Public Works Management & Policy

Whether the US$131 billion set aside for infrastructure projects under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 can make a lasting contribution to improving the nation’s public infrastructure will depend, in part, on the quality of infrastructure management systems and practices in the states. In this article, we examine the factors that influence how well state governments plan for and manage public infrastructure using results from the 2005 and 2008 Government Performance Project. The pooled Tobit regression analysis shows that capital management quality is affected by political variables such as divided legislatures and legislative term limits, fiscal institutions including tax and expenditure limits, and environmental demand factors, specifically the extent of urbanization.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) has introduced several innovations to managed lanes on the Interstate 35W (I-35W) corridor including: freeway shoulder operations; active traffic management featuring intelligent lane control signals; in-pavement lighting; and, variable advisory speed limits. I-35W is a unique test bed for deployment of features that expand the concept of managed lanes across all freeway lanes and shoulders and builds upon experience from I-394 MnPASS, as well as learning from other domestic and international projects. Strategies being implemented seek to reduce congestion, preserve and enhance transit and high occupancy vehicle (HOV) capacity, and employ variable priced optional tolling with state-of-the art technology. In the long run, a key outcome anticipated in the I-35W managed lanes projects will be the ability to demonstrate how MnDOT and other transportation authorities can safely add more capacity and enhance performance within the existing highway footprint. Through the U.S. DOT’s Urban Partnership Program, Minnesota has been given a unique opportunity to innovate, test and evaluate creative traffic management ideas with significant potential to set the stage for future implementations and to pass along this important learning to other parts of the country.

The management of complex transportation projects requires a fundamental change in how they are approached. The traditional methodology for managing cost, schedule, and design, on transportation projects is not adequate for complex projects. A five-dimensional model has been developed adding context and finance, which have previously been regarded merely as external risks. The five-dimensional model has been developed from an extensive literature search pertaining to the management of complex transportation projects and provides a framework for mapping the complexity of projects. The main purpose of this research is to present results found on complex transportation projects that illustrate a new type of management approach for project managers. The information gathered from these case studies can be used to examine similarities to infer common sources of complexity, and mapping of each project facilitates resource allocation decisions based on these commonalities.

Roadways are continuous elements that consist of straight and curved segments that are of particular interest to transportation agencies because of safety concerns for motorists. An analysis was undertaken on curves to determine the accuracy of using GIS to identify curves. The safety of horizontal curves from a system perspective was also benchmarked to understand curves as a system instead of as isolated roadway features. The automated application, Curve Finder, was able to locate 532 of 799 curves along three routes studied. Roadway agencies can use Curve Finder to identify and measure a set of curves automatically. This GIS application for horizontal curves enables transportation agencies to leverage existing resources to manage their infrastructure more efficiently. The policy implications are that the additional curve data will enable a more cost-effective distribution of funding for improvements, a more efficient delivery of maintenance operations, and a safer roadway network.