1. North Dakota’s Experience Work Zone Focus State Workshop April 19, 2005

2. North Dakota’s Roads Rural state with 640,000 residentsRural state with 640,000 residents Roads mainly product to market roadsRoads mainly product to market roads

3. Project Area I-29 Connects Canada to Mexico (I-35)I-29 Connects Canada to Mexico (I-35) Metro area approaching 250,000 residentsMetro area approaching 250,000 residents Traffic countsTraffic counts –I-29 40,000 projected to exceed 70,000 –Crossroads about 35,000

4. Project Characteristics Reconstruct I-29 through Fargo – 8 Miles including all interchanges and new underpassesReconstruct I-29 through Fargo – 8 Miles including all interchanges and new underpasses Reconstruct Main Avenue one mile each side of I-29Reconstruct Main Avenue one mile each side of I-29 Lengthen Railroad SeparationLengthen Railroad Separation Started in 2000 and will continue into 2008Started in 2000 and will continue into 2008 $130 million project$130 million project

5. Public Concerns One of four major north south routes in FargoOne of four major north south routes in Fargo –Regional Hospital and College on north side –Large number of employees on the south side Regional shopping center along corridorRegional shopping center along corridor –Closed main entrance into mall during construction Affected almost everyone in townAffected almost everyone in town –Night closures for beam setting and underground –Closed ramps at I-29/I-94 detoured onto city street

6. Outreach Efforts Overall goal was to reduce crashes and inform public of travel interruptionsOverall goal was to reduce crashes and inform public of travel interruptions $380,000 over four years$380,000 over four years Primarily targeted roadway usersPrimarily targeted roadway users

7. Barriers and Obstacles Biggest barrier was changing mindset that construction was horrible and life alteringBiggest barrier was changing mindset that construction was horrible and life altering Overcome by educating and obtaining public buy inOvercome by educating and obtaining public buy in

8. Pre-Construction Outreach “Normal” public process during environmental process“Normal” public process during environmental process Business Advisory Group between environmental process and biddingBusiness Advisory Group between environmental process and bidding –Co-sponsored by Chamber of Commerce –Small group of affected businesses met quarterly to discuss plans and work zone traffic control –Allowed businesses to plan for construction

9. During Construction Outreach Safety message – “Let’s get there together, safety first”Safety message – “Let’s get there together, safety first” Tools usedTools used –Website –Leave behinds –Press releases Live webcams of workzoneLive webcams of workzone Difficult to keep information current in a rapidly changing workzoneDifficult to keep information current in a rapidly changing workzone

10. During Construction Outreach Contractor public relationsContractor public relations –Contract required contractor to provide a public information person to update affected property owners –Required weekly contact and updates to the property owners –Contractor controls schedule and resources so they know best what is going to happen ER BookER Book

11. Results of Outreach SuccessfulSuccessful –Website –Buying advertising –Picking a media firm –Leave behinds 2000 42 crashes without PIC2000 42 crashes without PIC 2001 19 crashes with PIC2001 19 crashes with PIC

12. Lessons Learned Lessons learnedLessons learned –Time invested up front pays off –Working hard at keeping lines of communications open –Develop partnerships What could be done differently in the futureWhat could be done differently in the future –Get to the affected property owners earlier

13. Summary Summarize key points (i.e., top 5 things to keep in mind when developing/implementing an outreach campaign)Summarize key points (i.e., top 5 things to keep in mind when developing/implementing an outreach campaign) Closing comments/last thoughts to help attendees develop their own strategies and plans later in the dayClosing comments/last thoughts to help attendees develop their own strategies and plans later in the day