Context Sensitive Solutions
…A Better Way of Doing Business
Developed by:
John Eddy, Project Development Branch
Yates Oppermann, Environmental Programs Branch
Hilary Hawthorne, Project Development Branch
Course Agenda
• Welcome / Introductions / Why CSS? / Course Objectives
– Exercise No. I: “Beyond Our Pavement”, Pt. I
• The History of Context Sensitive Solutions
– Exercise No. II: “Beyond Our Pavement”, Pt. II
• What is Context Sensitive Solutions?
*BREAK (10 minutes)*
• Apprehensions, Challenges and Benefits of CSS: An Agency
Perspective
Course Agenda
• The Project Stakeholder
– Exercise No. III: “In Their Shoes”
• Multi-Disciplinary Team
– Exercise No. IV: “In Their Shoes” – Part II - PRESENTATIONS
*BREAK (10 minutes)*
• Successes of CSS
• What is My Role?
• Conclusion: Survey Review, Acknowledgement of Commitment
and Questions
Welcome / Introductions
• CSS Survey
• Introductions
– Name / Position / Work Location
– CSS experience
– What do you wish to obtain from this training?
Why CSS?
• Public Expectations
• FHWA “Vital Few Goals”
• Chief Engineer Policy Memo 26 – Context Sensitive Solutions
• “CSS Program” Development
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Training
Resources / Support
Policies (Environmental Stewardship Guide)
Implementation
• Public Expectations
Course Objectives
• Identify and discuss Context Sensitive Solution (CSS)
principles and practices.
• Establish a better understanding of how CSS can be
implemented in business activities.
– Management / Administration
– Design / Construction / Maintenance
– Environmental
• Establish a shift in CSS culture within CDOT.
– Widen our “field of vision”
– Encourage CSS practices to become more commonplace
• Certification / Acknowledgement of Commitment.
Exercise No. 1
“Beyond Our Pavement”
- Part I
•
What features can you readily identify about the project
area?
•
What does the picture say about the landscape which a
transportation project on this road might impact?
•
What impacts are likely to result from a project in this area?
GO TO PROJECT PHOTO
History of CSS
• Campaign Era (pre-1960’s)
– Characterized by public information efforts that focused on
improving driver behavior in order to improve safety:
• “Stop, Look, & Listen”
• “The Life You Save May Be Your Own”
• “Speed Kills”
– Design began to adopt “standards”
– Prevailing attitude: “Drivers who left the roadway …
• Action Era (early/mid-1960’s)
– 1966 National Highway Safety Act passed by Congress
• Adopted 16 highway safety standards
– Money was allocated for standards adoption, implementation,
enforcement, education and research
History of CSS (cont.)
• Priority Era (mid-1960’s)
– Revenue shortfalls frequent
– Required transportation officials to target money to areas with the
highest return on safety dollars spent.
• Public Involvement Era (late 1960’s)
– Designs had significant impacts on social, environmental and
historical sites.
– Public demands for participation in decision-making process.
– Laws developed to ensure opportunities for public involvement.
• Environmental Era (late 1960’s / early 1970’s)
– National Environmental Policy Act established (1969)
– Trade-offs between competing needs becoming more apparent
History of CSS (cont.)
• Modal Era (post-1980’s)
– Focus on increasing vehicle occupancy and integration of different
modes of transportation
– Changes to access considerations for the disabled
• Context Sensitive Solution Era (1990’s-present)
– Combination of preceding eras
– Benefits of safety design elements must be weighed against
alternative solutions which optimize the benefits of competing
factors.
– Fear of lawsuits and tort liability has restrained our ability to make
trade-offs that allow for full optimization of a project’s
components.
– Designs must be increasingly flexible and allow for more judgment
in consideration of issues beyond that of safety.
History of CSS (cont.)
• Context Sensitive Design (CSD) evolved during these
transportation eras in an effort to adopt the viewpoint that
highway projects, in many respects, extends beyond the
highway itself.
• Many agencies, in recent years, have become equally
concerned with outcomes rather than just “processes”, ie. the
construction, maintenance and operation of a highway system.
• The result has been the adoption of “Context Sensitive
Solutions” (CSS) to better represent the integration of all key
functions of transportation agencies.
