Task Force Meeting #5–
AGENDA & MATERIALS

Thursday, June 3, South Doyle Middle School Library

What Is Context Sensitive Design?
Context sensitive design (CSD) is a collaborative, interdisciplinary approach that involves all stakeholders to develop a transportation facility that fits its physical setting and preserves scenic, aesthetic, historic, and environmental resources, while maintaining safety and mobility. CSD is an approach that considers the total context within which a transportation improvement project will exist.

What are the Community Responsibilities?
If communities have rights in transportation planning, they also have responsibilities. The principal responsibility is to have a vision for their community. If the community has spent the time planning for what kind of place it wants to be, it is prepared to respond constructively when a transportation agency proposes a project. Rather than just say "no" or else accept what's proposed, they can make a proposal back to the agency -- for re-alignment, for re-designed intersections, for widened sidewalks, etc., etc. CSS, properly practiced, promises to use transportation projects to improve a community -- not just from the point of view of the motorist, but also from the point of view of the people who live there. The tremendous impact of transportation projects can be turned from what is frequently a negative force into a positive force.

A second responsibility is to play an active role in seeing that all stakeholders are involved in the planning process -- and in educating them about the problems and opportunities associated with a transportation project. This is a job that can be done much better by community people than by the DOT. It is also an important tool for community people, because local elected officials have a key role in signing off on road projects, and they will respond to a large and well-organized constituency.

The History of Context Sensitive Design
As citizens' expectations for better, safer roads have increased, a growing awareness of communities' needs has also emerged among designers. These two key factors contributed to bringing about this transformation in highway design and construction. Congress, the Federal Highway Administration, governors, State legislatures, and State transportation agencies have all played an integral part in this important evolution of highways. Meanwhile, public interest groups have worked to make developing better methods of highway design a major part of their agendas.

The following principles were presented at the 1998 workshop, Thinking Beyond the Pavement: A National Workshop on Integrating Highway Development With Communities and the Environment, held in Maryland.

Qualities of Excellence in Transportation Design

• The project is a safe facility for both the user and the community.
• The project is in harmony with the community, and it preserves environmental, scenic, aesthetic, historic, and natural resource values of the area, i.e., exhibits context sensitive design.
• The project exceeds the expectations of both designers and stakeholders and achieves a level of excellence in people's minds.
• The project involves efficient and effective use of the resources (time, budget, community) of all involved parties.
• The project is designed and built with minimal disruption to the community.
• The project is seen as having added lasting value to the community.

Characteristics of the Process Contributing to Excellence

• Communication with all stakeholders is open, honest, early, and continuous.
• A multidisciplinary team is established early, with disciplines based on the needs of the specific project, and with the inclusion of the public.
• A full range of stakeholders is involved with transportation officials in the scoping phase. The purposes of the project are clearly defined, and consensus on the scope is forged before proceeding.
• The highway development process is tailored to meet the circumstances. This process should examine multiple alternatives that will result in a consensus of approach methods.
• A commitment to the process from top agency officials and local leaders is secured.
• The public involvement process, which includes informal meetings, is tailored to the project.
• The landscape, the community, and valued resources are understood before engineering design is started.
• A full range of tools for communication about project alternatives is used (e.g., visualization).

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