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4C h a p t e r 1 problem Statement and research Objective The United Statesâ highway system is aging and must be rebuilt while vehicles are driving on it, people are living next to it, and the nation relies on it for commerce and the connec- tions important to safety, security, and quality of life. The need to develop a consistent, systematic approach to com- pleting highway projects quickly and cost-effectively, while simultaneously minimizing, managing, and mitigating dis- ruption to the community and adjacent land uses, is a critical element of highway renewal planning. Research in the renewal focus area, as part of the Second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2), addresses this need. For more than a decade, the transportation planning com- munity has been using the concept of corridor and network management to describe transportation status and future needs for transportation improvements. However, transpor- tation corridor and network analyses at the planning stage may not consider the entirety of infrastructure needs within that corridor and/or network. The analysis may not consider the impact that different project sequencing or execution strategies can have on the overall budget, disruptions to the traveling public and on commerce, and impacts on the local community during execution of the program of improve- ments. Decisions made during planning may not fully recog- nize the redistribution of traffic due to restrictions or closures, adequately recognize or mitigate disruptions, and optimize opportunity costs in contractor overhead, materials costs, or interest burden on program funds. Planning decisions may also overlook opportunities to minimize both the number and duration of construction or maintenance interventions. Program managers within state Departments of Transpor- tation (DOTs) and Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) are charged with taking identified renewal needs and distilling them into a logically sequenced program of man- ageable projects over a multi-year period. During the past several years, substantial progress has been made in the areas of performance measurement, maintenance of traffic, miti- gation of congestion in work zones, and alternative contract- ing and construction techniquesâall designed to minimize, manage, and mitigate disruption to traffic and commerce arising from renewal programs. However, much of the research and most of the practical applications exist at the project level. Tools and techniques to assist program managers in selecting and weighting perfor- mance measures and in sequencing a program of projects for corridors or networks so as to address impacts are essentially nonexistent. The following are the two objectives of this project: 1. To develop a software tool that will allow a program man- ager to assess the impacts of a renewal program and com- pare different sequencing scenarios of projects, in light of desired performance objectives. The intended purpose of this tool is to create a more fully informed decision- making process regarding program sequencing and allo- cation of limited resources. 2. To develop training in the use and application of this soft- ware tool and system. evolution of the project from One task to the Next The team worked to incorporate lessons learned in each task into subsequent tasks. Work in Tasks 1 and 2 confirmed sus- picions that the vast majority of the research done in this field has been at the project (microscopic) rather than the corridor or network (mesoscopic) level. However, the team learned that there has been work on the logical selection and weight- ing of performance measures that apply directly to this proj- ect. The team also found comparative analyses of commercially available simulation programs that have contributed to this project. Background
5In Tasks 3, 4, and 5, the team determined that a large amount of separation exists between the state of the art (literature) and the state of the practice. The wide variance in practices was surprising to team members, particularly with regard to inter- action between DOTs and MPOs in development of renewal programs. It became apparent during the interview process that performance measures are considered at the project level, but rarely at the corridor or network level. Regional mega- projects that involve multiple jurisdictions provide useful insights into such considerations. The Maricopa County Asso- ciation of Governments, Missouri DOT, and Virginia DOT have unusually strong mandates for management of renewal activities and performance measures, which provide useful insights into business models that are relevant to this project. The work in Tasks 1 through 5 brought awareness and clar- ity to a number of issues. One unanticipated finding in the initial work plan is that DOTs, even in less urbanized areas of the country, depend heavily upon the outputs of their pave- ment management systems (PMSs) and bridge management systems (BMSs) to identify the âuniverse of needâ for renewal programs. Significant resources have been committed to developing and maintaining these systems, and the products of this research must not call for abandoning, or even signifi- cantly modifying, those platforms. Interviewees also asserted that the software tool developed under this project must not require significant amounts of new data, lengthy or complex calibration procedures, or additional personnel. These findings have driven the software evaluation taxon- omy in Tasks 6 and 7 and have heavily influenced the devel- opment of the WISE tool in Phase 2 of this project. The initial workshops conducted under Task 12 provided approximately 25 key stakeholders the opportunity to verify the assump- tions and the lessons learned by the team and assisted in the development of a much clearer vision of WISE (capabilities and requirements). These workshops served as the capstone for the requirements-gathering phase of this project, and they helped to ensure the development of useful and capable products.
