Public outreach on your transportation project is only successful if all stakeholders who use the route are given the opportunity to engage. That isn’t always easy, however, because not all stakeholders will be located nearby. For instance, freight traffic may frequently use a corridor but be based many miles away.

After years of planning, designing, and permitting your project, you’re finally ready to begin construction and issue the Notice to Proceed (NTP). It’s a big moment. Then a week later you’re contacted by your inspector, who tells you the contractor has stopped working and is threatening to submit a Notice of Changed Conditions. You have very little time to get up to speed and decide on a course of action. What will you do?

This is the second installment in my blog series about the Eight Traits of Successful Developers. In the first post I discussed the first two traits: “Successful developers don’t fall in love too soon” and “Successful developers find the problem.” In this post I will discuss how successful developers understand that consultants must be realists rather than optimists – they must be thorough and candid. This trait is third in the series because I believe it helps developers succeed at trait number two.

This post continues our series discussing the transformation of Main Street into a Complete Street in communities where Main Street serves as both a multi-modal local route and a state highway with high volumes of freight traffic. Our first post, The Evolution of Main Street, defined the problem and the second, Implementing a Complete Street Policy, looked at the role policy can play. In this post I am going to discuss how we can develop solutions by performing a corridor study.