Delaware DOT Strategic Implementation Plan for Climate Change, Sustainability & Resilience for Transportation
Developed in 2017 by the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT), this plan aims to promote a resilient and sustainable transportation system by providing a framework to enable implementation of key transportation-related recommendations. The Strategic Implementation Plan was developed by the Delaware Department of Transportation in response to then Governor Jack Markell’s 2013 Executive Order E041, Preparing Delaware for Emerging Climate Impacts and Seizing Economic Opportunities for Reducing Emissions. A report issued under the EO, the Climate Framework for Delaware, lists 150 recommended actions to Delaware agencies. Nineteen recommended actions were assigned to DelDOT, resulting in this implementation report. The recommendations are organized into four categories: (1) Incorporate Climate Change into Asset Management; (2) Ensure Workforce Public Health and Safety; (3) Support Climate Resilience in Local Communities; and (4) Identify and Support Policy Initiatives that Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions.
The first category, Incorporate Climate Change into Asset Management, focuses on strengthening essential infrastructure against climate-related disruptions through planning, design, and construction. DelDOT is responsible for 90% of the roads in the state as well as the transit system. The initiatives include developing geospatial datasets to identify vulnerable areas, identifying and addressing chronic flooding areas impacting transportation, and evaluating new road surface materials. For instance, DelDOT is working to inventory all roadway assets using LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging, a technology that uses lasers to create maps), which will help identify climate-change vulnerable areas. DelDOT also aims to reevaluate stormwater management approaches and explore new pavement technology to increase resilience.
The workforce public health and safety category of recommendations focuses on workforce development to support climate resilience and infrastructure. The recommendations include evaluating worker safety guidelines, providing training, and reevaluating emergency response protocols. For instance, DelDOT has replaced a maintenance facility prone to flooding and discussed new employee safety guidelines during natural disasters.
For supporting climate resilience in local communities, DelDOT aims to work with vulnerable communities to receive support to address climate impacts. The only initiative in this area is to provide land assessment tools, where DelDOT supports a number of entities to develop resilience approaches. For instance, DelDOT works with the University of Delaware to create a toolkit for community development and resilience and with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for their Community Resilience Planning Guide for Buildings and Infrastructure Systems.
For identifying and supporting policy initiatives that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the Clean Energy Deployment and Innovation initiative invests in technology development and project implementation for the energy transition. This includes evaluating Low-Emission Vehicle Deployment and evaluating Alternative Energy Technology In Facilities.
To support the goals of Executive Order EO41, a committee and several working groups were formed. These groups focused on reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, increasing resilience to climate impacts, and minimizing flood risks from sea level rise. The Climate Framework for Delaware report, stemming from the 2013 EO, was published on December 31, 2014 and outlined 150 recommended actions for state agencies. Of those, 19 actions were assigned to DelDOT. The Strategic Implementation Plan documents and analyzes next steps for these actions. Across the 19 actions discussed in the plan, each was assessed according to several metrics, including its potential impact, cost, and ease of implementation. Based on these assessments, DelDOT assigned one of three priority levels for implementation to each recommendation and created an overall implementation timeline. Many recommendations were already in progress at the time of this plan’s creation, and the timeline anticipated all actions to be completed by 2022.
Publication Date: July 2017
Related Organizations:
- Delaware Department of Transportation
- State of Delaware
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Resource Types:
- Adaptation plan
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