Stakeholders may have concerns about and maintain interest in the details of final design and construction, primarily about mitigation methods and techniques put into place to reduce the impact on communities of project construction. It also is important for agencies to communicate changes to the project that may occur in the post-planning project phase, from changes to the plan, schedule delays, reductions in funding for mitigation or community-desired improvements (or VE), changes to construction detours, and to ensure that commitments made during the project development process are honored during the final design and construction phases of the project.
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Types of Highway Improvement Projects There are four basic types of physical improvement projects, some of which must comply with standards and others that do not have to comply. These types of improvement projects are discussed in the following paragraphs. more...
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Flexibility in Highway Design
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Right-of-Way, Construction and Maintenance
Maintenance post-construction, involvement of design team in the implementation phase.Once the final designs have been prepared and needed right-of-way is purchased, construction bid packages are made available, a contractor is selected, and construction is initiated. During the right-of-way acquisition and construction stages, minor adjustments in the design may be necessary; therefore, there should be continuous involvement of the design team throughout these stages. Construction may be simple or complex and may require a few months to several years. Once construction has been completed, the facility is ready to begin its normal sequence of operations and maintenance.
Even after the completion of construction, the character of a road can be changed by inappropriate maintenance actions. For example, the replacement of sections of guardrail damaged or destroyed in crashes commonly utilizes whatever spare guardrail sections may be available to the local highway maintenance personnel at the time. The maintenance personnel may not be aware of the use of a special guardrail design to define the "character" of the highway. When special design treatments are used, ongoing operation and maintenance procedures acknowledging these unusual needs should be developed. For example, the Oregon DOT has developed a special set of maintenance procedures for its scenic and historic highways.
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Flexibility in Highway Design
Kentucky Proposed I-66 KY
In 1997, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) completed a study that concluded that the Southern Kentucky Corridor (I-66) was feasible. The Somerset to London segment of the I-66 corridor is home to many natural, scenic, and sensitive areas. It had two existing linkages both which experienced safety and emerging traffic operational problems typical for their age and design characteristics. While many citizens favored improving KY 192 or at least supported the concept of constructing I-66, there was considerable opposition to the KYTC identified preferred corridor based on concerns with the environmental impacts along the corridor. Based on this opposition, KYTC acknowledged the need to reexamine the criteria and process that led them to identify the initially preferred alternative. Through the new alternatives development process and active stakeholder engagement, KYTC staff ultimately determined that an overall better alignment solution was available. In some respects the project is one of the reasons Kentucky has not only embraced Thinking Beyond the Pavement and Context Sensitive Design but has become a leader.
Danville-Riverside Bridge and Approach - Pennsylvania Danville-Riverside, PA
The project involved replacement of an existing two-lane Parker Through Truss bridge built in 1904 spanning the Susquehanna River, with a new 1,440 foot-long bridge with weathered steel haunched girders. The approach to the old bridge from Danville was on Mill Street, the center of the town's downtown commercial area. The final alignment for the new bridge on this side of the river directs traffic under two blocks of the West Market Street Historic District one block west of Mill Street, creating a 320 foot-long cut and cover structure before transitioning onto the four-lane Continental Boulevard which links to other major traffic routes. The lessons learned in this project process have helped shape PENNDOT's evolving pro-active effort to involve stakeholders earlier and more meaningfully in project planning, design and development.
Towson Roundabout Towson, MD
Towson, Maryland is a suburb of Baltimore, Maryland. Near the central part of the Towson business district, four major arterials converge at a single location. The awkward, multi-leg signalized intersection caused congestion and safety problems. In addition, the business community and City of Towson sought improvements to the economic viability of the downtown and believed that economic improvements were directly related to traffic improvements. A number of alternatives were developed, and eventually, a signalized roundabout, relatively new to the U.S. at the time, emerged as the preferred solution. The roundabout and streetscape project are considered a major success and are a source of local pride in the town of Towson.
