3.3.1 Project Scoping Meeting

Project scoping establishes the baseline project scope at the early stages of the project. The project scoping team is a multi-disciplinary team of appropriate District leadership and SMEs who evaluates the project needs, proposed outcomes, the working budget and the schedule for designing and developing the project as well as other project details during a project scoping meeting.
Outcomes from the project scoping meeting should include:
  • Environmental impacts and potential mitigation measures;
  • Evaluation of ADA barriers which have implications for the project scope;
  • Evaluation of existing elements (e.g., existing alignments meet design standards, pavement scores, bridge condition reports, etc.);
  • Identification of stakeholders;
  • International bridge structures;
  • Impacted navigable waterways or waterway activity;
  • Other project data collection needed (i.e., type of survey needed, additional traffic counts, geotechnical needs, etc.).
  • Project assumptions that are considered during the current project development lifecycle (e.g., no ROW to be acquired, type of construction, project limits, etc.);
  • Project constraints that might limit the project team (e.g., funding constraints, resources, schedule, etc.);
  • Project construction and total project cost;
  • Project delivery method (i.e., traditional plans or digital delivery);
  • Project goals and objectives;
  • Project performance metrics (e.g., increased mobility, enhanced safety, improved operations, etc.);
  • Project procurement method (i.e., design-bid-build or design-build);
  • Project schedule;
  • Proposed activities (e.g., add lanes, reverse ramps, extend culverts, replace bridges, etc.);
  • Proposed design standards (i.e., 4R, 3R, 2R, Special Facilities, etc.);
  • Multimodal needs as well as current and future demand (e.g., freight, rail, transit, bicycle and pedestrian);
  • Traffic and safety analysis and procedures; and
  • Traffic forecasting methodology.
Not all the outcomes may be determined at the time of the project scoping meeting
; however, the DSR provides the ability to document the desired outcomes and assign responsibility of project team members to compile the information.
3.3.1.1 Statewide Planning Map Information
The Statewide Planning Map provides many details of the project area that should be reviewed and documented in the DSR as part of project scoping. The Statewide Planning Map displays data in support of planning operations at TxDOT. It contains the “Common Overlays” and other “Additional Overlays”. It can provide valuable information for project scoping and should be referenced for any source of information used in the DSR.
3.3.1.2 Stakeholder Identification
Project stakeholders should be identified during project scoping to ensure that projects are developed with local, regional and statewide goals in mind. Coordination with local, regional and statewide stakeholders can result in commitments to project development that must be carried forward throughout project development. All stakeholder commitments should be documented in the DSR.
Potential stakeholders may include:
  • ADA complainants;
  • Adjacent property and business owners;
  • Bicycle advocates and/or local bicycle and pedestrian committee members;
  • Chambers of commerce and regional economic development organizations;
  • Community leaders;
  • Councils of Government (COG)s/MPOs;
  • Developers;
  • Disability advocacy and interest groups;
  • Economic development agencies;
  • Municipal departments;
  • Neighboring states and Mexico;
  • Professional and nonprofit local organization chapters;
  • Public housing;
  • Public utilities;
  • Railroads, ports/harbors, bus companies;
  • Redevelopment and community development agencies;
  • Regional transit authorities and rail districts:
  • School districts;
  • Special authorities and improvement districts;
  • State and federal agencies (i.e., Texas Historical Commission, Texas Parks and Wildlife, Corp of Engineers, etc.);
  • Transit authorities; and
  • Utility companies.
Inquire from all stakeholders their input on additional interested parties that should be contacted.
3.3.1.3 Multimodal and Intermodal Connections
All projects should be assessed for multimodal and intermodal needs as part of project scoping. There are a range of multimodal considerations (i.e., highway, street, transit, bicycle, and pedestrian) or intermodal freight transport (i.e., air, rail, and port to surface freight transport) to address mobility needs. Projects must be assessed to determine if design elements for current and future multimodal and intermodal needs are included in project scope.
Coordinate with SMEs with specific knowledge in these areas to develop the framework for comparing and assessing modes and alternatives that may apply to the proposed project.
Multimodal and intermodal connections are discussed in more detail in the RDM.
The MPO’s MTP and TIP may warrant amendment based on the evaluation of these connections.
3.3.1.4 Plan Development Delivery Type Selection
Determination of plan development delivery type should be determined early in project scoping to guide the needed level of survey and project set up.
TxDOT delivers projects in two ways including:
  • Traditional Plan Development
     – design and generation of paper (or pdf) plans for use by the contractor to construct the project; and
  • Digital Delivery
     – design and generation of the Model as the Legal Document (MALD) for use by the contractor to construct the project.
If the digital delivery method is chosen, specific tasks must be determined to set the project up correctly. The decision to prepare a project as digital delivery should be made in consultation with District decision makers (i.e., Director of TP&D, Director of Construction, Area Engineer, District Design Engineer, District Surveyor, etc.) and staff from DES - Digital Delivery Section.
3.3.1.5 Construction Project Delivery Type Selection
Texas legislative authority allows two forms of project procurement: Design-bid-build (DBB) and Alternative Delivery.
DBB is a traditional construction project delivery method that involves separation of the three distinct processes:
  • Design phase
     – requires the services of a designer who will be the “engineer of record”;
  • Bid phase
     – when a contractor is selected; and
  • Build (or construction) phase
     – the project is build by the selected low bid contractor.
In DBB, construction does not begin until the design process is complete, and a bid is accepted – there is no overlap between design and construction. Risk associated with the design and design gaps or changing field conditions remains with the Department.
Alternative delivery projects include Design-build (DB). DB is a delivery method used by the Department to share the risks and responsibilities of design, construction, and possible maintenance with the DB contractor. Carefully crafted contract documents appropriately transfer risks and responsibilities for design, constriction, and possible maintenance to the DB contractor when the DB contractor is the party in the best position to mitigate and mange those risks.
DB delivery employs both performance-based specifications and more common prescriptive specifications, allowing flexibility for the DB contractor to be innovative. DB compresses the project lifecycle and time by encouraging overlap between the design and construction phases.
Consideration for a project to use DB delivery method should occur when the project has potential for:
  • Sharing of the risks and responsibilities for design, construction, and possible maintenance with DB contractor; or
  • Alternative Technical Concepts (ATCs) creating project innovations and improving project value (may include faster delivery, cost savings, and other factors).
Once the project scope, goals, and characteristics are known and well understood, determination of project delivery type should be made by District decision makers (i.e., District Engineer, Director of TP&D, Director of Construction, etc.). Decisions to pursue DB delivery method should also be made in coordination with Alternative Delivery Division (ALD) staff.