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Context Sensitive Design ● What is Context Sensitive Design? ● Benefits of Context Sensitive Design ● How a Community Can Get Involved ● Regional Examples of Context Sensitive Projects ● Other Context Sensitive Design Resources
In the past, transportation planners and engineers were often more concerned with the efficiency, capacity, and safety of a roadway for motor vehicles than on the impacts such roads may have on the surrounding environment and communities they serve. This approach often created undesirable conditions, including excessive vehicle travel speeds, unsafe environments for pedestrians, the loss of convenient on-street parking, and adverse affects on local businesses.
Recently, transportation planners and engineers have begun utilizing a new approach to roadway design called Context Sensitive Design (CSD), also referred to as Context Sensitive Solutions. CSD seeks to design new roadways or modify existing ones to suit all users – motor vehicles, bicyclists, pedestrians, and public transportation passengers. Additionally, CSD seeks to preserve and enhance the character of the surrounding community. Moreover, CSD strives to balance the economic, social, and environmental objectives of the community with the operational needs of the roadway.
What is Context Sensitive Design?
The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) defines Context Sensitive Design as “a philosophy wherein safe transportation solutions are designed in harmony with the community. It is not a separate process or set of standards... [but] is a philosophy that guides NYSDOT in all phases of project development.” CSD strives to balance environmental, scenic, aesthetic, cultural, and natural resources, as well as community and transportation service needs. Context sensitive transportation projects are designed, built, and maintained to minimize disruption to the community and the environment and to enhance livability.
In considering ways to address the issue of high volumes of traffic, CSD changes a process that may have previously limited options to widening the road, narrowing or excluding sidewalks, and other remedies that focus only on the safe and efficient passage of increased motor vehicle traffic, possibly at the expense of other roadway users and the community at-large.
CSD takes the process beyond this to include specific design solutions that address the concerns of local residents, businesses, and/or others. It also looks at the context in which the roadway is or will be located. Context is everything related to the people and place where the road is located.
Another trademark of CSD is the use of a collaborative planning process involving transportation professionals, local officials, and the public. It stresses the early involvement of key stakeholders to ensure that transportation projects are not only safe and efficient for motor vehicles but that they are also safe and efficient for other roadway users as well as in harmony with the natural, social, economic, and cultural environment.
CSD requires not only early involvement of stakeholders but also a continuous commitment to public involvement, flexibility in exploring new solutions, and an openness to innovative ideas. Stakeholders play an important role in identifying issues and associated solutions that may better meet and balance the needs of the community.
Seve ral states including New York, Minnesota, Washington, Utah, Maryland, and Kentucky have adopted CSD principles into their transportation planning processes. The New York State Department of Transportation has two CSD goals:
The Minnesota State Department of Transportation (MNDOT) views CSD as “the art of creating public works projects that meet the needs of the users, the surrounding communities, and the environment.” MNDOT integrates projects into the context or setting where they are located through careful planning, consideration of different stakeholder perspectives, and tailoring designs to specific project circumstances.
In the State of Nevada, CSD goals are identified in the State’s Highway System Master Plan (the link to this document is provided in the Resources section below). Likewise, Governor Kenny Guinn of Nevada stated that:
“Our highways give form to our communities and impact us every day of our lives. They connect us to each other and to the place we have chosen to call home. They welcome our guests upon arriving and send them on their way when they leave. Because they affect our ecosystems and the way our neighborhoods and places of business connect to each other, they influence the quality of life of every citizen in the state.” (2003)
Benefits of Context Sensitive Design
Several benefits of employing CSD principles in project development and implementation include:
Special Considerations Regarding Context Sensitive Design
Transportation professionals are typically focused on utilizing accepted design guidance, improving safety, minimizing liability, and maintaining reasonable project costs. With respect to accepted design guidance and safety, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) provides nationally accepted highway design guidance in its publication, A Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets (also known as the “Green Book”). Notably, the “Green Book” does include flexibility to accommodate context sensitivity in transportation projects while still meeting accepted design practices, improving safety, and addressing liability concerns. In 1998, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) published Flexibility in Highway Design that highlighted examples of the flexibility already contained in the “Green Book” in an effort to support roadway design that is responsive to safety needs and community goals. Sometimes, the roadway design that is responsive to community needs and sensitive to the natural and/or built environment is not the one with the lowest cost. However, the benefits of a well-designed roadway to the community may outweigh any increase in project cost that contextually sensitive designs may require. Involving the public in a genuine fashion and incorporating their needs help avoid project delays and promote goodwill with. Quality investments in public space typically yield more interest and private investment in a community.
How a Community Can Get Involved
AASHTO and the Project for Public Spaces, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to placemaking and the protection of public spaces, offer the following eight-point process to communities interested in utilizing CSD in transportation or other community projects:
Other Context Sensitive Design Resources
A guide targeted at state and local highway agency officials to help them achieve a balance between safety and efficiency improvements to roadways and the appropriate integration of roadways into natural and human environments. Provides design guidelines, information on the design process, and several case studies. A special report produced by the not-for-profit Michigan Land Use Institute advocating the need for roadway improvements that respect places and people in Michigan. It calls for flexibility in highway design in order to reduce negative effects on people and other land uses. It highlights the essential elements of CSD and briefly discusses some examples of CSD applications around the country. A “framework” guide targeted at local agencies, design professionals, and planners. It outlines the typical planning, design, and construction phases of a project, advocating a community partnership approach in each phase to avoid costs (financial, time, and trust) associated with conflicts and delays. A master plan dedicated to aesthetics in highway construction that provides practical guidance on improving the appearance of Nevada’s highways in a bid to promote its tourist-based economy. The planning guidelines and funding sections are particularly useful in seeing the design options available for beautifying the highways and welcoming visitors to Nevada. A useful resource for local communities whose Main Street is a highway with some of the associated problems, such as high traffic volumes, excessive vehicular speeds, and inadequate and/or unsafe conditions for pedestrians and bicyclists. It provides an overview of the planning process and gives examples of projects which involved the community. The format for each example clearly lists the problems, the available resources (which are referred to as “ingredients”), the lessons learned, and the sources of funding for each project. The Context Sensitive Street Design Community Choices Tool incorporates best practices in CSD at work both locally and nationally. The CSD tool includes a detailed discussion about its practical uses and comes with model ordinances that could be used immediately.
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GENESEE TRANSPORTATION COUNCIL City Place, 50 West Main Street, Suite 8112 Rochester, NY 14614-1227 Phone: (585) 232-6240 Fax: (585) 262-3106
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