Context Sensitive Solutions
The Federal Highway Administration defines Context Sensitive Solutions (CSS) as "a collaborative, interdisciplinary approach that involves all stakeholders to develop a transportation facility that fits its physical setting and preserves scenic, aesthetic, historic and environmental resources, while maintaining safety and mobility". Recent Federal legislation requires CSS to be used in the development of all transportation projects using Federal Aid. Mr. Gottemoeller co-organized the 1998 Thinking Beyond the Pavement conference that initiated CSS. All of his work incorporates CSS principles. Recent examples include:
Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission
Citizen Participation: the Mon Fayette Expressway, Pittsburgh, PA
The MonFayette Expressway is a new 26 mile long urban toll road being built by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission. It will connect the former industrial areas of the Monongahela Valley with Pittsburgh. Mr. Gottemoeller helped organize Design Advisory Teams (DATs) in five communities that directed the design of the highway in their communities. He worked directly with all five DATs to incorporate urban design features, parks and economic development into their plans.
The Rich Street Bridge over the Scioto River
Design in an Historic Civic Center, the Rich Street Bridge, Columbus, Ohio
The new Rich Street Bridge over the Scioto River will replace a historic concrete arch that has stood for eighty years in the Civic Center of Columbus. The proposed bridge has to fit in with monumental and historic civic buildings like the Ohio Supreme Courts Building and the Columbus City Hall, and with contemporary structures like the Central Ohio Science Museum and the new Main Street Bridge. Mr. Gottemoeller developed a concept that uses precast concrete ribs to emulate the arch tradition of the site while providing an economical contemporary bridge.
Reynolda House Museum of American Art
Identifying Community Aspirations, Bridging Public Art and Public Works, Reynolda House Museum of America Art, Winston Salem, North Carolina
In 2015 construction will begin on the rebuilding of Business Interstate 40 through the center of Winston-Salem. The highway will close for a number of years, and many of its bridges will be torn down and replaced. This is a unique opportunity for the "City of the Arts" to work with the North Carolina Department of Transportation to ensure that the bridges, which will be seen by 670,000 drivers daily, will be visual landmarks and statements about the importance the city places on architectural beauty. In October, 2008 Mr. Gottemoeller was asked to lead a Forum on the question: to what degree should public works be works of art as well as what emphasis (and what percentage of funding) should be placed on adding additional works of art?
That we in the United States will build bridges that are:
- Assets to their Communities
- Suitable for their Environments
- Efficient, Economical and Elegant
Mr. Gottemoeller helps community leaders and transportation agencies achieve such bridges by using three cost-effective methods: