The Twain Shall Meet: Proposed Method for Integrating Context-Sensitive Solutions into Design–Build Programs

In 2003, the Minnesota Department of Transportation (DOT) developed a unique method of integrating context-sensitive solutions (CSS) into its design–build program in a process called visual quality management. Although this name implied that the process was only concerned with generating an aesthetically appealing project, the process was not as concerned with visual quality per se as it was with a method that resulted in a project that was acceptable to the public. This method was based on the CSS principles and practices that the Minnesota DOT had adopted as a business model, notably the inclusion of stakeholders; the use of interdisciplinary design teams; the adoption of multimodal solutions; the solving of associated social, economic, and environmental problems; and the creation of a safe, efficient, and effective transportation system. Visual quality management was actually a method for measuring conformance with a project's visual quality goals, which had been generated according to the principles of CSS. This process required the successful bidder to develop a visual quality management plan that outlined how the contractor would define and mitigate visual impacts, the responsibilities and authority of a visual quality manager and a visual quality review committee, and the process that the contractor would use to engage that committee in developing a visual quality manual. The manual established the criteria for developing CSS for 15 design elements that constituted a transportation project's visual environment and to which the contractor had to conform.