BACKGROUND

As the nation’s highway system is updated to meet future needs, state departments of transportation (DOTs) are managing the construction of increasingly complex transportation projects. As the size and complexity of these projects have increased, so has the need for identifying and addressing the impacts of project construction on communities, including disruptions to mobility, accessibility, community institutions, and quality of life.

Many community impacts and their associated mitigation measures are defined in project planning and design. However, the extent of the impact on a community is often not realized until the project is under construction. For example, business access or deliveries may be unexpectedly cut off, access to principal community destinations like parks or religious institutions may be affected, and noise or light pollution from the construction zone may disturb community residents. Often the impacts may not arise until well after construction is complete. For example, some communities experience changes to land use or housing and business rental affordability that can have lasting effects on the culture and composition of a community. 

State DOTs often implement community impact strategies to mitigate the impacts of construction and build community support for the project. Examples of mitigation include providing construction-related career development; local and small business participation in construction; providing access to local businesses and other community destinations such as places of worship, hospitals, and parks in construction zones; and incorporating community-focused project features. Developing and implementing strategies for providing community benefits during construction require skills and expertise that are not typical of the construction workforce. Research is needed to support state DOTs in managing construction-related community impacts. 

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this research is to develop a guide on avoiding and mitigating community impacts from transportation project construction applicable to a variety of project contexts, sizes, and types. 

At a minimum, the guide shall: 

• Outline a process for identifying and implementing strategies, tools, and methods to address impacts to communities from construction
• Provide the business case for why it is important to state DOTs to address construction impacts
• Summarize the current state of the practice
• Provide instruction on applying strategies, methods, and tools for stakeholder engagement immediately before and during construction
  
• Provide case studies illustrating successful approaches

Accomplishment of the project objective will require at least the following tasks.

TASKS 

The research plan should (1) include a virtual kickoff meeting with the research team and the NCHRP within 1 month of the contract’s execution; (2) directly address how the proposer intends to satisfy the project objective; (3) be divided logically into detailed tasks necessary to fulfill the research objective; (4) include appropriate milestones and interim deliverables; (5) be presented in two phases, with phase I focused on data-gathering using a literature review and stakeholder engagement and phase II focused on data analysis, development, and verification of final deliverables; (6) include one face-to-face meeting to review an interim report and advance to phase II; and (7) incorporate opportunities for the NCHRP to review, comment on, and approve milestone deliverables.

An annotated outline of the guide is to be prepared and submitted as a component of phase I. A draft guide must be submitted to the NCHRP at least 6 months before the contract’s completion.

The guide shall define and address a wide range of institutional, economic, and cultural factors that may affect the types and magnitude of community impacts that arise during construction. At a minimum, the following shall be considered in the research process and addressed in the final deliverables:

• Community cultural history, composition, and design
• Community access to business, education, religious, and recreational destinations during construction
• Community types, sizes, and locations, including rural, suburban, and urban community contexts
• Project types that can have detrimental community impacts during construction
• The legacy of past projects that have had lasting community effects

The final deliverables shall include, at a minimum:

• A guide to mitigating community impacts from construction
• A PowerPoint presentation with speaker’s notes summarizing the project
• A technical memorandum titled “Implementation of Research Findings and Products”. 

STATUS:  The project panel has met to select a contractor to perform the work. Proposers will be informed of the outcome and a contract will be prepared.