AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF STATE HIGHWAY AND TRANSPORTATION OFFICIALS

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1 AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF STATE HIGHWAY AND TRANSPORTATION OFFICIALS COMMITTEE CORRESPONDENCE May 19, 2005 Address Reply to Members AASHTO Technical Committee on Environmental Design Bob Schlicht, Secretary Technical Committee on Environmental Design Federal Highway Administration, HIPA th Street, SW Washington, D.C The Technical Committee on Environmental Design (TCED) met in Natchez, Mississippi on May 2-5, The TCED has two remaining vacancies, one each in Regions 2 and 3. A list of attendees and an updated list of technical committee members are attached. TCED Business Items The rewrite of the Landscape and Environmental Design Guide has been approved as a research project by NCHRP. NCHRP will soon request participation for a technical panel to guide the research project. Win suggested that several members of the TCED should be on the panel since we recommended the research and are responsible for AASHTO adoption of the final document. Our online Visualization in Transportation document, last updated in 2003, will be reviewed at a future meeting to determine if further updating is needed. The Subcommittee on Design national meeting is scheduled for June in Chicago in conjunction with the 3 rd International Symposium on Highway Geometric Design. They do not plan to ask Technical Committees for a status report as has been the practice in previous national meetings. Keith Purvis and Win Stebbins plan to attend. A Context Sensitive Design & Solutions Workshop is scheduled for August in Minneapolis, MN. The workshop will address the challenges to institutionalizing CSD&S philosophy and principles. AASHTO Information New highway authorization bill continues to advance in Congress. The conference committee must still work out the details and then voting will commence. The AASHTO Task Force on Context Sensitive Design, which reports to the Standing Committee on Highways, not to SCOD, is scheduled to sunset in June AASHTO management is looking at either extending the Task Force or forming a new Joint Task

2 Force composed of members from other high-level committees (possibly Planning and Highways). A comprehensive compendium of current environmental stewardship practices, policies and procedures for highway construction and maintenance from across the country has been completed for the AASHTO Standing Committee on the Environment, under the auspices of the National Cooperative Highway Research Program Project Intended as a resource for state transportation agencies, the report provides a wealth of information and practical explanations of successful stewardship approaches being applied by states. A CD with this report was distributed. Also available online at General Several States reported on recent presentations of the NHI Course: Linking Planning and NEPA: Towards Streamlined Decision Making. These workshops received favorable reviews from the States where it was presented. Brent Jensen reported that a final report is available on Design-Build Environmental Compliance Process and Level of Detail: Eight Case Studies. Tim Stark reported on the WYDOT video Business to Business that highlighted opportunities for business owners during construction (copies were furnished to all after the meeting). This was also complemented with the WYDOT Public Involvement Handbook. The Business to Business video was an outreach effort from the Public Involvement Handbook. The increased public involvement effort is to enhance the CSS effort since it is founded upon collaboration. TCED Member Presentations Members of the Technical Committee were asked at our last meeting to present a 10-minute topic of interest from their particular State. Several from this list will be chosen for more indepth presentation at future meetings. If they are considered a nationwide issue the Technical Committee may choose to develop a printed document or web advisory similar to our Visualization document posted on the AASHTO web site last year. Slides or other information from most of these presentations will be available on the meeting CD. Master Agreement Method for Consultants on Environmental Services (Tim Stark, WY) MOU With Idaho Fish and Game Department (Greg Vitley, ID) Design and Visualization Update on St. Croix River Crossing Project (Karl Weissenborn, MN) Stone Arch Bridge Management Plan (Dan Stewart, PA) Vision for Highway Beautification - $500 million over 20 years (Jeff Caster, FL) Visualization Update: Internal Uses/External Presentations (Phil Bell, NY, by phone) New/Revised Publications Assisting Design (Bob Schlicht, FHWA) Practical Design Initiative to Cut 10% Project Cost (Dave Silvester, MO) NPDES Program at MSHA (Karen Coffman, MD) Large Culverts and Fish Passage (John Narowski, VT) Examples of Environmental Design Successes (Brent Jensen, UT) Architectural and Aesthetic Design Guides for CSS (Joe Sanchez, NM) New CSS Guide (Greg Vitley, ID) Cost and Process for Consultant to Develop CSS Manual (Win Stebbins, MI) 2

