Adaptive Transportation Projects and Design Guidelines
These resources provide examples of physical adaptation projects in the transportation sector as well as other examples related to project design, such as design guidelines that incorporate climate change projections. Many of the examples in this list are provided by case studies developed through a cooperative agreement with the Federal Highway Administration. Apply additional filters to narrow the list by region, state, climate impacts, jurisdictional focus, or transportation lifecycle stage.
76 results are shown below.
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Resource
2016
The Atlanta BeltLine project demonstrates how cities can reuse underutilized sites and facilities to enhance city resilience to future climate impacts. (However, the BeltLine project is not being designed explicitly as a climate change adaptation project.) With the BeltLine project, the city is converting 22 miles of disused railway beds surrounding the city into a biking and pedestrian loop and a streetcar line, which will include 1,300 acres of new and 700 acres of restored greenspace.
Resource Category: Solutions
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The state of Minnesota created a $50 million Minnesota Department of Transportation (“MnDOT”) Flood Mitigation Program (“Program”) to increase the resilience of transportation system after severe spring floods in 2010 caused over $64 million in damages in the state. The Flood Mitigation Program will fund repairs, elevations, and realignments to road and bridges, as well as improvements to drainage structures. Although the program documents do not explicitly cite to climate change, MnDOT lists the Flood Mitigation Program as an adaptation action that the agency is taking to prepare for climate change.
Resource Category: Solutions
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December 2015
After Hurricane Sandy washed out a segment of the state highway, the Florida Department of Transportation (“FDOT”) and the City of Fort Lauderdale rebuilt a portion of the A1A highway (“A1A”) to be more resilient to future coastal hazards. The redesigned highway segment incorporates several different features that will increase the highway’s resilience to future flooding and erosion and will also make the city more walkable and bikeable:
Resource Category: Solutions
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October 2015
The “Environmentally Compromised Road Segments” model ordinance provides a framework for local governments in Florida to recognize and proactively address two related challenges: changing environmental conditions that cause natural degradation of public roads and rising maintenance costs. The ordinance does so by creating exceptions to both levels of service and uniform design standards for “environmentally compromised road segments. ” Such road segments must meet certain maintenance cost thresholds and be within areas where typical repair activities and standards are infeasible due to naturally-occurring environmental conditions.
Resource Category: Law and Governance
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October 2015
Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, located at the southern tip of Assateague Island, depends on parking and road facilities that are vulnerable to flooding and erosion. Refuge managers have been exploring alternatives for responding to these impacts that they anticipate will worsen with sea-level rise and climate change. The refuge is studying alternatives to relocate parking facilities and is using oyster reefs to protect transportation facilities. Parking facilities on the island are made of loose shells and sand so as not to disrupt the natural terrain.
Resource Category: Solutions
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September 2015
In order to maintain cost-effective, sustainable visitor access to the Gulf Islands National Seashore (GUIS), the National Park Service (NPS) proposed the development of passenger ferry service from Pensacola, Florida, to Fort Pickens. Santa Rosa Island, the site of Fort Pickens and part of GUIS, is susceptible to coastal storms and erosion. The Fort Pickens Road within GUIS is frequently damaged by storms, including hurricanes in 2004 and 2005. The transportation system in the Fort Pickens area is particularly vulnerable to disruptions caused by these impacts.
Resource Category: Solutions
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The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) is implementing several different solutions to address frequent overwashes, erosion, and more severe damage to North Carolina Highway 12 (NC 12) following Hurricanes Irene and Sandy. These measures, intended to improve the future resilience of the highway, include bridge construction and temporary beach nourishment.
Resource Category: Solutions
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August 2015
This Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) TechBrief summarizes potential impacts of climate change on asphalt and concrete pavement systems and adaptation strategies that transportation agencies might pursue to limit impacts on these systems. The brief indicates that most of the research to date on climate change implications for pavements has been general, but efforts have grown to integrate climate change considerations into pavement design and to predict performance of pavements based on climate scenarios.
Resource Category: Solutions
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August 2015
The Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) is pursuing a “Resilience Pilot Program” (RPP) to improve data and modeling with the aim of reducing incidents of flood, hydraulic-related failure, and extreme weather damage to critical transportation infrastructure. A key element to the new RPP is a partnership with the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS). Leveraging USGS’s resources, the RPP is currently testing new technology such as fixed-wing drone, quad-copter hovercraft and ground based LiDAR imaging to better assess the siting, design, and construction of ADOT’s assets where they interchange with rivers, stream, creeks and floodplains.
Resource Category: Data and tools
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April 2015
In 2014, the Massachusetts Port Authority (“Massport”) began the Massport Resiliency Program to protect Massport transportation facilities from flooding hazards caused by extreme storms and rising sea levels as a result of climate change. The program seeks to better prepare for the impacts of climate change by incorporating resilience principles into Massport’s business strategy and operations. As a part of this program, Massport created a Floodproofing Design Guide (“Guide”) that will help make the built environment resilient to sea-level rise and major flood events.
Resource Category: Law and Governance
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