Design

Practical Design challenges traditional standards to develop efficient solutions to solve today's project needs. MoDOT's goal of Practical Design is to build good projects, not great projects, to achieve a great system. Innovation and creativity are necessary for us to accomplish Practical Design.

To accomplish Practical Design, we must properly define the scope by focusing on achieving the project purpose and need while considering the surroundings of each project. We must be sensitive to where the project is located, whether it is an interstate or a letter route. The surrounding context helps determine the design criteria. Our goal is to get the best value for the least cost. Life cycle costs must be considered. It is not our goal to shift the burden to maintenance.

Early in 2005, MoDOT began implementing Practical Design. The first step was developing best practices. These examples were intended to encourage the staff to think outside the box as they designed future improvement projects to provide the best value for the taxpayers.

The next step in implementing Practical Design is adopting new policies in areas most affecting our improvement costs. These areas are known as cost drivers . Reducing costs in these key areas, while still serving motorists' needs, will enable us to construct more projects, thus better serving the taxpayer.

MoDOT senior managers developed these new policies in Oct. 2005. They represent a significant change in MoDOT direction. Each of these new policies is to be used Immediateely. Each policy supersedes the current direction contained in the Project Development Manual (PDM). However, information contained in the PDM not affected by these policies will continue to be used in the development of improvement projects.

These policies will form the foundation of a new guidance document that will go into effect in the near future. This guidance document, in electronic format, will describe engineering policies throughout MoDOT. It will be the one-stop shop for design, right of way, bridge, construction, traffic, and maintenance activities. It will represent completion of the next step in our Practical Design effort.

These new policies will guide the project decisions we all must make. We must build the most efficient solution to the transportation need we have identified so we can spread our money to more projects across the state. We will follow three groundrules: 1. Safety will not be compromised. Every project we do will make the facility safer after its completion. 2. We will collaborate on the solution. 3. The design speed will equal the posted speed. For example, we will not design a road for 70 mph when it will be posted 60 mph.

Practical Design has two main categories of roads. Major roads include the functional classification of principal arterial and above. These roads consist of approximately 5,400 miles of our 32,000 mile system and carry 76% of the traffic. Minor roads include the functional classification of minor arterial and below.

The Practical Design method, practiced by all areas of MoDOT, will allow us to deliver safer roadways, of great value, in a faster manner. It will take time to fully change our processes. It will take time to fully change the way we think about how our projects serve the motorist. We have already made GREAT progress!

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