MDOT and Context Sensitive Solutions (CSS)

The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) has embraced CSS as a way of delivering on its mission of “providing the highest quality integrated transportation services for economic benefit and improved quality of life.” MDOT has a decentralized structure comprised of 7 Region offices and 26 Transportation Service Centers (TSC) throughout Michigan to encourage better working relationships between stakeholders and staff. This structure lends itself to a CSS approach to project development, construction and maintenance by providing ease of access to MDOT staff for stakeholders in addressing their community’s transportation needs from offices in or near their communities.

MDOT’s CSS policy consists of three fundamentals: Stakeholder Engagement, Flexibility, and Effective Decision Making. These fundamentals have been presented in on-going MDOT staff training since 2005. As a companion to the formal training, MDOT is currently working on tools to assist our region office staff in addressing local community needs and to help in building partnerships.

Guidelines For Stakeholder Engagement addresses:

• Why outreach to stakeholders is an important part of MDOT’s CSS policy.
• Key concepts of how to implement stakeholder engagement.
• How to determine the level of effort appropriate to the scope and scale of the project.
• When and how often engagement should take place.
• Identifying stakeholders and types of engagement techniques.
• How to follow-up and evaluate stakeholder satisfaction.

Further Reading:

MDOT Guidelines for Stakeholder Engagement Cover Letter