The Takeaways
- Invite broad participation: CDOT reached out to all Regional Offices to invite them to participate.
- Executive support is key to success: CDOT’s Executive Director, other executive leadership, and policy commission have shown sustained support for the department’s resiliency initiatives.
- Make meetings productive: schedule less-frequent, longer workshops that will provide more opportunities for participants to work toward specific goals.
The Case Study
The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) has established two groups to guide the implementation of resiliency efforts within the department — the CDOT Resiliency Working Group and CDOT Resiliency Oversight Committee. Both groups were formed to guide and oversee the completion of CDOT’s I-70 Risk and Resilience Pilot, which was completed in 2017. Both groups met multiple times over the course of the pilot project. Meetings of the Resiliency Working Group, in particular, were structured as all-day workshops, during which participants focused on reviewing data collected for the project and developing specific work products. Both groups continue to meet monthly and are guiding several ongoing resiliency initiatives.
CDOT then adopted Policy Directive 1905.0 “Building Resilience into Transportation Infrastructure and Operations” in November 2018. The policy directive establishes responsibilities for the department’s Resilience Program Coordinator, including providing guidance and support to department staff in implementing resilience principles during transportation projects, directing and implementing research, and creating a knowledge base of guidance and best practices. CDOT sees key lessons learned during the development of the policy directive as:
- Focus on engagement and outreach.
- Ensure leadership provides support.
- Seize on opportunities for change.
- Know how the policy will be implemented.