Think Before You Cut

---

Issue Brief

Think Before You Cut:

Improving Collaboration in the Public Right of Way “…they would dig up the street, do the work, pave it back over. Then another utility would come in, dig it back up, do their work, and pave it back over.” — Blog post by “Amy,” July 15, 20141

For as long as people have been burying infrastructure under pavement, local governments have struggled to coordinate projects in the public right of way. The failures are frequent and all too visible. For example: ƒƒ A city’s highway or street department repairs potholes and repaves a street. Months later, the telecommunications utility cuts into that fresh pavement to work on its fiber optic cable. Maybe the telecom company is responding to an emergency. Or maybe the utility and government failed to coordinate. ƒƒ The water department digs up a road to repair a leaking main. Soon afterward, the sewer department launches a project to extend service to new homes on the same road. ƒƒ The city closes a street for construction, blocking the main route to the local university on move-in day. When government agencies and utilities don’t schedule their infrastructure projects in a logical sequence, those errors cause big problems. One obvious consequence is extra expense. Few cities or counties can afford to pave a roadway only to pave it again a short time later. And road cuts — especially in roads that were recently paved — trigger rapid deterioration. “The public pays the cost of untimely pavement deterioration either directly through premature maintenance and rehabilitation, or indirectly through the effect of rough roads on their vehicles,” says the U.S. Federal Highway Administration in a manual for controlling and reducing pavement utility cuts.2 Poorly coordinated projects also frustrate residents who have to contend with detours, noise and dust. Business owners see trade drop as projects block access to their doors. And constituents fume at the thought of tax dollars going to waste. Miscommunication can also endanger public safety — for instance, if an ambulance service doesn’t get word about a closure on the most direct route to the emergency room.

What’s Missing: Collaboration Problems arise, in part, because local governments and private sector partners lack effective ways to collaborate. Even within government, different departments — highway, public works, public utilities, etc. — have limited visibility into projects or procedures for coordinating activities. Often, a city or county will impose a pavement cutting moratorium to prevent unnecessary street cuts, prohibiting new work for a certain number of years after a street is repaved. The government gives utilities a chance to work in the right of way before the government’s own project starts. Often, though, a utility can circumvent a moratorium, winning permission to cut into recent pavement by declaring an infrastructure emergency. When government agencies and private utilities try to coordinate their projects, they communicate mainly through meetings, phone calls and paper forms. Those methods are time consuming, and they aren’t always effective. If a person misses a meeting, or if paper forms don’t reach all stakeholders, miscommunication can occur. Additionally, private sector partners may be reluctant to share plan details, concerned about giving competitors access to proprietary information. Furthermore, the tools used to share information often fall short of the need. Text-based lists, spreadsheets and databases without mapping capabilities make it hard to envision the geographic impact of a project, or a cluster of projects.

How a Cloud-Based Platform Solves the Problem The most reliable way for local agencies and utilities to collaborate is to create a neutral platform where all stakeholders can share information on projects and work together. Using a map-based system that operates in the cloud, agencies and utilities can coordinate activities, identify conflicts as well as opportunities to collaborate, see how upcoming projects and special events will affect streets and highways, and learn in real time about any changes to project plans. A government can also use this technology to inform the public about street closings and infrastructure projects. Some cities are already benefiting from cloud-based right of way management solutions.

For example, the City of Winnipeg, capital of Manitoba, Canada, has used an online right of way management solution since 2010. The system provides a map-based repository where city departments and local utilities share data about upcoming projects. The solution allowed Winnipeg to institute pavement cutting moratoriums. Without a collaboration tool, utilities would find it hard to coordinate and complete work before a moratorium went into effect, says Derrick Saedal, supervisor of Winnipeg’s Underground Structures Group. “But now we’re saying, ‘We want you to schedule and coordinate with us, and here is a solution you can use.’ The utilities are happy to have this tool.”3 Now that Winnipeg has transformed the management of infrastructure projects, the city is using the tool to coordinate use of the streets for special events such as marathons, festivals and film shoots. Such coordination is critical. For example, when a movie company takes over several city blocks, all other work in the area must stop, Saedal says. “Obviously, you don’t want somebody jackhammering across the street.” A street closure for a special event also affects a wider area as the city diverts traffic. Before setting up a detour, it’s important to understand conditions on the alternative route. “There may be construction on that other street,” Saedal says. Map-based collaboration helps city agencies and their partners visualize the full potential impact of special events and plan accordingly.4 The City of Baltimore implemented a solution for right of way management and government officials projected the system would save Baltimore more than $900,000 per year.5 The city and its partners use the system not only to spot potential conflicts, but also to identify collaborative opportunities. Baltimore has also started using its system to improve coordination of special events. In the past, event sponsors worked with different departments to get multiple

permits — the Housing Department for major events on private property, for instance, and Recreation and Parks for events in parks. Each department used a separate software system. Today, Baltimore is implementing a permitting solution under which all events will flow through the right of way management system, providing a comprehensive view of all activities and potential uses of public spaces. “We are redesigning workflows and working to maximize the utility of our software to better integrate the silos and that is key for resource management, event management and public safety purposes,” says Babila Lima, special assistant to the administration and project manager within Baltimore’s Department of General Services. For instance, if different organizations schedule a baseball game, an outdoor concert and a community cookout on the same day on adjacent streets, and/or adjacent lots, and/or on adjacent park spaces, the police will learn about those events in one glance.6 Baltimore is enhancing its system with data on licensed food carts and trucks. “It’s important for us to know where those are, so we can adequately manage resources, be able to produce quick and accurate information for our customers, and resolve conflicts,” Lima says. For example, if a food truck is licensed to park on a street that’s slated for construction, the right of way system will highlight the conflict and help city officials find the vendor a good temporary location.

Conclusion Without effective coordination, projects in the right of way may cause a great deal of inconvenience and extra expense. By implementing technology that enables collaboration among agencies and private sector partners, a local government can operate more efficiently, make better use of taxpayer dollars and keep its citizens informed and engaged.

Endnotes 1.

www.bubblews.com/news/4521779-utility-company-is-tearing-up-my-street-again

2.

www.fhwa.dot.gov/utilities/utilitycuts/man02.cfm

3.

Quotes from Derrick Saedal are from interview with Governing on Oct. 15, 2014

4.

www.accela.com/company/customers/success-stories/winnipeg

5.

www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/wz/construction/crp/baltcasestudy/index.htm

6.

Quotes from Babila Lima are from interview with Governing on Oct. 22, 2014

Underwritten by:

At Accela, we believe that engagement makes all the difference. We’re ushering in a new era where democracy thrives when government works directly with the people, coming to citizens on their terms through mobile devices, social media and networks, and open data. By streamlining critical agency functions like land, asset and right of way management, licensing, legislative management, recreation and resource management, citizen relationship management and environmental health and safety, the Accela Civic Platform bridges the gap between agencies and citizens. We help build better communities by powering thousands of services and millions of transactions daily for agencies of all sizes. Accela is headquartered in San Ramon, California, with offices in San Francisco, New York, Melbourne and Dubai. For more information, visit www.accela.com.

© 2014 e.Republic. All rights reserved.