Mark Taylor

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Federal Lands HighwayApproach to Context
Sensitive Solutions
Presented By Mark Taylor Federal Lands
Highway FHWA Environmental
Conference Arlington, VA June 2006
Commitment to Excellence
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Todays Topics

• Federal Lands Highway Program and Delivery
  Approach
• Perspective and Philosophy
• Typical CSS Applications in FLH
• Some Examples
• Current Activities and Initiatives
• Issues and Concerns

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Federal Lands Highway Program

• Facilitate public road access to and within
  Federal Lands
• Provide engineering and technical services to the
  Federal land management agencies (FLMAs) and the
  transportation community
• Deploy new transportation technology
• Provide training and technical support

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FLH Approach to Delivery

• Through partnerships with each Federal land
  management (client) agency
• Mutual program responsibilities outlined in MOUs
  with each client agency
• Overall program is developed jointly
• Individual projects are prioritized and approved
  by the client agency
• Stewardship and oversight by FHWA

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FLH Partners/Customers

• National Park Service
• Forest Service
• Fish and Wildlife Service
• Bureau of Indian Affairs
• Department of Defense
• Native American Tribal Governments

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FLH Partners/Customers (contd)

• Other Agencies BLM, BOR, COE
• State DOTs
• Local Governments D.C., Towns, Counties
• FHWA Division Offices, Resource Center, RDT

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FLH Annual Program

• 75 Projects
• 800 Lane miles improved
• 35 Bridges improved
• 400 Million total expenditures
• 300 Million construction
• 100 Million non-construction, including
• 600 Internal work years
• 40 Million consultant and contract services
  (planning, design, construction support, etc.)

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Challenges Facing FLMAs

• Increasing demands on the system
• Land management versus access
• Infrastructure and environmental complexity
• Publics expectation to be more informed,
  involved with more input into decision-making
• Expectation to find context sensitive solutions
• Requirement to maintain safe, economical,
  sustainable, and technically sound facilities
• Fiscal and budget constraints, rising
  construction costs and budgetary impacts

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Opportunities

• Advancements in digital technology
• Integration of data and knowledge from diverse
  sources and multiple media
• Collaboration, data sharing, decentralization
• Communication media, speed, and coverage
• Leveraging advances in related industries
• Capability to better visualize, evaluate and test
  design scenarios during development
• Interdisciplinary, team culture and flexibility

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CSS Approach

• Outcome satisfies the purpose and need
• Explores alternatives that equally address goals
  for safety, mobility, protection of the
  environment, and reflect community values
• Involves a collaborative, interdisciplinary
  approach, and effective use of resources
• Involves stakeholders, resource agencies and the
  public as a part of the design team
• Ensures that outcome provides safety and
  mobility, and adds lasting value

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Why Does FLH Emphasize Context Sensitive
Solutions?

• Enables the organization to achieve its vision
• FHWA Vision Improving Transportation for a
  Strong America
• FLH Vision Create the best transportation system

the values of Federal and Tribal lands

• in balance
  with

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Perspective and Philosophy

• Long-standing partnerships with FLMAs
• Sensitivity to FLMA goals and values
• Joint Responsibility to Deliver Program
• Use expertise gained from partner agencies
• Share complementary knowledge skills
• National Perspective
• Partner with many agencies and State DOTs
• Broad geographical coverage
• Able to accommodate partner agency standards
• Retain Federal stewardship responsibility

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Typical CSS Applications

• Project Planning and Programming
• Project Development
• Environment
• Technical Services
• Project Management
• Construction

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FLH Application of CSS

• Interdisciplinary Team Approach
• Collaborative Decision-making involving all
  Stakeholders and the Public
• Balance Safety and Mobility Goals with Community
  Values Environment
• Flexible Application of Design Standards
• Primarily used in Design and Construction
  limited use in Planning and Programming

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What FLH Emphasizes

• Establish interagency, multi-disciplinary team
  based on project needs, purpose and scope
• Use early public involvement, integrated with
  scoping, to establish the purpose and need
• Facilitate continuous communication and feedback
  with partners and stakeholders
• First, understanding the project context to guide
  the evaluation of alternatives which address the
  mobility and safety needs
• Collaborative, participative decision-making

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Levels of Decision-making

• Expert-based
• Stakeholder-based
• Community-based

What Level Is Requested?
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Recommended Practices

• Verify the sound, factual basis for the purpose
  and need
• First listen to those who may be affected, before
  proposing a design solution(s)
• Be flexible to consider alternative,
  corridor-specific design criteria that meets the
  need
• Understand the basis for design criteria, and how
  it affects and addresses operational performance
  and safety risk

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Recommended Practices

• Verify what is needed for collaborative
  evaluation and decision-making
• Be ready, willing, creative and innovative to
  respond to local and environmental concerns
• Progressively fine tune the details that result
  in a better fit to the site conditions
• Follow proven processes that attend to details
  affecting quality, for all disciplines

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Improve the Design Process

• Ideas, analysis and criteria interact to create
  the solution.
• Advancing the vertices improves the process.
• Enhancing the vertices improves the solution.

Kanizsa Triangle the eye perceives a blank
upright equilateral triangle where none is
actually drawn
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Data and Performance

• Better data and tools needed for effective
  engagement of stakeholders and public
• Understanding the basis for design will result in
  a higher level of performance
• Facilities in sensitive environments face higher
  demands for performance
• Analysis, engineering, and construction all
  should be accomplished with higher levels of
  thinking, performance and quality

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Using Visualization to Support the CSS Approach

• Communicating the design process

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Why use Visualization?

