Making Mobility Improvements a Community Asset: Transportation Improvements Using Context-Sensitive Solutions

Major mobility improvements are often desired and even sought after by the communities which they serve. Any opposition to such projects usually occurs at the local level from very vocal citizenry. This opposition can cause delays, redesign, increased costs, and sometimes leaves a tarnished image for the sponsoring agency. Even though environmental analyses were added to the project development process to enable a response process for many of the objections, opposition (and potential delays and costs) continues, especially for major improvement projects. Context-sensitive solutions (CSS) grew out of a national symposium (Thinking Beyond the Pavement) to develop an approach to help make major mobility improvements more compatible, more supportive and more acceptable to communities. Use of the CSS approach-involving stakeholders in project development from the beginning-was included in SAFETEA-LU as a policy. However, implementation at the state level has been inconsistent, and a 2007 audit of states showed that DOTs of only nine states (plus District of Columbia) have integrated CSS into their ongoing processes, while 15 state DOTs had yet to start. This project was developed to disseminate knowledge, experiences, and reasons for use and benefits of CSS through university courses and technology transfer to facilitate its use by agencies and practitioners in gaining community acceptance of mobility improvement projects.