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Community Reconstruction: Seattle, Washington
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Lessons Learned
Highway officials, community residents, and city planners felt the major problem for the South
Atlantic Street and Judkins Park neighborhoods from the I-90 project was the phenomenon of
"blight by announcement." The delay of interjurisdictional negotiations had a serious negative
effect on the communities. Due to the uncertainty over I-90, the two neighborhoods with the
greatest displacements experienced a significant decline in quality of life. The lessons of
this project still apply today, including:
- Clearly establishing and communicating with need for and scale of the facility as well as the
project's importance to the community.
- Gathering community input on design issues.
- Creating rapport with the community during the project planning through early communication
with the community. WSDOT hired a public information officer specifically assigned to the
project. That person had an ability to communicate in words the community could understand,
rather than technical engineering terms.
- Communicating with the public using a variety of approaches. WSDOT reached out in a variety
of ways to all segments of the population, including those who did not attend meetings.
Architectural models of proposed designs were displayed in supermarkets, information packages
were hung on community residents' doors, weekly tours of the project site were conducted for
the community, and WSDOT produced a quarterly project newsletter.
- Making project staff, including the project manager, available to and prepared to interact
effectively with the public to provide technical expertise and agency credibility.
- Maintaining a continuous dialogue with the community. Their needs and desires can change
over time. As people moved in and out of the affected area between planning and through
construction, the community's position on the I-90 project shifted. Changes within the
community must be recognized for effective collaboration between transportation officials and
the affected community.
- Sharing and celebrating every phase of construction with the community to encourage a sense
of ownership. For example, engineers and construction professionals conducted a community tour
of the I-90 site. The professionals' enthusiasm and excitement at the technical achievements
seemed to instill a feeling of pride and ownership in the project for the local participants.
This close interaction also personalized the project and its staff for the community.
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Making the Planning Process Work
Key elements of the Seattle, WA, I-90 Planning Process:
- Need to clearly establish the need for and scale of the facility, and then convey that
need and the importance of the project to the impacted community.
- Need to gather community input on design issues. Reach out to the community in a variety
of ways outside the public hearing; e.g., project models in supermarkets, door-to-door
information campaign, and tours of the construction sight.
- Need to meet the public's expectation to see project managers, not just public
information personnel.
- Need to keep continuous rapport with communities. When communities change, needs and
desires can change.
- Need to celebrate project milestones with the community. Sense of project ownership is
important to the community.
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References
Cary, Susan C.; "The Interstate 90 Project: Public Issues, Debate and Process"; prepared for the
International Trade Institute, Portland, OR, and the Urban Economic Research Institute;
Government of Japan; April 1988.
Dietrich, Bill; "The Crossing: Riding the Fast Lane from Sea to Shining Sea"; Seattle
Times/Seattle Post-Intelligencer; August 21, 1988.
"Final Environmental Impact/Section 4(f) Statement, S.R. 90 Junction S.R. 5 to Vicinity
Junction S.R. 405"; prepared by the Federal Highway Administration and Washington State
Department of Highways; Report No. FHWA-WN-EIS-75-05-F; September 1978.
"I-90: Opening Soon"; a publication prepared and paid for by the Washington State Department of
Transportation; supplement to the Seattle Times/Seattle Post-Intelligencer; October
1988.
"I-90: The Homestretch"; a publication prepared and paid for by the Washington State Department
of Transportation; supplement to the Seattle Times/Seattle Post-Intelligencer; July
1992.
"Celebrating the Interstate 90 Completion Project"; a publication prepared and paid for by the
Washington State Department of Transportation; supplement to the Seattle Times/Seattle
Post-Intelligencer; September 1993.
"Interstate 90. A Capsule History on I-90--20-plus Years on the Road"; Washington Department of
Transportation; (undated).
Memorandum Agreement, City of Seattle, City of Mercer Island, City of Bellevue, King County,
Metro, Washington State Highway Commission; December 1976.
Weiss, Michael J.; "America's Best Elementary Schools"; Redbook; April 1995.
Introduction
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