Spring 2004, Volume 10, No. 1
CTE Conducts CSS Training for North Carolina DOT
Context Sensitive Solutions, or CSS, is a collaborative
process to achieve solutions so that transportation projects are
integrated with the environment and communities they serve. CSS
is an interdisciplinary approach in which transportation professionals
partner with regulatory agencies, local governments, citizens and
other stakeholders as part of a solutions team.
"Context Sensitive Solutions: A Better Way" is a new CSS course
that CTE has developed under contract for the North Carolina Department
of Transportation. The training is distinctive in both its range
and depth. Course materials cover CSS approaches and tools from
transportation planning, project development, and design on through
to right of way, construction, operations, and maintenance. Special
emphasis is placed on defining "quality of life," which is critical
to understanding context.
By the end of 2004 CTE will have trained almost 2,000 DOT employees,
consultants, federal and state agency regulators and regional and
local government staff. Course participants learn not just from
lectures and case study presentations but from facilitated group
discussions and decision-making exercises.
CTE developed and customized this course to help implement NCDOT's
vision of excellence in design, environmental stewardship, and customer
focus. CSS training introduces the concepts of flexibility in design
and "altering the infrastructure to fit the environment" rather
than imposing a standard infrastructure upon the human and natural
environments. The goal of CSS training is for this approach for
achieving transportation solutions to be an integral part of how
everyone does business in North Carolina.
For more information, please contact Leigh Lane, CTE senior research
associate, 919-515-8041; lblane@unity.ncsu.edu.
CSS Academy for Undergrads Coming This Summer
This summer CTE in partnership with the North Carolina Department
of Transportation will select competitively six junior- and senior-level
university students to participate in the CTE/NCDOT Internship Program
and Context Sensitive Solutions Academy.
Students will receive a full-time paid internship from May to
August and be placed within key jobs at NCDOT that deal with transportation
and environmental issues. For two weeks out of the summer the students
will continue to earn a salary while participating in the new CSS
Academy.
The purpose of the CSS Academy is to introduce context sensitive
solutions and practices in various levels of transportation planning
and project development. In addition to classroom instruction, students
will participate in field trips that showcase real-life applications
of CSS.
Upon completion of the academy and internship program, students
will receive a certificate of accomplishment and the opportunity
to circulate their resumes to hiring agencies and organizations
focused on transportation and environmental issues.
Watch the summer issue of CTE News & Notes for a profile of
the CTE/NCDOT interns and a firsthand look at the job activities
related to their internships.
The application deadline was April 9. For more information, please
contact James Martin, CTE associate director, 919-515-8620 or jbm@unity.ncsu.edu.
Proceedings of the International Conference on Ecology and Transportation
Now Available
The 2003 Proceedings of the International Conference on Ecology
and Transportation has been published by CTE and is now available
for distribution in hard copy, CD-ROM, and Web formats. ICOET 2003
was conducted in Lake Placid, NY, August 24-29, 2003, and co-hosted
by the New York State Department of Transportation. ICOET is a biennial
inter-agency event that showcases research applications and best
practices addressing a broad range of ecological issues related
to transportation planning and project development. The Federal
Highway Administration is a key sponsor, along with other federal
and state agencies and non-government organizations. CTE serves
as the lead organizer.
The proceedings contains 112 technical papers and poster presentations,
organized in the following subject areas: current international
and federal activities; aquatic ecosystems; habitat connectivity;
animal-vehicle collision reduction; wildlife impacts; vegetation
and roadsides; technology applications for planning and assessment;
stewardship, streamlining, and context-sensitive solutions; and
planning for sustainable systems.
ICOET 2003 drew more than 300 participants representing 13 countries.
ICOET 2005 will be conducted in California in late summer and will
be co-hosted by the California Department of Transportation and
the University of California at Davis. (The date and location will
be announced soon.)
For more information, please visit the ICOET Web
site, or contact Katie McDermott, CTE technology transfer director,
919-515-8034, kpm@unity.ncsu.edu.
Frumkin, National Expert on Transportation and Public Health,
Selected as CTE 2004 Distinguished Lecturer
CTE is pleased to announce that Dr. Howard Frumkin, professor
and chair of the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health
at Emory University (Atlanta, GA), will serve as CTE's 2004 Distinguished
Lecturer.
Frumkin's research interests focus on the public health aspects
of urbanization and urban sprawl; the health consequences of global
climate change; pediatric environmental health; and the effects
of economic globalization, including international trade agreements,
on environmental and occupational health.
