Integrity - Competence - ServiceIntegrity - Competence - Service

TRAPPD: A Bureaucratic Game of Cats,Mice and Cheese

Judy Gates, Director Bradford Folta, GIS guru

MaineDOT Environmental Office

Sam MerrillSenior Project LeaderGEI Consultants, Inc.

Integrity - Competence - Service

What is TRAPPD?

Transportation Risk Assessment for Project Planning and Delivery

Integrity - Competence - ServiceIntegrity - Competence - Service

Risk-based Asset Management

probabilityx

consequences

Integrity - Competence - Service

Sources of Risk (i.e. Uncertainty)

Integrity - Competence - Service

“Transitional Infrastructure”

• Lifeplaces• Regulatory feasibility• Best engineering judgment• Institutional risk tolerance• Best available science

Integrity - Competence - Service

The Cheese…aka Opportunities….

• Visualize key environmental factors • Use a data set that is refreshed every morning• Bring data into any application• Make NEPA decisions earlier

•

Integrity - Competence - Service

Here kitty, kitty…

We used existing data sets:

• MaineDOT GIS Layers• MeGIS Layers• MDIF&W GIS• MEMA GIS

No data collection needed.

Integrity - Competence - Service

Rounding up the Mice…

• First it was ArcGIS Map• Then it was ArcGIS Pro Model

Builder• Soon, Python Code?

Integrity - Competence - Service

Challenges…

The data, in beta, is wrong. Errors are inherent in everything…the process is not static.

Discomfort with decision-making by “mindless” technology…Not a replacement for best professional judgment.

Setting priorities versus understanding risk. Down the risk ‘rabbit hole’…enter others’ priorities!

Integrity - Competence - Service

Q: What information is most important?

A: All mice are equal

But for now, we focus on environmentally-minded mice.

Integrity - Competence - Service

Headliners versus Understudies:Proxy Indicators

1. Is the drainage area part of a priority Atlantic salmon watershed? 2. Is the project located within a mapped buffer for habitat for a state

endangered, threatened, or special concern species?3. Is the feature a mapped stream barrier?4. Is the location identified as a large undeveloped habitat block connector?5. Is the existing structure > the calculated bank full width?6. What is the drainage area to (i.e. watershed size of) feature?7. Is the feature located within an identified FEMA 100-year floodway?8. Is the feature subject to coastal threats of sea level rise (SLR) and/or storm

surge (SS)? 9. What percentage of the drainage area to the feature is developed and/or

impervious?10. Is the road a sole access, hurricane evacuation route or emergency access for

emergency response vehicles?

Integrity - Competence - Service

Type of Value

Question Number Proxy Indicator Proxy Description

MaineDOT Risk

Type

Data source

Data Source Details

Key MaineDOT

staff Narrative Scoring

Num

eric

Sc

ore

Prox

y R

isk

Rat

ing

Risk

Rat

ing

by V

alue

T

ype

Tier 3/Not applicable 0

Tier 2 1

Tier 1 2

No 0

Yes 1

No 0

Potential or Yes 1

No 0

Yes 1

>1.2x calculated bankful width 0

1.0-1.2x calculated bankful width 1

<1.0x calculated bankful width 2

Q3

Q4

USFWS, in conjunction with other non-government organizations, developed a GIS-data layer showing those

stream crossings that have the potential or have been observed to be barriers to aquatic species' movement up and downstream. Mapped barriers may be prioritized

for replacement.

Presence of GIS-mapped large undeveloped blocks of potential habitat on either side of a road increases the likelihood that terrestrial species will cross roads that

may otherwise serve as barriers to movement. Adjacent large habitat blocks may necessitate inclusion of wildlife

crossing structures in any reconstruction.

Q5

GIS layer Boyden

Is the existing structure greater than or equal to the calculated bankful width?

Stream Viewer

ENV GIS layer

process, schedule GIS layer Ham,

Bostwick

MEGIS

ENV GIS layer

turtles, EBKT,

salamanders,

moose/deer crash

Ham

GIS layer

Is the feature a mapped stream barrier?

Ecol

ogy

Is the location identified as a large undeveloped habitat block connector?

budget, process, schedule

Q2Is the project located within a mapped buffer for habitat for a state endangered, threatened, or special concern species?

budget, schedule

HamMEGIS ASHAB3

budget, process, schedule

Is the drainage area part of a priority Atlantic salmon watershed?

The three Maine Atlantic salmon habitat recovery units (SHRUs) have been designated into "tiers" based on habitat value as determined by USFWS, NMFS, and Maine DMR. These designations relate to the Maine

Atlantic salmon Programmatic Consultation requirements for design and construction.

Presence of the habitat and/or any buffers critical to a lifestage of species listed under Maine's Endangered

Species Act identifies the potenial need for pre-construction surveys, passage modifications, or post-

construction monitoring that may need to be incorporated into project design.

Q1

StreamStats with MATS

[Span_Width]

StreamStats

budget, schedule Hebson

Maine's USFWS and USACE consider stream crossing structures with a span equal to or greater than 1.2 times

the stream bankfull width (1.2 x bfw) to be fully accessible for all aquatic species. Any crossing less that

1.2 x bfw may need to be upsized or pay in lieu fee mitigation depending on its location.

Integrity - Competence - Service

Bring on the cheese!!

Integrity - Competence - Service

• Unlike Mouse Trap, “board” is dynamic

• Accessible to all

• Inform, not decide

• Budgets & schedules look like certainty

• People matter

The cats, mice and cheese together create the risk…

Integrity - Competence - Service

MaineDOT programs select

candidate projects

Asset managers determine scope of

work

List of possible candidates reviewed by

ENV

Resource agency comments on scope & desired

outcomes to MaineDOT programs

Scope adjustments communicated back to

resource agency

Adjust Resource

Allocations

Advertise projects

Practical Application of RiskAssessment

June-August

August - October

October

November

November

December…

Integrity - Competence - Service

Winning Support

At first they didn’t think it was worth it.Then curiosity attracted other cats.Then the mice were hard to find.

Then someone opened a trapped door and… TRAPPD disappeared!

What changed?

The mice got hard to find. The cat had to get creative. The cheese started to age.

Now it’s gourmet aged cheese made by feline monks!

Integrity - Competence - Service

What’s Next?

• Highways• Cross Culverts• Unstable slopes• MS4• Historical Sites• More?

…Once we find the other doors to the maze.