Search for a command to run...
This report identifies, describes and discusses various methods of mitigating the adverse effects resulting from the reconstruction or rehabilitation of existing urban highways. The principal adverse effects include traffic congestion, public aggravation, inhibited access to property, hazardous and costly construction operations, and increasingly stressful management conditions for the Department. Those most affected by these urban construction operations are the providers (the Texas Department of Transportation and its agents) and the consumers of highway services (those highway users who operate or who ride in vehicles that travel the state highway system and those, such as abutting property interests, who are dependent upon the highway system for the delivery of clientele as well as goods and services). Each of the distinct adverse effects can be identified as an economic loss, and some can be credibly quantified, but not all. Traffic delays resulting from highway rehabilitation construction are a costly economic loss suffered by highway consumers; delay caused by construction is generally considered to be the single most adverse economic effect of motorists. There are acceptable and available techniques that enable researchers to quantify these time losses (examples are given in this report). Short term business losses, on the other hand, can be significant but are difficult to document reliably. In this report, a mitigation measure is any method that shortens the duration of an adverse effect or reduces its severity. Mitigation measures may vary, ranging from expediting construction by direct measures (such as specifying priorities for construction scheduling), to expediting construction by indirect measures (such as permitting innovative construction practices), to severity-reduction measures (such as adopting an active public relations program). This report documents and discusses the investigations that identify various methods of mitigating adverse effects. These investigations included a literature review and a mail survey of selected correspondents from the Department and from highway contractors. In addition, business owners and operators (whose business adjoined a highway construction project) were interviewed in situ in order to better understand the effects of construction operations on their commercial activities. Other selected Department representatives and highway contractors were interviewed at length and their counsel and advice were sought regarding construction mitigation measures. This report describes and discusses those mitigation measures that appear to have the best potential for implementation by the Texas Department of Transportation.