Together with Dr. Catherine Ross, Harry West Chair and director
of Georgia Tech's Center for Quality Growth and Regional Development,
Frumkin is also facilitating an innovative initiative called the
Healthy Places Research Group. This regular get-together of students
and faculty from Emory and Georgia Tech, Centers for Disease Control
personnel, and others in the Atlanta area, explores the health implications
of land use, transportation, design, and architecture, and incubates
research on these topics.
Frumkin is a co-author of Urban Sprawl and Public Health, a new
book to be released this summer by Island Press. Urban Sprawl offers
a comprehensive look at the interface of urban planning, architecture,
transportation, community design, and public health.
CTE's Distinguished Speaker Series brings to North Carolina nationally-recognized
research and policy experts whose work is significantly shaping
the relationship between transportation and the environment. Frumkin,
who is a medical doctor as well as a Ph.D., will lecture about the
nature and scope of transportation and public health issues and
the opportunities for new research. He will also participate in
a book signing featuring Urban Sprawl and Public Health following
the lecture. The lecture will be conducted October 15, 2004, at
NC State University's Stewart Theater.
For more information, please contact Katie McDermott, CTE technology
transfer director, 919-515-8034; kpm@unity.ncsu.edu.
New Staff Announcements
CTE has enjoyed an exciting period of growth and welcomes the
following new staff!
Janet D'Ignazio, M.R.P.
(Senior Research Associate)
Janet is leading CTE's research initiatives on environmental stewardship
and process streamlining. She is also serving as lead facilitator
for the NC Air Quality Roundtable and as a co-instructor for the
Context Sensitive Solutions training that CTE is conducting for
NCDOT. Janet is formerly the chief planning and environmental officer
for NCDOT. (Contact: 919-515-8587; jdignaz@unity.ncsu.edu)
David Robinson, P.E., Ph.D.
(Senior Research Associate)
David serves as CTE's strategic planner for the new NCDOT/NCDENR
Ecosystem Enhancement Program. The EEP is a new inter-agency approach
for accelerating the protection of the state's wetlands, rivers,
and streams by identifying opportunities for mitigation and conservation
far in advance of transportation project impacts. David was previously
a manager for the Raleigh, NC-based Louis Berger Group, Inc., and
a former state research engineer for NCDOT. (Contact: 919-715-2228;
dcrobin2@unity.ncsu.edu)
Leigh B. Lane, B.S.C.E.
(Senior Research Associate)
Leigh is the lead course planner and instructor for CTE's Context
Sensitive Solutions training for NCDOT. She is also developing a
3-day course on Community Impact Assessment (CIA) for the Federal
Highway Administration. Leigh was most recently an environmental
planning consultant and former unit head for NCDOT Public Information
and Community Studies. (Contact: 919-515-8041; lblane@unity.ncsu.edu)
Harrison Marshall, Jr., B.L.A., M.U.R.P
(Senior Planner)
Harrison assists with the development and integration of new content
for the CSS training series for NCDOT. He also helps coordinate
other CSS and CIA-related research and education initiatives conducted
by CTE. Harrison was formerly a planner for the NCDOT Statewide
Planning Branch. (Contact: 919-515-8621; hmarsha@unity.ncsu.edu)
David S. Kaye, M.S.
(Distance Learning Specialist)
Dave is managing the development of CTE's information delivery infrastructure
for its satellite and webcast productions, as well as guiding CTE's
expansion into Web-based distance learning for students and practitioners.
Dave is formerly the IT specialist for the NC Department of Public
Instruction. (Contact: 919-515-8037; dskaye@unity.ncsu.edu)
CTE National Teleconference Series Features Safety Broadcast
On March 10, 2004, CTE conducted the live national satellite broadcast
and Web simulcast of Safety Conscious Transportation Planning in
cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration. Transportation
planners are encouraged to work collaboratively with safety planners
and practitioners, engineers, data managers, and others through
a comprehensive, multi-modal, systemwide, proactive approach called
Safety Conscious Planning(SCP).
SCP is designed to reduce, and ultimately prevent, the human,
environmental, and economic consequences of surface-transportation-related
crashes. The CTE broadcast introduced the principles and objectives
of SCP and included case studies of its applications in Missouri
and Michigan. Videocassette copies of the program can be ordered
via the Web or replayed from CTE's Webcast archive.
Upcoming CTE broadcasts in development for 2004 include the following:
- June - Environmental Information Management and Decision Support
Systems for Transportation Agencies: An Update on the Results
and Next Phases of NCHRP Project 25-23
- August - Indirect and Cumulative Impacts of Transportation Projects
- October - The State of the Art in CSS for Highway Design
- December - Transportation and Public Health: The State of the
Science
For more information, please visit CTE's Webcast
archive) or contact Katie McDermott, CTE technology transfer
director, 919-515-8034; kpm@unity.ncsu.edu.
