2.4.4. Developing, Evaluating and Selecting Alternatives

"Alternative identification is the most creative part of the project development process in which sets of solutions are crafted in response to the problem statement and the evaluation criteria. "

www.contextsensitivesolutions.org

 

Consistent with CSS guiding principles, project stakeholders will play an important role in not only identifying the problem, local and regional issues and concerns, as well as community values;   they have much to offer regarding strategies or solutions that may better meet and balance the needs of community and the project. Alternatives development, evaluation, and selection, should thus be iterative processes in which the project team provides input and receives input in the development of  context-sensitive solutions. 

 

The National Cooperative Highway Research Program Report 480 offers several key elements of the alternatives development process, evaluation and selection process.  The full report is available online at:

Alternatives Development

Develop and document the full range of alternative solutions

• All alternatives being considered should be a reflection of community values (see Section 2.2.1. Defining the Community).
• A challenge is to translate an idea proposed by project stakeholders into a technically feasible solution.  Engage in a collaborative process to generate viable ideas.
• Maintain trust and reduce the potential for re-evaluating alternatives by providing a complete explanation as to why alternatives have been eliminated.
• Strive to emerge from this step with a set of alternatives, any one of which could be successfully implemented and will address the problem while being sensitive to community needs and values.

Educate of all parties on innovative solutions

• Work closely with stakeholders to ensure an understanding of how each alternative will address the problem
• Consider showing relevant examples of similar solutions used elsewhere (See Section 3. Leading with Best Practices - Project Examples .).

Portray alternatives in an understandable format

• Involve and inform non-technical stakeholders through a variety of communications tools, such as visualizations, models or simulations (see Section 2.5.2. Seeing is Believing - The Art of Visualization ), plan drawings overlayed on aerials, and by simply eliminating unnecessary engineering details.
• Present alternatives for easy and honest comparison by using the same level of detail, color schemes, and  scales.

Evaluation and Selection

Comparison of Alternatives

• A key aspect is to highlight trade-offs among various alternatives, relating back to criteria and the problem identified early in the process.
• Develop protocols for the types of alternatives analyses that are suited to each stage of project development, keeping in mind that stakeholders often demand high level of detail regardless of the project development stage.

Document Alterative Evaluation and Selection

“Documenting the alternatives development process is critical for establishing the credibility of the alternatives analysis process. “ (NCHRP,18)

Decision Making Authority

In the CSS Process, stakeholders provide meaningful input in the development, evaluation, and recommendation of a preferred alternative to the decision-making authority or owning agency.

The CSS approach should improve project quality, limit redesign, improve relationships with agencies and advocacy groups, provide for early and continuous input into the project by all stakeholders, expedite the project, and ultimately achieve project success.