What Does CSS Policy Mean for Illinois Transportation

CSS policy seeks to ensure that stakeholders are involved in the decision-making process. The "traditional" method for designing a transportation project was for transportation officials to identify a problem, design a solution, and then offer the solution to the public for approval. While this may have worked back when mobility and safety were the primary issues on the public's mind, these days this kind of planning has the potential to cause a great deal of concern with residents, advocates, businesses and elected officials. Many of the pure engineering solutions devised to solve a particular transportation problem can greatly affect issues such as quality of life, environmental preservation, and features with aesthetic or historic value to a community.

IDOT has been developing, over many years, methods for involving stakeholders in its decisions, and CSS policy looks to make this a regular process for important projects. The CSS approach would involve stakeholders early and often throughout the process, especially before major decisions are made. The information gained from partnering with stakeholders is then used by IDOT to craft an informed solution to the transportation issue. This informed solution should also be a consensus solution, between stakeholders and IDOT.