3 Non-say and Say in Adjacent Land Development (Win Stebbins, MI) Endangered Species Act (Greg Akers, WV) Wetlands General Permit with COE and Other Regulatory Agencies (Keith Purvis, MS) 3 Mississippi DOT Presentations Mississippi River Trail (Al Brantley) In 2004 the Mississippi River Parkway Commission (MRPC) completed the Great River Road Interpretive Plan and Toolkit. Although the toolkit is good for the development of resources along the Great River Road (GRR), the MRPC is interested in developing a more in-depth computerized design guide, accessible on the web, and shared by the 10 States adjacent to the river. The guide will suggest ways to reflect the intrinsic qualities of the river and GRR in the design of individual roadway elements. Al expressed appreciation for the TCED responses to this project made in fall 2004 when he asked TCED members for input on such large projects. More information will be available on the meeting CD. Port Gibson Bypass Route Location Study (Claiborne Barnwell, Kim Thurman) Highway 61 is the major thoroughfare through Port Gibson and plans to improve it have been reworked for many years. The latest proposal is a bypass several blocks east of the current Highway 61 route. There are many environmental issues to be overcome if the project is to be constructed. Natchez Trace Parkway The Natchez Trace Parkway extends from Natchez, MS to Nashville, TN and is a free 2-lane parkway owned and maintained by the National Park Service, using a combination of narrow Fee ROW and wider Scenic Easement ROW. The Trace is actually classified as a National Park. There are two segments (one in Natchez, and one near Jackson) of the gradeseparated parkway that will be opened to traffic on May 21, The Trace honors the return path of entrepreneurs returning on foot or horseback to Nashville after rafting goods downriver to Natchez when Natchez was the upstream limit of boat navigation from New Orleans. The meeting was adjourned with special thanks to for meeting arrangements, presentations, walking tour of Natchez, and tour of Port Gibson Bypass alternatives. New Member One week after this meeting, Jim McDonnell notified the Chair that Susan Knudson, Transportation Environmental Manager in Georgia DOT, has been appointed to the TCED by Region 2 to fill that vacancy. We welcome her, and have listed her on the membership list. Future Meetings The next TCED meeting will be hosted by New Mexico DOT in Fall A volunteer would be welcome to host in Spring Vermont and Michigan are considering Fall 2006.

4 4 AASHTO Technical Committee on Environmental Design Natchez, Mississippi May 2-5, 2005 Attendance List Dan Stewart Tim Stark Win Stebbins David Silvester Keith Purvis Karen Coffman Jeff Caster Joe Sanchez Bob Schlicht Brent Jensen Karl Weissenborn Jim McDonnell John Narowski Greg Vitley Phil Bell Pennsylvania Wyoming Michigan Missouri Mississippi Maryland Florida New Mexico FHWA Headquarters Utah Minnesota AASHTO Headquarters Vermont Idaho New York (Portions by Speaker Phone) Guests and Presenters Greg Akers Vincent Russo Andrew Hughes Harry Lee James Claiborne Barnwell Kim Thurman Al Brantley David Foster Chet Reinike Charles Robinson Bob Tavlin Steve Spell West Virginia Louisiana FHWA, Mississippi

5 5 Technical Committee on Environmental Design Meetings Since 1990 Michigan September 10-11, 1990 California April 29-30, 1991 Missouri October 28-29, 1991 Oregon July 16-17, 1992 South Carolina March 1-2, 1993 Delaware October 4-5, 1993 Minnesota June 23-24, 1994 Wyoming March 30-31, 1995 West Virginia October 16-17, 1995 Pennsylvania May 6-7, 1996 Missouri October 15-16, 1996 Utah May 13-14, 1997 Michigan October 20-22, 1997 Delaware April 26-28, 1998 Vermont October 4-6, 1998 California March 10-12, 1999 Wyoming October 3-5, 1999 South Carolina September 24-26, 2000 Missouri April 22-24, 2001 Pennsylvania Sept. 30 Oct. 2, 2001 Utah April 3-5, 2002 Michigan October 2-4, 2002 North Carolina April 9-11, 2003 New York October 8-10, 2003 Minnesota May 12-14, 2004 West Virginia October 20-22, 2004 Mississippi May 2-5, 2005

6 6 TECHNICAL COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN MEMBERSHIP May, 2005 Win Stebbins Michigan Department of Transportation Design Division P.O. Box Lansing, Michigan Phone (517) Fax (517) John Narowski Vermont Agency of Transportation National Life Building, Drawer #33 Montpelier, Vermont Phone (802) Fax (802) Daniel B. Stewart Pennsylvania Dept. of Transportation P.O. Box 3161 Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Phone (717) Fax (717) Timothy L. Stark Wyoming Department of Transportation 5300 Bishop Boulevard Cheyenne, Wyoming Phone (307) Fax (307) Deborah Barbour North Carolina Dept. of Transportation 1541 Mail Service Center Raleigh, North Carolina Phone (919) Fax (919) Brent Jensen Utah Department of Transportation 4501 South 2700 West P.O. Box Salt Lake City, Utah Phone (801) Fax (801) Bob Schlicht Federal Highway Administration, HIPA 400 7th Street, SW Washington, D.C Phone (202) Fax (202) Karl Weissenborn Minnesota Department of Transportation Office of Technical Support Mail Stop John Ireland Boulevard St. Paul, Minnesota Phone (651) Fax (651)

7 7 Philip Bell New York Department of Transportation Building 4, Room 214A 1220 Washington Avenue Albany, New York Phone (518) Fax (518) Greg Vitley Environmental Manager, District 3 Idaho Transportation Department P.O. Box 8028 Boise, Idaho Phone (208) Fax (208) greg.vitley@itd.idaho.gov David Silvester Missouri Department of Transportation P.O. Box 270 Jefferson City, Missouri Phone (573) Fax (573) david.silvester@modot.mo.gov Keith Purvis Mississippi Dept. of Transportation P.O. Box 1850 Jackson, Mississippi Phone (601) Fax (601) kpurvis@mdot.state.ms.us Joe J. Sanchez Context Sensitive Solutions Bureau New Mexico Dept. of Transportation P.O. Box Cerrilos Road Santa Fe, New Mexico Phone (505) Fax (505) or joe.sanchez@nmshtd.state.nm.us Karen Coffman Highway Hydraulics Division, C-201 Maryland State Highway Administration 707 North Calvert Street Baltimore, Maryland Phone (410) Fax (410) kcoffman@sha.state.md.us Jeff Caster Environmental Management Office Florida Department of Transportation 605 Suwannee Street, MS 37 Tallahassee, Florida Phone (850) Toll Free (866) x 5267 Fax (850) jeff.caster@dot.state.fl.us Susan Knudson Office of Environment/Location Georgia Department of Transportation 3993 Aviation Circle Atlanta, Georgia Phone (404) Fax (404) susan.knudson@dot.state.ga.us Jim McDonnell AASHTO 444 North Capitol Street, NW Suite 249 Washington, DC Phone (202) Fax (202) jimm@aashto.org

8 8 Technical Committee on Environmental Design Membership Information May, 2005 Debbie Barbour North Carolina DOT Engineer of Pre-Construction (Design, Real Estate), SCOD member Phil Bell New York State DOT CAD Visualization Manager, CSS Leader Jeff Caster Florida DOT State Transportation Landscape Architect since 1993, CSS Coordinator Karen Coffman Maryland DOT Registered Landscape Architect, Hydraulics and Stormwater Design NPDES work Brent Jensen Utah DOT Director, Environmental Services Susan Knudson Georgia DOT NEPA, Permitting, Mitigation Jim McDonnell AASHTO Staff, Washington DC John Narowski Vermont AOT Vtrans Environmental Services Engineer Manages all Cultural & Natural resource assessments Keith Purvis Mississippi DOT Asst Roadway Design Engineer Wetland Permits SCOD member Joe Sanchez New Mexico DOT Design Engineer, CSD Leader Dave Silvester Missouri DOT Asst State Design Engineer incl Environmental Services & Cultural Resources Tim Stark Wyoming DOT Environmental Services Manager previously 14 yrs Design Engineer Win Stebbins Michigan DOT Design Services Engineer since 1995 (Quality Assurance, Lettings, Computers) also 15 yrs Environmental Mitigation, 5 yrs Route Location Dan Stewart Pennsylvania DOT Engineer, Design Quality Assurance Environmental work w/ Proj Devel Heads CSS for PennDOT Greg Vitley Idaho DOT ITD Senior Environmental Planner NEPA, NPDES, MS4, Air Quality Conformity, Karl Weissenborn Minnesota DOT Sr. Landscape Architect; in Design Manager, Landscape Architecture Unit Current TCED Membership by AASHTO Region Region 1: MD, NY, PA, VT Region 2: FL, GA, MS, NC Region 3: MI, MN, MO, Region 4: ID, NM, UT, WY Bob Schlicht FHWA, Washington DC Design and Geometric Engineer