• References to CSD and CSS should be considered
interchangeable.
Exercise No. 2
“Beyond Our Pavement”
- Part II
• What additional features can you readily identify about the
project area which were not easily know in the prior exercise?
• Can you identify an issue of concern not related to your field of
expertise?
• What impacts are likely to result from a project in this area?
GO TO SLIDESHOW
What is CSS?
• CSS characterizes every project with a context, as defined by
the:
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Terrain / Topography
Immediate/Surrounding community features and values
Facility Users
Other
• CSS promotes a broader look at our project areas, as well as a
better understanding of impacts a project may have beyond
that of attaining our transportation goals.
• CSS allows us to equally address safety and mobility, as well
as preserve scenic, aesthetic, historic, environmental, and
other community values.
What is CSS? (cont.)
• CSS promotes a collaborative use of multi-disciplinary teams to
find transportation solutions for a given project.
• CSS is about using the information within a project to best
understand and define a project’s purpose and need.
• CSS promotes the sharing of information, concerns and ideas
with and amongst project stakeholders.
• In summary, CSS is a collaborative, interdisciplinary approach
that involves all stakeholders to develop transportation facility
that fits its physical setting and preserves scenic, aesthetic,
historic and environmental resources, while maintaining safety
and mobility. - FHWA
CSS is … A Delicate Balance!
Apprehensions:
An Agency Perspective
It sounds so simple and so practical…what’s stopping us?
• Costs?
– Does CSS really cost more money?
• The up front investment saves considerably more money that might
otherwise be realized
– Modifying designs
– Litigation
• Time?
– Does CSS really add time to the project delivery schedule?
• Any additional time allocated up front is typically far less then the time
required of:
– Design changes
– Project financing
– Litigation
Apprehensions:
An Agency Perspective (cont.)
• Resources and Know-how?
– Do we have the experience necessary to ensure CSS is properly
implemented on our projects?
• At CDOT, there are a large number of folks with experience
implementing CSS who can assist you on your project
– Environmental Branch
– Engineering/Maintenance peers
– Project Development Branch
• Advanced training will be developed and offered in the coming
years to further the CSS capabilities of CDOT employees
• Support from Management?
– Do we have the support of management to implement CSS on our
projects?
• Chief Engineer Policy Memo 26 has been embraced and
endorsed by CDOT Branch Managers and RTD’s
Challenges of CSS
So now that we have overcome our apprehensions, what are some
of the challenges that we can expect (a few examples):
• Certain project items may be cost-prohibitive and may require
applying a less then desirable solution
• Development of aesthetic treatment guidelines
• Establishing local maintenance agreements, i.e. railroad
crossings, roadside landscaping, etc.
• Public Cooperation and satisfaction with ROW processes
• Establishing local agency and utility agreements
• Encounters with misinformed stakeholders
Benefits of CSS
a few examples:
• Improves project quality
• Improves relationships with resource agencies, environmental
organizations and communities
• Promotes creativity in problem-solving
• Results in higher level of customer-satisfaction with highway
projects
• Leads to cost-effective environmental benefits
The Project Stakeholder
• What is a stakeholder?
– A project stakeholder is anyone or anything directly or indirectly
affected by a project’s development and outcome
• Who are the project stakeholders?
– Internal
• Engineering, Environmental, Maintenance
• Public Relations
• Consultant business partners
– External
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•
•
•
Community leaders and residents
Business owners
Federal, state and local agencies
Commuters
– Others?
The Project Stakeholder
(cont.)
• What do stakeholders have to offer?
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Concerns
Ideas
Local knowledge
Expertise
Others?
• Why do we need to involve stakeholders?
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Federal policy
More to gain than lose
Leads to consensus on project decisions
Others?
Exercise No. 3
“In Their Shoes” – Part I
Refer to map of Mount Morgan in your handouts
The Multi-Disciplinary Team
• What:
– A project management / development team authorized to identify
and assess issues, as well as provide guidance in the decisions
related to a project’s development
• Who:
– Representatives should be chosen based upon the specific needs
of the project
– Prospective Candidates:
• Engineering
• Environmental
• Maintenance (often overlooked)
• Federal / local agency representatives
• Public*
The Multi-Disciplinary Team
(cont.)
