Strategic Highway Research Saving Lives, Reducing Congestion, Improving Quality of Life -- Special Report 260 (2001) / Chapter Skim
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7 Capacity: Providing Highway Capacity in Support of the Nation’s Economic, Environmental, and Social Goals
7 Capacity: Providing Highway Capacity in Support of the Nation’s Economic, Environmental, and Social Goals
Pages 117-134
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From page 117... ...
to meet the need for goods demanded by the growing population and economy. Increased international trade will mean more products flowing through the nation's borders and ports, which must be served by efficient highway connections.
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From page 118... ...
Critics of this earlier approach cite a number of adverse impacts: once-thriving communities severed by highways that disrupt their cohesiveness and often spell their demise; wildlife habitats disturbed, with unforeseen negative impacts on local species and ecosystems; highway runoff polluting adjacent waters with oil, fuel, metals, and salt; vehicle emissions causing significant regional air pollution and contributing to global warming; highways that detract from rather than enhance historic, cultural, community, and aesthetic values; increased crashes on high-speed through-streets in communities previously accustomed to a lower volume of slower traffic; and the disproportionate bearing of impacts of this sort by communities of lower socioeconomic status. In recent years, the highway program has focused more on providing context-sensitive design, mitigating environmental impacts, and enhancing community values and involvement.
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From page 119... ...
But there are far more unanswered questions than solutions in all these areas and others, such as environmental justice, land use patterns, long-term economic impacts, and safety trade-offs involved in context-sensitive design. Many of the existing methods, tools, and organizational approaches used in constructing highways are modified versions of those used to create the Interstate highway system.
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From page 120... ...
Analyses will need to be performed in an integrated manner and occur earlier in and throughout the highway development process. Box 7-1 describes how the state of Kentucky used such an approach to address capacity needs in a rural area.
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This research topic is focused on the preconstruction stages of the highway development process; however, coordination with the proposed research on highway renewal (see Chapter 4) and nonrecurrent incident management (see Chapter 6)
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Appropriateness for a SHRP-Style Research Program The appropriateness criteria for F-SHRP apply well to this topic. A research program of critical mass and continuity is certainly required to integrate so many diverse issues -- environmental concerns, economic analysis, community involvement, and aesthetics -- and develop a suite of tools that applies the results of analysis of these issues to the highway development process.
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The committee believes the research community has the capacity to perform the proposed work, although some disciplines that are not traditional components of highway research, such as social science and data management, will have to be involved as well. Proposed F-SHRP Research Major Research Objectives The proposed research program has three major objectives: · To develop an integrated, systems-oriented approach3 to meeting this multifaceted challenge; · To use the many potential tools and technologies for applying this approach in a systematic way throughout the highway development process; and · To address the institutional issues surrounding highway development.
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From page 124... ...
For example, context-sensitive designs may raise safety issues, and in some cases, regional economic benefits must be weighed against local community impacts. The research should include development of an analytical framework that encompasses these disciplines and issues to the extent possible and that can be used to analyze various types of benefits and costs and the trade-offs among them.
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Using Tools and Technologies Studies and analytical frameworks are ineffective if they are not embodied in tools that practitioners can readily apply. The strategic focus of this research-providing highway capacity in support of the nation's economic, environmental, and social goals -- implies a need for data; simulation and prediction models; and analytical, planning, and design tools.
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From page 126... ...
An example for design activities is computerized processes for context-sensitive design that integrate data collection, data management, alignment development, 3D/4D visualization, project management, document preparation, and public participation. An example for environmental functions is analysis techniques that are integrated into the planning and design processes, as well as the technology needed to facilitate such integration.
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Continuing opportunities for public involvement are pro vided, including access to project information through an interactive data base that uses GIS technology to allow all stakeholders to share information and understand how others have arrived at their conclusions. The new process improves communication, streamlines the highway development process, and produces a facility that is acceptable to all stakeholders.
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From page 128... ...
Interest groups concerned with the environment, conservation, endangered species, history, archeology, social justice, safety, and business opportunity are all stakeholders in the highway development process. An ongoing challenge for the institutions involved is effectively facilitating public participation through processes that are open, fair, educational, and productive.
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What kinds of expertise and training do DOTs need to handle the institutional aspects of the highway development process more effectively? Proposed Research Tasks As noted earlier, this F-SHRP research will involve formulating a systematic, integrated approach to highway development, together with accompanying tools and technologies, that can be used by highway practitioners and stakeholders to provide new highway capacity in a way that meets a broad set of performance requirements.
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From page 130... ...
Related work is also being conducted under an NCHRP project that involves reviewing nearly 20 technologies in the following five categories to ascertain their usefulness for addressing environmental considerations in transportation planning and design: geospatial databases, remote sensing, transportation impact modeling, decision science, and visualization/simulation. Another NCHRP project is focused on developing a guidebook to assist transportation professionals in using current techniques for assessing the social and economic effects of transportation projects.
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These stakeholders include state, federal, and local government agencies with responsibilities in such areas as transportation, environment, historic preservation, community development, economic development, and safety; private-sector firms that often perform the environmental analysis, planning, and design work for public projects; interest groups of various types; and private citizens and community groups. In addition, the institutional research is likely to yield information that could significantly affect the education and training of transportation and other professionals.
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1997. From a workshop sponsored by the Surface Transportation Policy Project, the Alliance for Transportation Research, and the Energy Foundation, April.
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2000. Sustainable Highway Development in a National Park.
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1997. Transportation Research Circular 469: Environmental Research Needs in Trans portation.
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