Establishing Safety, Economy, Ecology, Aesthetics and Sustainability Goals for Highway Corridors

Focus Area

Context Sensitive Solutions

Subcommittee

Community & Cultural Concerns, Environmental Process

Status

Archived

Cost

$100k-$249k

Timeframe

2-3 years

Research Idea Scope

Oregon Department of Transportation has been developing (in cooperation with other state and local agencies) a comprehensive GIS data management system.  This system includes environmental, safety and asset resource information, but generally is lacking in visual resource data.  This proposal includes conducting an inventory of the visual resource and visual quality of all highway corridors in the state.

Secondly, design, construction and maintenance activities generally operate on a project or resource availability basis.  This proposal includes the integration of all safety, economy, ecology, aesthetic and sustainability information to support the articulation of corridor-level goals for Roadside Development design, construction and maintenance in those corridors.

Related Research (Added by TERI Administrator; March, 2011)
Incorporating Sustainability into TxDOT’s Transportation Decision Making – Summary of Work Performed, Methods Used, and Results Achieved; Texas Transportation Institute, 2011, 24p

Urgency and Payoff

This approach will assist in more consistent design, construction and maintenance within corridors, providing for fewer conflicts and a more efficient use of project development and maintenance resources.

Suggested By

Mike Shippey, Oregon Department of Transportation / Geo-Environmental Section

[email protected]

Submitted

04/22/2011