• Promotes Context Sensitive Solutions
• Facilitates Involvement with Stakeholders and the
  Public
• Promotes Common Understanding
• Simulates the Proposed Facility
• How it Looks (End Product)
• How it Operates (Meets Needs)

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FHWA and FLH Policy

• Legislative 23 USC 625 for most FHWA and FLH
  programs - mandates conformance to AASHTO and/or
  other FHWA-approved State DOT policies
• FLH Program Manual and Interagency Agreements
  (MOUs) sets FLH policy
• FLH PDDM references FLH policy and establishes
  FLH standard practices, guidance, and expected
  design flexibility

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Highway StandardsUsed by FLH

• GenerallyAASHTO Green Book
• Policy on Geometric Design of
• Highways and Streets

• Federal Land Agency Standards

• State or Local Design Standards

• Tribal Government Standards

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AASHTO Green Book
Green Book Interstate Standards constitute the
design standards for NHS adopted by the FHWA
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CSS Road Standards

• Purpose and Function of the Road
• - Arterial? - Collector? - Local?
• - Special-Purpose?
• Level of Traffic
• - ADT? -Seasonal? -Design Vehicle?
• Balance Design Speed Roadway Width
• - With Purpose Function of Road
• - With Mobility and Safety Needs
• - With Community Environmental Values

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Some Examples

• Approach to delivery

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Scoping Rehabilitate vs. Reconstruct
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FLH Design Techniques

• Curvilinear Alignment
• Lie lightly on the land
• Follow existing contours
• Flowing alignment, varying views
• Coordination of horizontal and vertical
• Spiral transitions at ends of curves
• Consistent, self-enforcing design speed
• Iterative reviews to optimize alignment

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Curvilinear Alignment
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Roadside Features

• Slope Treatments
• Rounded Top of Cut and Toe of Fill
• Warping at Transitions to Cut and Fill
• Roughening and Compounding
• Rock Sculpting and Ledging
• Ditches
• Rounded, Vegetated
• Masonry Lined (Stone or Brick)
• Paved with Curbing
• Aesthetic Curbs and Pedestrian Sidewalks
• Fences and Appurtenances which Blend

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Aesthetic Traffic Barriers

• Weathering Steel W-beam
• Etched Galvanized Steel W-beam
• Steel-backed Timber Beam Guardrail
• Steel-backed Timber Log Guardrail
• Simulated Stone Concrete Guardwall
• Natural Stone w/Concrete Core Wall
• Crash Tested and Approved

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Mountable Curbs, Baltimore-Washington Parkway,
Maryland
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Structures that Blend

• Bridges
• Type, Span, Shape, Formwork, Finishing
• Accents, Veneers, Facades
• Culverts
• Shape, Material, End Treatment
• Retaining Walls
• Aesthetic Facing, Color, Texture
• Natural Materials

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Merced River Bridge, Yosemite NP, California
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Stone Masonry Arch, Blue Ridge Parkway
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Forehand Hollow Bridge, Natchez Trace Parkway
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Foothills Parkway, Tennessee
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Environmental Enhancements

• Adjust roadway location away from critical and
  sensitive areas
• Restore drainage to original stream channels
• Replace existing culverts with natural bottom
  culverts for fish passage
• Add crossing structures sized for wildlife
• Restore existing barren slopes with native trees,
  shrubs and grasses
• Restore hydrology to natural conditions

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Managing CSS Application

• What it costs?
• Lead time?
• Expectations?
• What are the constraints?
• Technical and support needs?
• Benefit of effort, cost, and lead time to produce
  high value outcome

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CSS is Data-intensive

• Greater awareness/understanding of competing
  goals and values
• Knowledge of both the users needs and the
  affected community (context)
• Accurate traffic and crash data to quantify
  safety and mobility needs
• Precise surveys and mapping are needed to best
  fit local conditions

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Impediments

• Human resistance to change
• Training and analytical tools
• Inconsistencies across the industry
• Aversion to additional risk and liability
• Lack of organizational support
• Adversarial compliance relationships

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What FLH wants to do better

• Better document existing FLHs best practices for
  implementing CSS
• Emphasize integration of CSS applications across
  all disciplines, and in various phases of project
  delivery
• Provide guidance and training on CSS techniques
  and applications (for all project types and cost
  ranges)

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FLH CSS Initiatives

• NHI 3-Day Training Course
• Guanella Pass Lessons Learned video
• CSS Road Surfacing Selection Guide
• Update FLH Design Manual to deliver CSS approach,
  across all disciplines
• Update guidance and training on application of
  flexibility in design
• Comprehensive and accurate scoping (3R versus
  3plusR versus 4R)
• Promote 3D Visualization Tools

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Reference Information

• Federal Lands CSS Web Site
• www.fhwa.dot.gov/csd/fed.htm

Commitment to Excellence

• NCHRP Report 480
• A Guide to Best Practices for Achieving Context
  Sensitive Solutions

• AASHTO Flexibility Guide
• A Guide for Achieving Flexibility in Highway
  Design

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Summary

• Federal Lands Highway uses
• Context Sensitive Solutions process
• To deliver facilities which are
• Technically feasible and responsible
• In harmony with their environment
• Reflect community and natural values
• That satisfy user and stakeholder transportation
  needs
• Safety
• Mobility

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Thank You
Mark Taylor Design Discipline Leader FHWA
Federal Lands Highway 12300 West Dakota
Avenue Lakewood, CO 80228 (720)
963-3607 mark.taylor_at_fhwa.dot.gov