How to Beautify Roads With Context Sensitive Design

摘要

In the past, the topic of highway aesthetics was akin to the crazy aunt in the attic; it was a subject that folks would grudgingly acknowledge as important but not really want to discuss, hoping it would just go away. In some circles, it was about as pleasant as a root canal. However, communities and advocacy groups alike have, over the last decade, become aware of the need for aesthetic considerations and have become empowered to insist that agencies design projects that are commensurate with the scale of the overall effort and its potential impact. Thus, any project progressed these days must implement the strategy of inclusion and consensus borne through the process known as Context Sensitive Design, or CSD, to achieve the appropriate look. It has become the only way to travel. How did this change in project development orientation and stakeholder responsibilities come about? Three words were the impetus for looking at projects in this new way: cheaper, faster, and better. More than anything else, pragmatism made it abundantly clear that casting the widest net possible, as early in the process as possible, would conclusively establish a list of reasonable stakeholders as well as identify their issues and concerns.