SPR 20-581: Integration of Utility Coordination and Highway Design

Since utility facilities are largely permitted to occupy road rights of way and are essential to the communities we serve, national perceptions are changing in how we should work with those facilities that have historically been seen simply viewed as obstmctions to road improvements. This philosophical change is leading many state DOTs to redefine utility companies from obstructions to partners in the road project development process. Strategic integration of utility coordination and roadway design can provide the synergy necessary to expedite delivc1y of highway projects. This project would entail the alignment of utility coordination process milestones with project development process milestones while also capturing and providing roles, responsibilities and guidance for, between and among those processes. The primaty deliverable of this project would be an Integrated Project Development Guidance Document to minimize utility related project risk during development by identifying, avoiding, minimizing, and then mitigating all utility conflicts within highway design projects and viewing utility coordination as a series of collaborative steps within the road project development and delivery processes.