In 2001, WSDOT’s Highways and Local Programs Office
convened a forum that was tasked with improving WSDOT’s interactions
with local jurisdictions; particularly on projects planned, scoped, and
built within urban areas. This
was the result of a Washington Transportation Commission policy directing
WSDOT to “provide and promote civic engagement and a sense of place
through safe, sustainable choices for a variety of elements including
housing, transportation, education, cultural diversity, enrichment and
recreation”. The Commission’s policy states that transportation will
foster livable communities in rural and urban transportation projects by
working with its partners to:
»
Foster multi-modal transportation systems that enhance
communities,
»
Develop
collaborative transportation actions sensitive to community values, and
»
Coordinate access
to funding.
The
forum was comprised of representatives from the Federal Highways
Administration (FHWA); Association of Washington Cities (AWC); Sound
Transit; cities; counties; consulting firms; and various disciplines
within WSDOT, including Local Programs, Planning, Traffic, Design, and
Construction.
The
forum spurred a new plan of action for the Department regarding our
approach to joint projects. The group committed to improving the
processes in which transportation partners interact with one another.
To accomplish this goal, the forum evaluated the best and most expeditious
ways to deliver successful projects - from the earliest inception of the
project to the completed construction to quality of documentation - in
order to meet local, regional, and state transportation goals. The
forum quickly recognized that a key element in accomplishing their goals
lay in the broad dissemination of information on how projects can best be
planned, designed and constructed.
As
a result, the forum has developed a best practices guidebook “Building
Projects that Build Communities” as a resource for both local agencies
and WSDOT staff to:
» help
local agencies understand the process for developing a
project from beginning to end, and
»
describe helpful
tools all transportation agencies can employ to
ensure successful partnering
projects.
Additionally,
the forum developed a full set of Recommendations that were presented to
the WSDOT Executive Team. The forum also created a Community
Partnership Training Plan and formed the basis for creating a joint agency
“Resource Center”. The Resource Center will be primarily a
“virtual” web-based resource, but will also offer community visioning
assistance, publication offerings, and other assistance as needed and
available. Anticipated completion time for the website is February
2003.
The
Recommendations include:
»
Project advocates
are fundamental to project success
»
Communication is
key from planning through construction
»
Vision and
teamwork need to be established early
»
WSDOT and local
agencies need to eliminate
compartmentalization and encourage empowerment
»
WSDOT needs to encourage the teaching of
employees to use
best judgment rather than
solely relying on “standards”
»
Project quality is
key to reduce review times
»
WSDOT should
discontinue linear dual review
»
WSDOT should
update and clarify billing procedures to local
agencies
Highways
and Local Programs plans to have a Community Partnership Training Plan
designed and implemented throughout the department, as well as have
classes available for local agencies. Some classes are currently
available, while others will be available by the winter of 2002/2003.
These training opportunities will include:
»
Team Building and Communication
»
Meaningful Public
Involvement
»
Livable
Communities and/or Context-Sensitive Design
Strategies
»
Joint Project
Management: visioning, team management,
measures of success
» Conflict
Resolution
»
Paula Reeves, WSDOT HQ H&LP (lead)
Date of last update:
February 23, 2006
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