• Purpose:
– Bridge differing points of view to successfully implement projects
– Implement an effective decision-making process for the project
– Ensure specialty issues are represented and addressed with the
appropriate level of expertise
– Enables multiple disciplines to effectively accommodate
competing interests
The Multi-Disciplinary Team
(cont.)
The MDT is utilized to implement effective decision-making on a
project by providing:
– Management Structure
• Identifying decision points and appointing decision-making
responsibility
– Problem/Purpose and Need Definition
• Developing a list of transportation problems to be addressed
and transforming into a project “purpose & needs” statement
– Project Development and Evaluation Framework
• Developing a framework for evaluating design alternatives,
including evaluation criteria
The Multi-Disciplinary Team
(cont.)
The MDT is utilized to implement effective decision-making on a
project by providing (cont.):
– Alternative Development
• Ensures stakeholder values are represented in alternative
solutions developed for the project
– Alternative Screening, Evaluation and Selection
• Provides for an “apple to apple” comparison of proposed
alternatives and the selection of a preferred alternative
– Implementation
• Developing a project funding plan and monitoring changes in
design and mitigation
Exercise No. 4
“In Their Shoes” – Part II
Successes with CSS
• Large projects are the most visible:
– Glenwood Canyon
– Berthoud Pass
– I-25/Pueblo
• Medium and small projects can reap equal rewards without the
visibility:
– Region 5 turnout
– Vail / Avon round-a-bouts
– Overlays
Successes with CSS
• Photos:
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CO 135 North of Almont
Skipper island Maintenance Project, Grand Junction
Castlewood Canyon: Historic and Aesthetic Considerations
CDOT Beaver Baffles, Frisco
Luber By-pass
Hanging Lake in Glenwood Canyon
Berthoud Pass
Pine Mountain Kentucky
Big 5 Mine and Colorado Blvd
Absarokee, Montana
Urban Deck, Virginia Maryland
Keosauqua, Iowa Bridge Project
Culvert, South East Colorado
What’s My Role?
• Embrace the principles of CSS
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Try to put yourselves in the shoes of others.
Recognize that there are a large number of “customers” out there.
Do not think a project is too small or insignificant for CSS.
Encourage others to apply CSS principles.
• Identify relevant CSS practices
– Assess what your project role is.
– What changes can you make in your everyday tasks?
– Become more involved in your own communities transportation
concerns
– Do I have the expertise to address stakeholder concerns?
– Who are my contacts when I don’t know what to do?
What’s My Role? (cont.)
• Senior Transportation Administrators
– Support the cultural shift
– Support investments in training and skill development
– Ensure projects are adequately financed, scheduled and delivered
on-time within budget
• Project Managers
– Appreciate the duties and challenges of each discipline, as well as
the contributions each discipline makes to a project
– Balance wide range of budgetary and resource prioritization issues
– Avoid miscommunication by disorganization
• Transportation Design Professionals
– Proper identification and implementation of critical design criteria
– Develop creative and affordable design solutions which are
consistent with good engineering practice and principles
What’s My Role? (cont.)
• Environmental Managers
– Assess impacts of project alternatives
– Interact effectively with engineering professionals and public
– Support inexperienced engineering staff with CSS efforts
• Construction Staff
– Avoid changes to project plans which may impact decisions made
as a result of CSS processes
– Maintain good “customer” relations during construction
– Participate in appropriate steps of design process
• Maintenance
– CDOT Management recognizes your responsibilities as equally
significant in the CSS effort
– Recognize visibility and impacts of work activities
– Build relationships with area stakeholders
– Participate in appropriate steps of design process
What’s Next
• Project Development Branch to administer this training to over
2000 employees within CDOT
• Advanced training to be developed as funding and scheduling
opportunities permit
• Ultimately, CDOT will administer and support fully-sufficient
CSS Program
• References available for your use:
– NCHRP Report 480 (www.css.org)
– Regional and Staff Environmental, Maintenance and
Engineering staff (Become a resource for your peers)
Conclusion
• Survey review
• Questions