County delivers road construction updates online
Waukesha County, Wis., has been creating Web sites to keep residents and business owners updated about road construction projects in the county. The county posts plans, photographs, videos and news about the projects on the Internet to supplement traditional public relations methods and to reduce the numbers of calls to the county for information.
A few years ago, Waukesha County created its first road-construction Web site for Highway VV, a two-lane rural roadway rehabilitation project. The site helped clarify ingresses and egresses during construction for residents who lived on the road. It supplemented a telephone hotline with project information; biweekly newsletters with construction up-dates; and a phone line with an answering machine to receive calls that were returned by the county’s resident engineer.
Very few residents called the county looking for information about the road construction as a result of implementing the Web site. Approximately one-quarter to one-third fewer calls were received during a typical road construction project.
Because the Highway VV Web site was so successful in communicating to residents, the county decided to use a project Web site during the reconstruction of a road that had significantly more traffic and affected several businesses. In July 2002, the county contracted with Brookfield, Wis.-based R.A. Smith & Associates to monitor and manage the reconstruction of Highway TJ in Waukesha, Wis. As part of the contract, the company designed and maintained a Web site that was updated weekly with current and proposed construction activities, including lane closures and access restrictions.
An on-site consultant kept the Web site updated with construction information. “The construction services project manager is the best person to coordinate the Web site updates, because that person is on-site at all times and can communicate in a timely manner with his or her in-house IT department to make the changes,” says Paul Barthel, senior civil engineer of Waukesha County Department of Public Works.
During a public meeting before the project started, attendees were directed to consult the Web site for updates during construction, and signs were posted along the road to direct travelers to the site. The site included a description of the scope of the project, phone and pager numbers for project managers, safety precautions, construction photos and periodic videos of the project’s progress.
Because the road was located in a business community, the majority of the affected property owners had access to the Internet. The Web site helped reduce calls to the Public Works Department from business owners curious about roadway access. “The volume of calls we received during construction was significantly less than anticipated for a project of this type in a commercial area,” says Kevin Yanny, senior civil engineer for the county. “I didn’t receive my first phone call from the public until about two-thirds of the way into the project.”
The Highway TJ Web site was available for the duration of the project, which ended last December. During construction, the site received approximately 50 hits a week with many return visitors checking the status of the project. Because the Web sites improved the county’s communication with residents, the county plans to create Web sites for large roadway projects in the future.
