Develop Plans to Add Cost-Effective and Aesthetically Pleasing Features to Transportation Projects

Project Description

The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) initiated research focused on roadway aesthetic design preferences and treatments with the purposes of developing a resource for applying specific and feasible aesthetic treatment applications and solutions for the highway. Researchers conducted a comprehensive literature review and surveyed current practice to assess the specific design guidelines and decision-making processes involved with roadside aesthetic treatments. The goal of aesthetics design in the highway environment is to maximize both the safety and efficiency of the transportation function as well as create a pleasurable experience for the user and a positive contribution to the visual character of the community. This can be approached through visual quality and four related information factors: complexity, coherency, legibility, and anticipation. There is no technology that will automatically gauge the quality of information contained in a scene as dynamic and as critical as a highway roadway. While not completely subjective, this approach requires the exercise of individual judgment. The tools necessary include attention to visual detail, experience, an understanding of the driving task, and an awareness of driver performance. From this work, researchers produced a reference to assist TxDOT designers and consultants in selecting and specifying appropriate aesthetic treatments for transportation projects. The Technical Data Descriptions provide fundamental information about the character, advantages, disadvantages, costs, and maintenance implications of aesthetic treatments or elements designers may consider for use on highway projects. This reference manual includes recommendations for selection of materials and treatments, gives specifications and standard details, and complements TxDOT's Landscape and Aesthetics Design Manual

Project Publications

Guidelines for Aesthetic Design in Highway Corridors: Tools and Treatments for Texas Highways 0-2113-3

A New Approach to Aesthetics Design Decision Making for Texas Highways 0-2113-S

Texas Transportation Researcher Articles

Natural Landscapes - Volume 41, Number 1

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