CTE Facilitates Process Streamlining Initiatives
CTE senior research fellow, Janet D'Ignazio, is currently leading
two initiatives to help state DOTs integrate their planning and
project development decision-making processes.
D'Ignazio is working with the North Carolina DOT to conduct a
series of process analysis workshops to document and improve current
long-range planning and project development processes. Based on
data flows, roles and responsibilities, legal barriers and process
opportunities, linkages will be identified, evaluated, and recommended
to NCDOT. Anticipated major products include the following:
- a redesigned, integrated planning process,
- the identification of long-range planning decisions that can
be accepted by all (locals, DOT and resource agencies) as made
prior to initiation of NEPA, and
- fully documented sub-processes sufficient to prepare an electronically
based web procedures manual (NCDOT will hire a consultant for
work related to the preparation of the procedures manual).
In addition, CTE has responded to a request from the Federal Highway
Administration to fast-track the development a new course linking
planning and the NEPA process. As principal investigator for this
project, D'Ignazio will provide assistance in delivering this national
course and conducting up to four courses with a four-person training
team. The training team has been identified and approved by FHWA.
Potential training sites and dates are currently being reviewed.
For more information on these initiatives, please contact Janet
D'Ignazio, CTE senior research fellow, 919-515-8587; jdignaz@unity.ncsu.edu.
CTE/NCDOT Environmental Research Update
The following project update relates to current NCDOT environmental
research in progress. CTE assists NCDOT with the promotion and distribution
of its environmental research results to the transportation and
environmental community at large. NCDOT funds one of the largest
environmental research programs in the countr. Additional information
on the CTE/NCDOT environmental research program can be found on
NCDOT's Web
site or on CTE's Web
site.
Ecological Assessment of a Wetlands Mitigation Bank: Post-Restoration
Assessment
Principal Investigator: Dr. Kevin Moorhead
UNC-Asheville Environmental Studies Department
(Project Period: July 1, 2002 - June 30, 2004)
The challenge of assessing the success of wetlands restoration projects
requires an evaluation of ecosystem structure and function. In their
2000-02 study of the Tulula Wetlands Mitigation Bank, Moorhead et
al. made significant progress toward restoration and post-restoration
evaluation. In the current project, this UNC-Asheville team is continuing
their post-restoration assessment, evaluating the ecological success
of the restoration at Tulula Wetlands Mitigation Bank in response
to restored hydrology, soils, and vegetation. With restored site hydrology,
water now flows in four of five constructed meandering stream sections
of Tulula Creek. This study is also the first to document long-term
adult amphibian population responses to site restoration. Additionally,
these researchers are studying the effects of restoration on decomposition,
a primary ecosystem function in the recycling of nutrients.
The following research tasks are underway. The project is expected
to be completed in June 2004.
- Analyze another channel segment for physical characteristics,
two years after water release. (Unfortunately, beavers have constructed
dams on the main channel, and this effort will be hindered if
the beaver dams are not removed.)
- Continue to monitor the water table of the Tulula wetlands.
- Commence data analysis for all plots (long-term fen and floodplain
plots, and indicator plant study).
- Complete censuses of egg masses of spotted salamanders, to estimate
hatchling densities of wood frog and spotted salamanders in experimental
and control ponds, to determine the amphibian species that are
using individual ponds that are on site. Continue taking water
samples to determine seasonal changes in physiochemical characteristics
of breeding sites.
- Refine the decomposition paper as more decomposition data are
obtained, and continue to sort the microarthropods and begin to
analyze the microarthropod data. Collect litterbags again in May,
extracted for soil microarthropods and weighed for decomposition
studies.
- Initiate the process of hiring a field crew for the 2004 breeding
bird season. The bird survey will begin in early May.
For more information, please contact Dr. Kevin Moorhead, UNC-Asheville,
828-232-5183; moorhead@unca.edu.
Mark Your Calendar
May 10 – 12, 2004
Context Sensitive Design Symposium
(Atlanta, GA)
May 13 – 18, 2004
AASHTO Spring Meeting
(St. George, UT)
June 2 – 4, 2004
Weeds Across Borders Biennial Conference
(Minneapolis, MN)
June 21 – 22, 2004
Southeastern Conference on Stream Restoration
(Winston-Salem, NC)
For more information, please visit CTE's CONVERGE
Web site.
For more information about CTE News and
Notes, contact Katie McDermott,
Editor
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