Article
Issues and Methods for Transdisciplinary Planning of Combined Wildlife and Pedestrian Highway Crossings
Journal of the Transportation Research Board
(2009)
Abstract
Highways are increasingly understood as barriers to wildlife and pedestrian movement and as significant causes of landscape fragmentation—especially in suburban and periurban areas. FHWA's Transportation, Community, and System Preservation (TCSP) Program encourages innovative solutions to reduce the impact of highways on the communities they link and traverse. This paper is based on research and public participation as part of an FHWA-TCSP sponsored feasibility study for a combined wildlife and pedestrian crossing to mitigate highway impacts on wildlife and recreation, and on the communities of Concord and Lincoln, Massachusetts. The interdisciplinary study team included representatives from landscape architecture, urban planning, wildlife biology, civil engineering, and landscape history. The study included diverse public participation and collaboration throughout the project. The paper defines significant planning issues likely to pertain to similar projects and offers a transdisciplinary method for conducting planning or feasibility studies for combined wildlife-pedestrian crossings. The method is innovative for its interdisciplinary integration and its inclusion of public officials, nongovernmental representatives, citizens, and other stakeholders. The study is being considered for further research and possible implementation by FHWA with support from the host communities and a private conservation organization.
Keywords
- city planning,
- feasibility analysis,
- footbridges,
- innovation,
- interdisciplinary studies,
- landscape architecture,
- pedestrian movement,
- pedestrians,
- public participation,
- recreational facilities,
- walkways,
- wildlife,
- wildlife crossings
Disciplines
Publication Date
2009
DOI
http://dx.doi.org/10.3141/2123-14
Publisher Statement
From Transportation Research Record:
Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 2123, pp. 129-136.
Copyright, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C., 2009.
Abstract posted with permission of TRB. For complete paper, see http://pubsindex.trb.org.
Citation Information
Jack Ahern, Lee Jenning, Beth Fenstermacher, Page Warren, et al.. "Issues and Methods for Transdisciplinary Planning of Combined Wildlife and Pedestrian Highway Crossings" Journal of the Transportation Research Board Iss. 2123 (2009) p. 129 - 136 ISSN: 0361-1981 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/john_mullin/77/