Engineering Inc. - March/April 2010 - 16

through Deception Pass State Park, had a long-suffering history of collisions and traffic mishaps, with some vehithe Minnesota Dot offers these six cles careening off the road. key principles of CSS and CSD: One of the main sources >> Balance safety, mobility, of trouble was a 1930s-era community and environmental stretch of guardrail. The goals in all projects; structure employed stone >> involve the public and affected masonry bollards to hold its “CSS is a more agencies early and continuously; long metal protective rail in comprehensive >> Use an interdisciplinary team place. Though the design fell methodology. short of modern engineering tailored to project needs; It provides a and safety standards, Wash>> apply flexibility inherent in design ington State Department of way to build standards; Driving Results projects that are Transportation’s (WSDOT’s) >> address all modes of travel; and As more engineering firms Dave Olson explains, “it was >> incorporate aesthetics as an adopt CSS, the national a good fit for a a sticking point for the Park integral part of good design. landscape is changing. Not community.” Service because they wanted unlike Northwest Highway DaviD tayLor to retain the character of the That’s when the Texas Department of in Dallas, troubled projects— hDr engineering, inc. park.” Transportation (TxDOT) turned to a once mired in frustration and Working with community process known as Context Sensitive Solu- bureaucratic morass—are moving again. members, engineers and others, WSDOT tions (CSS). Working with various conBefore CSS, the Shelby Farms Parkway eventually settled on a modern guardrail stituencies, including community groups, in Memphis, a proposed 1.8-mile stretch of system that met NCHRP 350 standards— TxDOT developed a plan for modernizing roadway through a 4,500-acre urban park, FHWA safety criteria for traffic control and rebuilding bridges, reconfiguring low- sat untouched for more than 30 years. Pub- devices—yet fit the character of the park. lying sections of roadway and integrating lic opposition and disagreements over the A plastic composite gives the new system new hiking and bike trails that run parallel scope of the project made it impossible to the appearance of wood logs, which are to traffic. move forward. mounted in front of the stone barriers. One “People were passionate about their In 2004, the Tennessee Department of of the first such installations in the nation, neighborhoods,” explains James Frye, asso- Transportation (TDOT) introduced a CSS- Olson calls it a “textbook” example of how ciate vice president at HNTB Corporation, based approach to the project. Soon plans CSS can shape a project and create a better a Dallas-based engineering firm that worked were moving again. outcome. on the project. “The ability to incorporate Several groups worked with the mettheir ideas went a long way toward achiev- ropolitan planning organization to study Designs on Progress ing success.” travel demand and examine how various It wasn’t always this way. Half a century Across the country, CSS—also called scenarios would impact traffic flow at dif- ago, transportation planners designed and Context Sensitive Design ferent times of the day, par- built highways with a primary goal in mind: (CSD)—is gaining tracticularly during peak travel moving traffic from Point A to Point B. tion. Some two dozen states hours. Engineers employed Officials frequently relied on eminent and several local transportasimulations and visualiza- domain laws to clear a path for infrastruction agencies have adopted tions to better understand ture projects. They often paid scant attenthe concept. And experts say the project and keep con- tion to aesthetics, landscaping, the needs those numbers are growing. stituents informed. They also of cyclists and pedestrians, environmental What separates CSS from examined similar projects impact or other potentially serious social other infrastructure design and gleaned best practices. In implications. Minimizing upfront project methods is its philosophy. February 2006, TDOT pre- expenses drove the process; everything else Where more dated concepts “These are sented a final design recom- was an afterthought. stressed such factors as time- things that good mendation with four 12-foot “A project would wind up 60 percent or liness and efficiency, often traffic lanes and provisions 70 percent complete, and the public would at the expense of aesthetics planners and for walkers, runners and find out about the plan and object to cerand community buy-in, CSS good engineers bicyclists. The $20 million tain elements of it,” says David Linderman, approaches the design and have been doing project is slated for comple- vice president at Palmer Engineering Comengineering of infrastructure for many years.” tion in 2014. pany in Winchester, Ky. As a result, agenin a holistic fashion, incor- Jerry StUMp CSS also is making inroads cies sometimes faced strong opposition, porating input from citizens, Wilbur Smith ASSociAteS in Washington State. State lawsuits and protracted legal skirmishes. neighborhood associations Route 20, which runs “In some cases, the planners would have toENGiNEEriNG iNc. March / april 2010 The Six Essential Elements of CSS and other agencies, toward a more balanced solution. Most important, it aims to maintain that balance through the project’s entire lifecycle. “CSS is a more comprehensive methodology,” explains David Taylor, national director for sustainable transportation solutions at HDR Engineering, Inc., in Omaha, Neb. “It provides a way to build projects that are a good fit for a community.”

Engineering Inc. - March/April 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Engineering Inc. - March/April 2010