Planning
Articles
“The Corridor Management Plan: Your Tool to Spark Continued Progress,”
America’s Byways Resource Center; Vistas, May/June 2005
CMPs: Tools to Spark Continued Progress
At their root, byways are inherently a transportation function. Obviously, other activities are crucial to the success of byways, including; tourism, natural resources, interpretation, fundraising and marketing to name a few. But it is the very roadway that carries visitors to, through and between the communities that creates the byway corridor. And in most cases it is the very roadway that defines the byway’s character and essence. Because many people in the grassroots byway community did not come from the world of transportation and probably did not study transportation planning and engineering principles, their unique insights from non-transportation perspectives help make this particular transportation program, the National Scenic Byways Program, a truly one-of-a-kind endeavor.
A corridor management plan (CMP) is a major pre-requisite to becoming part of the America’s Byways® community, and it is frequently the byway volunteer’s first exposure to the world of transportation planning. For previously designated byways, your group has already created a CMP and, most likely, has begun implementing the strategies contained within those plans. If your group is right in the middle of the nomination process to achieve national designation, you probably have just completed the CMP.
Either way, the CMP should outline the strategies that you wish to undertake along your byway. If you created your CMP a while ago, hopefully your planning efforts have not fallen by the wayside. In the byway community, you wear many different hats and often spend a lot of time putting out fires and juggling day-to-day activities. You may have other responsibilities that require more immediate attention. That is the inherent difficulty in any planning process. The goals and objectives tend to be long-term and often get put on the back burner. However, as you are likely part of a byway organization, implicitly that means you are also a leader. As a leader it is your responsibility to make sure your organization is making progress toward your vision, which should be highlighted in your CMP. If it has indeed been awhile since you’ve dug into your CMP, don’t fret; it is never too late to stoke the fires of your planning process.
CMP Refresher
In case it has been a while, or you are new to the byway community, we will review the components and the reasoning behind doing a corridor management plan. A corridor management plan developed for a byway is substantially different from one created for a non-byway corridor. For instance, a DOT may create a CMP for a very busy metropolitan area where the main focus is to alleviate traffic congestion. Or a CMP could be created for a highly residential area to deal with safety concerns from traffic not appropriate for neighborhood areas. Often, other transportation modes are included in a non-byway CMP including transit, bike/pedestrians, and rail, making the plan multi-modal.
Because byways have unique characteristics, however, FHWA requires that a byway CMP address other issues not directly related to transportation if they are pursuing national designation. Every byway should consult the Federal Register Interim Policy, May 18, 1995.
In general, though, a CMP should answer the following five basic questions:
- What are the byway’s current conditions?
- What are the goals for the byway?
- What concrete objectives and strategies will move you toward achieving those goals?
- Who will be responsible for carrying out the strategies and objectives?
- When will each of the strategies and objectives be implemented?
But first things first. You should have a vision of what you want or don’t want your byway to be in future. Once your vision is established you can answer the questions above by defining the current conditions and situation of your byway regarding the roadway itself, the local management and regulations (i.e., zoning ordinances), the intrinsic qualities and the tourism and marketing development efforts.
After you record the current conditions, your organization should establish goals for those same conditions and any other relevant topics. Specific strategies, listing who is responsible, when they need to be implemented, as well as cost estimates finally make up the actual “plan” section of the corridor management plan. Most of you probably know these things, but it never hurts to review, especially when dealing with a topic that is so important to a byway.
Why Did You Create a CMP?
Logically, the most obvious answer to why you would create a CMP is to fulfill the requirements outlined in the Federal Register to become nationally designated. But are the Federal requirements the only reason why you created a CMP? If the answer is yes, then your byway organization may have missed the point.
One of the unique features of the National Scenic Byways Program is that, although it’s a Federal program, it seeks to give implementation and decision-making power to local people and organizations. The CMP is the tool that allows your byway organization to become a local grassroots effort. Aside from meeting the 14 planning elements, your group and its stakeholders define and develop the details and direction of your CMP.
The very nature of a CMP implies that your final product is a shiny and glossy document that you are proud to display and show to all. However, we often get hung up on the final document that manifests itself as a “plan.”
In reality, the best plans are those that have torn covers, scribbled notes, ripped pages and are generally inviting to the reader. Similar to a well-shared favorite novel, a compelling plan is far more than a collection of papers.
Think of your plan as a hammer or wrench - a tool that you will use over and over to take care of the very resources that are so near and dear to your heart. You certainly need a hammer to build your house. Likewise, your byway organization should use your CMP to build your byway’s success.
The CMP is your means to define the future of your byway. You may have an idea of what you want that future to be, but unless you have it documented and supported by your stakeholders (via the CMP), that future may never come to fruition. In fact, it is entirely possible that a future that directly conflicts with your vision may transpire. Even though the CMP and the 14 components are required by the Federal government, the CMP is your chance to exert local influence onto your treasured resources. However, having that CMP will not alone guarantee success. You need to use it, implement it, and adapt it as time goes on. So open it up!
Implementation Strategies
Take your CMP off the shelf and read through it. Re-familiarize yourself of the conditions and situations facing your byway when the CMP was written.
In most cases, your vision and mission should not have changed. Remember that the CMP should reflect your vision. Make copies of the important sections and make a point to talk about it at your next byway meeting. Some byways have the CMP as an ongoing agenda item so all organization members can see it progressing.
People in the transportation world often produce implementation reports to show the stakeholders how the planning process is evolving. Think about documenting how you’ve progressed with your byway’s efforts through an implementation report. An implementation report doesn’t have to be shiny, glossy, long winded, and difficult effort.
Here are some steps for preparing an implementation report:
- Take your CMP off the shelf and read through it
- Determine what has changed (specifically regarding the roadway, intrinsic qualities, marketing/tourism efforts)
- Identify recommendations that have been implemented
- Identify recommendations that have yet to be implemented
* Determine if they are they still worthy
* Decide if they need to be changed or eliminated
* Determine who was responsible, and if they still a stakeholder - Identify strategies that need to be created because of changes
* Identify new issues
* Identify new players - Summarize the changes in a short Word or Excel file
As you can see, it’s not complicated, but it is important. By going through the process above you can re-connect with organization members, stakeholders and projects. This doesn’t have to be an intimidating or pointing-the-fingers type of process. Simply talking with people proactively about what has and hasn’t been accomplished may very well rekindle the fire that will allow you to fulfill your vision.
