September Webinar - Livability Forum
ContextSensitiveSolutions.org is pleased to have presented a Forum on Livability in partnership with the Office of the Secretary of Transportation (OST), the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). The free event, held in webinar format, was held on Thursday, September 24, 2009, from 2:00–3:30 PM EST. The Forum on Livability will was the first national-scale opportunity for dialogue with some of the key U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) leaders and staff engaged in the new transportation and livability initiatives of the Obama administration. Click here for more information. A recording of this Webinar is now available for viewing.
Stay Tuned...
To receive regular CSS updates, including information on future webinars, please register at: http://www.contextsensitivesolutions.org/register/user-new
Past Webinars
Complete Streets and Context Sensitive Solutions
June 11, 2009 – Gabe Rousseau, Ph.D., Bicycle and Pedestrian Program Manager, FHWA Office of Natural and Human Environment, Barbara McCann, Executive Director of the National Complete Streets Coalition and principal of McCann Consulting, and Michael Ronkin, Owner, Designing Streets for Pedestrians and Bicyclists LLC provided an overview of FHWA's perspective on Complete Streets; including a discussion on the importance of pedestrian and bicycle issues, and what federal programs and policies are available to support communities in their Complete Streets efforts.
The webinar detailed the design and implementation strategies of Complete Streets and how they relate to Context Sensitive Solutions initiatives. The presenters also reviewed the accelerating adoption of complete streets policies and laws across the country.
A Guide to Building CSS Knowledge and Skills for Successful Project Delivery
May 14, 2009 – Leigh Lane and Lisa Murphy from The Louis Berger Group; and Keith Harrison, Safety/Geometric Design Engineer with the Federal Highway Administration Resource Center introduced the online "Guide to Building CSS Knowledge and Skills for Successful Project Delivery" (a.k.a. the Training Guide). A step-by-step, easy to navigate guide that can help anyone interested in developing and/or delivering CSS-related training to staff at varying levels.
Sustainable Stormwater Management Practices
April 16, 2009 – Wendi Goldsmith, President of the Bioengineering Group, Inc., and Clark Wilson, Urban Designer at the EPA Office of Smart Growth, discussed the importance of sustainable stormwater management practices, along with innovative strategies for natural onsite stormwater storage and treatment.
Sustainable stormwater management seeks to eliminate, where possible, the negative impacts of construction activities that disturb the natural hydrologic cycle resulting in elimination or reduction in the permeability of soils, increased "flashy" runoff and general water quality degradation.
Using Design Flexibility to Achieve Context Sensitive Solutions
September 29, 2008 – Led by Gary Toth, Senior Director of Transportation Initiatives at Project for Public Spaces and former Director of Project Planning and Development at New Jersey Department of Transportation, and Jeffrey Shaw, Safety and Design Engineer with the FHWA Resource Center, the presentation discusses the importance of flexible design in achieving context sensitive solutions and a variety of methods for finding the flexibility that exists in most roadway design manuals. These strategies include selecting appropriate design controls, such as design speed and design vehicle, and making careful choices about traffic projections and level of service targets. The webinar also covers tort liability and how design flexibility can allow for proactive roadway designs that fit into their context.
