLANNING - CHAPTER 3
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PART 2 PLANNING - CHAPTER 4
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3500 South EIS (case study)

• Eight-mile EIS in built-out urban Salt Lake
  Region
• Address East/West mobility

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Utah Department of Transportation

• UDOT CSS Principles
• Address the Transportation Need
• Compatible with the Built and Natural Environment
• Be an Asset to the Community

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Bangerter Hwy.
3500 South
40 MPH
50 MPH
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2030 ADT
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Public Comment

• Popular comment from the public was Fix
  Bangerter
• Draft 3500 S EIS
• The community, together with the Project Team,
  determined that the Bangerter Highway/3500 South
  intersection needed something done soon and
  required a more in depth study than was feasible
  within the scope of this EIS.

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PART 2 PLANNING - CHAPTER 3
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CFI Phasing
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Field TriptoJuarez, Mexico
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3500 South Bangerter Highway CFI (Continuous
Flow Intersection)
How much will it cost? The CFI at 3500 South and
Bangerter Highway will cost about 8 million, as
opposed to 45-50 million for an interchange.
http//www.udot.utah.gov/cfi/
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Lessons Learned to Date with a Non-traditional
Concept (CFI)

• Put it terms of Community Environmental Impacts
  Costs Transportation Impacts
• Get to key decision makers early
• Contain dont go beyond implementing agency too
  early
• Keep expectations in line didnt sell the
  Silver Bullet
• Use graphics
• Use the right simulation tools
• Go see one with decision makers

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CSS THOUGHTS PUZZLE
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Asking Questions via the Phone

• If you have a question
• Press on your phone
• Record your name (you will be placed into the
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• When we start the Q and A session, we will ask
  the operator to open a phone line to someone with
  a question
• Ask your question after you are announced

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THANK YOU

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• Questions/Comments
• Nicola Williams
• Professional Development Associate
• ITE
• 1099 14th St., NW, Suite 300 West
• Washington, DC 20005
• 202-289-0222 ext. 155 nwilliams_at_ite.org