Executive Summary

The FHWA Office of Transportation Operations sponsored a workshop on Work Zone Communications and Outreach on April 19-20, 2005 in McLean, VA. The purpose of the workshop was to kick-off FHWA's Focus State Initiative on work zones and, as part of this initiative, assist a select group of states in developing a framework and action plan for implementing communication and outreach strategies for their construction and maintenance projects.

The work zone focus state initiative was developed to improve highway safety and mobility. In order to optimize the use of limited resources, it was decided that the initiative would target work zone communication and outreach. Six states were chosen as focus states:

1. Arizona
2. California
3. Montana
4. New Hampshire
5. Rhode Island
6. Wisconsin

These states were chosen based on their local FHWA Division Offices' commitment to participate in the initiative and the state transportation agencies' relative scores on the communication and outreach section of the 2004 work zone self assessment. In order to improve work zone outreach and communication in the focus states, FHWA set a goal for each State to select and deploy one work zone outreach strategy that is new to the State during the 2005 construction season. One representative each from State DOT and FHWA Division Office was invited to the workshop to begin developing their respective outreach strategies.

The workshop was divided into three parts. The first part was an introduction in which participants heard about the goals of the focus state effort, and had the opportunity to share what they are currently doing and the challenges they face. The second part was a listening session, in which participants heard presentations on outreach strategies used for a variety of large and small projects and at the program level. The third part was a discussion/breakout session in which participants took what they heard from the presenters and used it to begin developing an outreach framework and action plan for their own state. Each state also had the opportunity to present its strategies to the group and to obtain feedback from their peers.

Several of the states identified surrounding businesses as the target of their outreach and communication strategies. Tourists were also identified as a key target audience group. The outreach frameworks and action plans developed in the workshop also included several other common elements:

• Improving safety and mobility was the primary goal across all outreach strategy frameworks.
• Four states estimated 1% of total project budget to be spent on outreach.
• Three states identified emergency responders as a target audience.
• "Plan ahead" was a common message in the outreach strategies.
• Use of web sites and the media was considered an effective communication strategy.

The participants left the workshop with a set of action plans for public outreach and communication on a particular project or for any project in general. The next step will be for FHWA and its contractor to work with each State in refining their action plans, and provide technical assistance in implementing any of the strategies identified.

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