District input will help shape Project Outreach Planner

Acknowledging the important role the public plays in the transportation planning process, ITD introduced a new tool that will help the department carry out its mission to improve public safety, enhance mobility and support economic opportunity statewide.

In support of those goals, the offices of Communications and Planning launched a project in November that will refine how the department makes decisions about public involvement. Central to the project is the Project Outreach Planner (POP).

“How we interact with the public as we work to achieve ITD’s long-range goals is critical to our success,” said project sponsor Tom Cole, ITD’s Chief Engineer. “The POP will be a tool for project managers and teams to easily analyze and quantify outreach needs early and throughout the life of a project.”

The Project Leadership Team will visit each district this month and in March to discuss public involvement and test the draft POP product with key staff members.

“The POP is designed to aid our district staff with public involvement decisions,” said Adam Rush, ITD’s public involvement coordinator and POP project manager. “Gathering their input and feedback will help us produce a tool that will be useful and reflective of our department’s unique needs.”

Participants will be contacted directly with more specific agendas for meetings in their respective districts. The schedule is:

  • Feb. 15 – District 3
  • Feb. 22 – District 6
  • Feb. 23 – District 5
  • Feb. 28 – District 1
  • Feb. 29 – District 2
  • March 6 – District 4

The POP concept, originally developed by the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) in collaboration with the Langdon Group, focuses on a series of multiple-choice questions that produce a project score. That score will help determine the level and kind of public involvement activities appropriate for the project.

“Simple, quantifiable, multiple-choice questions, such as – ‘What is the anticipated project duration,’ or ‘historically, how has the public reacted to transportation projects in the area,’ will help district staff make decisions about the project’s public involvement needs, quickly and easily,” said project adviser Sonna Lynn Fernandez.

Using the UDOT model as a launching point, Fernandez and Rush will work closely with district staff to develop a tool and language unique to Idaho and ITD culture. During two November kickoff workshops with executive staff, district planners and communication staff, the uniqueness of the Idaho product began to take shape.

“Through early department outreach we have the directive to take the UDOT model even further and consider not only roadway projects, but also corridor studies, environmental planning and non-construction roadway impacts,” Rush said. “The timing also is right to fold the POP process into the existing ITD process, helping it become part of the way ITD does business today and in the future.”

The POP will integrate electronically into the Project Charter. Other manuals, including the Guide to Public Involvement, Corridor Planning Guidebook and Environmental Manual will be updated accordingly. The end product will be a web-based, project-specific public involvement guidance, complete with tools and techniques for the recommended level of effort.

“Each project’s custom guide will provide comprehensive information needed to set up, organize and conduct a public hearing or workshop,” Rush said. “As the department seeks to use limited resources wisely, the POP will help determine what approaches, technologies and strategies can be used to most efficiently and effectively communicate with the public.”

The project leadership team consists of Cole, Fernandez, Rush, Erika Bowen (Executive Team liaison) and former ITD Office of Communications staff, Bryant Kuechle and Darla Christiansen, now with The Langdon Group, an Idaho-based public involvement company.

Questions about the POP project can be directed to: 334-8119 or e-mailed to adam.rush@itd.idaho.gov

Published 2-3-2012