reformofstatedots

The source for New Urbanism, smart growth, and walkable communities

Reform of state DOTs

Reform of the state departments of transportation has

been a key goal of new urbanists for years — and it appears

to be actually underway in two major states, Pennsylvania

and Texas.

In May, Pennsylvania allocated $59.2 million for transportation

projects that support smart growth and walkability. The

Smart Transportation program is led by PennDOT secretary Al

Biehler, who has a transit rather than a highway background,

says Mary Taylor Raulerson, a consultant for Glatting Jackson

Kercher Anglin in Orlando, Florida.

Glatting Jackson put together a Smart Transportation Guidebook

for PennDOT and has trained 1,500 of the department’s

12,000 employees, she told a CNU gathering in June. Also, she

notes that the money is being leveraged through competitive

grants. Municipalities submitted 400 applications. She described

the program as a “laboratory so folks in Pennsylvania

would know what we mean by smart transportation planning

and great communities.” Go to www.smart-transportation.com

to find out more.

Meanwhile, Texas has become the first state to officially

adopt the Urban Thoroughfares manual written by CNU and

the Institute of Transportation Engineers, says Fort Worthbased

planner Scott Polikov. Moreover, TxDOT has revised its

Project Development Process Manual to require that context

sensitive design be considered in project evaluations, Polikov

told New Urban News. The New Urbanism is mentioned by

name in this TxDOT process manual, probably another first.

The changes were published in June, and the pdf document is

From the July-August 2009 issue of New Urban News.