Casey Arborway Project
Design Advisory Group
Meeting Guidelines
Design Advisory Group - Roles and Responsibilities
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation has established the Casey Arborway Project Design
Advisory Group (DAG) to assist and support MassDOT and its technical consultant team with the design of
the Casey Arborway Project in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston. MassDOT is designing a new atgrade roadway to replace the existing Casey Overpass, and the work of the DAG will focus exclusively on the
design of the roadway and its ancillary infrastructure. MassDOT established the DAG in April of 2012 and it
is expected that the work of the group will require approximately 18 months to be complete. At that point,
the Casey Arborway Project will transition into construction, and the nature of the public input will shift to
focus on construction-related issues.
It is the role of the DAG to provide information and suggestions to MassDOT and its technical consultant
team on the design of the Casey Arborway Project. DAG members are expected to be willing and able to
provide local insight on issues of relevance to the design of the Casey Arborway Project. Members do not
need to be experts in the field of traffic engineering or transportation planning to be effective participants.
The Casey Arborway Project will be designed by MassDOT and its technical team. MassDOT will bring
design concepts to the DAG for discussion and reaction.
MassDOT requests that DAG members work constructively and efficiently, treat each other and
MassDOT/consultant team members with respect and courtesy, attend regularly and participate actively in
meetings, and work with their representing organizations to educate members of the Jamaica Plain
community and surrounding communities about the Casey Arborway Project. DAG members are also
strongly encouraged to attend project-related public meetings in order to hear from members of the
community who are not members of the DAG. DAG members should also encourage others to learn about
the project.
Meeting Guidelines
•
The DAG meetings are open to the community, but are working sessions for DAG members. As such,
DAG work will take precedence. If there is time at the end of the meeting, commentary will be taken
from audience members not on the DAG. Only DAG members and elected officials may still at the
table; all others are welcome to sit around the outside of the room.
•
DAG meetings will be facilitated by Kate Fichter of MassDOT (or a MassDOT substitute, in case Kate is
absent). Kate will begin and end meetings on time, and will manage the balance between presentation
and discussion so as to allow sufficient time for both. Other project staff will provide technical
presentations and information and answer questions.
•
In the interests of time and fairness, all members are asked to limit each question or comment to no
more than two minutes. Kate will politely indicate when the two-minute mark is approaching, if
MassDOT – Casey Arborway Project
1|P a g e
necessary. In addition, each DAG member will be invited to speak before any member speaks more than
once.
•
If a DAG meeting ends with questions unanswered, Kate will review them for the DAG membership at
the very end of the meeting and will commit to get responses back to the DAG members.
•
Kate will seek to achieve reasonable consensus on any issue under consideration by the DAG, although
consensus is not necessary for the work of the DAG to proceed. The opinions of the different DAG
members will be recorded in the meeting minutes and taken into consideration by MassDOT (as will all
DAG input).
•
MassDOT will hold DAG meetings on a regular schedule that will allow DAG members to consider
issues and offer timely comments; provide meeting agendas and materials in advance of the meetings;
provide understandable and accurate data and project information; provide printed copies of all meeting
information at the meetings; and record and distribute minutes of the meetings.
•
Members of the DAG are asked to make every possible effort to attend DAG meetings consistently.
Anyone who misses more than two meetings in a row will find it difficult to participate effectively in the
work of the DAG. In the case that a DAG member needs to be absent, members are encouraged to
send a designated substitute in their stead. Please notify Kate (katherine.fichter@state.ma.us) in advance
of a DAG meeting that a substitute will be participating in your place. Kate will ensure that the
substitute is introduced at the beginning of the meeting.
•
DAG members are strongly encouraged to stay focused on and limit the discussion to the issues on the
meeting agendas. Questions and comments related to other projects or unrelated issues may be ruled out
of order. MassDOT and its consultant team is aware that many of the elements of this project are tightly
interrelated and will make space for such connected questions and comments provided they are topical to
the Casey Arborway Project.
•
All DAG members are requested to listen to the opinions of others in an effort to ensure a constructive
and civil discussion. Bullying, raised voices, and personal attacks will not be permitted, either from
members of the DAG or from members of the public who attend DAG meetings. MassDOT/consultant
staff pledge to abide by these same expectations. Individuals who persist in uncivil behavior may be
asked to leave.
Kate and the Casey team will seek the support of all members of the DAG to respect these guidelines as we
work together.
MassDOT appreciates the time and effort that individuals commit to this kind of project and thanks them for
representing their communities and working to enhance the Casey Arborway design process.
MassDOT – Casey Arborway Project
2|P a g e