Draft for Review
Casey Arborway Project
Proposal for Sustainable Design
(To be discussed at 5/16 DAG Meeting)
“By focusing on livability, we can help transform the way transportation serves the American
people—and create safer, healthier communities that provide access to economic opportunities.”
— Ray LaHood, U.S. DOT, Secretary of Transportation
Key Terms and Definitions:
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Livability: The use of transportation investments to improve the standard of living, the
environment, and quality of life for all communities. Livable communities are places
where transportation, housing and commercial development investments have been
coordinated so that people have access to adequate, affordable and environmentally
sustainable travel options.
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Sustainability: The integration of basic social and economic needs into designs that
recognize the responsible use of natural resources. Sustainable development addresses
the needs of current generations without compromising the ability of future generations
to meet their own needs.1
PURPOSE:
To utilize new and innovative designs, processes, and materials to reduce infrastructure
maintenance, minimize life cycle costs, and enhance the quality of life in the Casey Arborway
Project area.
APPROACH:
During the planning phase of the Casey Project, MassDOT advanced a new method of
evaluating the design to include an assessment of mobility and livability benefits. The Measures
of Evaluation (MOEs) that were subsequently developed broke new ground for identifying,
defining, and measuring livability principles based on the communities’ interest in integrating
holistic sustainable concepts into the designs. As the Casey Project moves into design phase,
the team will to advance the concept of sustainable infrastructure design into reality. The
design team will examine, in coordination with agency owners of the infrastructure, new
approaches to design various elements of Casey Arborway Project roadways, landscaping,
lighting, and operational enhancements that meet with the following objectives and sample
examples.
1
FHWA, US DOT, INVEST: https://www.sustainablehighways.org/296/what-is-sustainability.html
Thursday, May 17, 2012
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Draft for Review
SPECIFICS:
Design Objectives: Define what project attributes contribute to roadway sustainability.
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Materials & Resources: Incorporate sustainable technologies in design materials and
reuse/recycle when appropriate.
Operations & Maintenance: Perform a Life Cycle Cost Assessment (LCA) on all design
features.
Quality of Life: Seek quality of life for all while managing resources wisely.
Effectiveness in safety: Lighting, pavement types and markings, etc.
Areas of Analysis:
1. Reducing the Urban Heat Island: (e.g. different hard surface paving materials, use of
cool pavement, increase tree canopy with species that meet DRC standards and
Olmsted design, etc.)
2. Roadways: materials, costs, maintenance (e.g. recycled pavement, rubber-modified hotmix asphalt, use of regional materials, etc.)
3. Landscaping: maintenance, filtration of sounds and pollution, temperature and salt
sensitivity, etc. (e.g. grass that requires mowing twice a year, non-invasive local plants,
incorporate xeriscaping, etc.)
4. Water Resources and Management: (e.g. rain gardens, bioswales, permeable pavement,
maximize evapotranspiration potential, etc.)
5. Lighting (Signals and Street Lights): cost, maintenance, efficiency (e.g. install Energy Star
qualified LED street lights)
RESOURCES AND REFERENCES
The Study Team will utilize the following resources to develop and evaluate the appropriate
sustainable principles, measures, and elements to include in the Casey Arborway Project
designs.
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MassDOT Sustainability and Livability Policy Framework including:
o GreenDOT
o The Healthy Transportation Compact
o Global Warming Solution Act 2008 (with MassDEP)
City of Boston Complete Streets Guidelines
Greenroads sustainability rating system for roadway design and construction
Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure Envision Sustainability Rating System
FHWA INVEST Sustainable Highways Self-Evaluation Tool
CTPS – “Paths to a Sustainable Region”, Long-Range Transportation Plan
Thursday, May 17, 2012
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