Public involvement is vital to the success of any project. Gaining the community’s trust and support is as important as the design of the project. We work to understand what the community wants and needs so that we can deliver a final product that is safe and efficient.
A great example of working with the public is the City of Parkland Roundabout project in Florida. The residents were experiencing traffic buildup along University Drive, a road that is vital to the community’s everyday lives, with school traffic causing congestion in the mornings as well as people commuting to work, and the Parkland Golf and Country Club entrance needed improvement. The residents felt strongly about expanding the intersection and adding a traffic signal alternative to alleviate the traffic; however, due to the road’s limitations, our team proposed a roundabout.
The City of Parkland has two existing roundabouts nearby, however, because the residents felt strongly about traffic congestion, we wanted to educate the community on the benefits of having a roundabout on this road. To do this, our team hosted a public outreach meeting about the project. When developing the designs, we took into consideration the community’s aesthetic priorities by tailoring them to complement the existing City of Parkland features. By posting the designs on the City of Parkland’s website, residents were given time to fully digest the designs before voting on them at the outreach meeting.
Using 3D simulation, we demonstrated the functionality of the roundabout during the workshop that showed vehicles in motion entering the roundabout and how traffic would flow. We also discussed the benefits of the roundabout, which included: lower speed limits and reduced crash risk. Support for this project grew further after the plans and architectural renderings were published on the City's website. The public was encouraged to participate and vote on an option that they would like to see as a center focal point with an aesthetic feature. The community overwhelmingly chose the design that included a water feature within the center of the roundabout. The roundabout will not only increase traffic flow and safety but will also serve as a gateway feature for the City.
From the beginning, our team sought to understand the community’s needs. We partnered with City staff and met directly with the Parkland Golf and Country Club HOA representative and President to understand what was not working. By including the stakeholders in our design process from the beginning, we were able to meet their needs and give them a voice in the overall design. The community involvement throughout the entire process, from start to finish, is what truly made this project a success for the City of Parkland and DRMP.
