Context-sensitive Solutions (transport) - The CSS Process

The CSS Process

This outline of the core steps in the CSS process was also developed at the "Thinking Beyond the Pavement" conference.

The CSS Process: Characteristics of the Process That Yield Excellence
"The Characteristics of the Process that will Yield Excellence in Transportation Design" are:

• Communication with all stakeholders is open, honest, early, and continuous.
• A multidisciplinary team is established early, with disciplines based on the needs of the specific project, and with the inclusion of the public.
• A full range of stakeholders is involved with transportation officials in the scoping phase (the period before design is begun when the scope of the project is agreed upon). The purposes of the project are clearly defined, and consensus on the scope is forged before proceeding.
• The highway development process is tailored to meet the circumstances. This process should examine multiple alternatives that will result in a consensus of approach methods.
• A commitment to the process from top agency officials and local leaders is secured.
• The public involvement process, which includes informal meetings, is tailored to the project.
• The landscape, the community, and valued resources are understood before engineering design is started. A full range of tools for communication about project alternatives is used (e.g., visualization).

— As agreed upon by participants of the Thinking Beyond the Pavement Conference, 1998