Planning and Environment Linkages (PEL) Hypothetical Case Study: Planning Studies

Details

• Corporate Creators:
  United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  Data Analysis Decision Making Environment Environmental Impacts Environmental Policy Project Delivery Transportation Planning
• Resource Type:
  Brief
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States
• Corporate Publisher:
  United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration
• Abstract:
  PEL is a valuable tool for creating efficiencies in the transportation project development process that supports agencies’ efforts to accelerate project delivery. PEL represents a collaborative and integrated approach to transportation decision-making that considers benefits and impacts of proposed transportation system improvements to the environment, community, and economy during the transportation planning process to inform the environmental review process. This case study provides a hypothetical example for how a State Department of Transportation (DOT) could conduct a PEL study for a scenario with sensitive resources, potential environmental constraints, and multimodal considerations with the potential for many alternative solutions. PEL studies are developed with the stated purpose of producing planning analyses and decisions that can be adopted and/or incorporated into subsequent project-level environmental reviews. This can be used when sensitive resources are known to be present, but additional information is needed to avoid and/or minimize environmental effects or when a future project is complex. This can be done by conducting early screening and identification of transportation and land use planning goals. By analyzing environmental data, as well as transportation and land use planning information, transportation agencies can screen planning-level decisions, such as the selection of the general travel corridor or mode choice, or their impacts on recreational areas, wetlands, watersheds, or sensitive habitats, for example. Knowing the potential environmental effects early in the planning process provides agencies the opportunity to modify the proposed project to avoid impacts and, for unavoidable impacts, develop more effective and sustainable mitigation strategies that achieve both environmental and transportation objectives.
• Format:
  PDF
• Collection(s):
  Federal Highway Administration
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:f9b1b07b464f666821f4bb6f0a0792edb392408a9e43203363afd804d2f7c86641c605f301f15ab78f54f4d04726ff6582495ae135265ec82fb79d78ecf4602e
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/63494/dot_63494_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 489.61 KB ]