Could someone please trim the hedges?

Okay, not all of you fine readers know what it is that I do in my professional life, so I am intending to give a bit of a job description for one particular aspect of my job…

I work in the transportation planning “industry.” Oddly enough, it is not very industrial, due to its lack of intense heat, steam, and randomly clanking noises, but I think people call it an industry for some reason. Anyway… when we are working on a large scale transportation project that will be receiving federal dollars as part of its funding during some portion of the project’s duration (read: big ole Interstate projects), there are certain rules that apply. Inevitably these large transportation projects have to open a NEPA document. The National Environmental Protection Agency documentation procedures Ensure that we, the consultant, and they, the client, do not screw up the environment too bad without first “proving” that we cannot avoid doing so. (And by “Ensure” I do mean the chocolaty beverage for old folk, and by “proving” I do mean waving our hands in the air saying, “there is nothing to see here.”)

Anyway… this process for the projects typically relates into a bevy of general solutions whittling away and evolving into one highly specific solution to a set of transportation needs. The typical progression looks something like:

You start out with Conceptual Alternatives: Broad brush strategies to solve the transportation issues without terribly much detail. This is the stage where we show that a Monorail is a silly idea.

You move on to Refined Alternatives: more detailed versions of the Conceptual Alternatives that did not suck when tested. These also sometimes involve pieces part of different Conceptual Alternatives amalgamated into one.

Next is some sort of Preferred Alternative/s: one or two strategies that seem to have the best cost benefit ratio for the transportation issues at hand.

And finally the Recommended Strategy: this is the solution that is determined to be the best. It moves forward to a completely different level of detail before construction can begin.

Each step requires more in depth study and data. So as the number of choices diminishes, the amount of detail increases. In general this type of system makes sense.

Currently, one of the studies that were are working on, has just gotten to the point where they are thinking about the first stage of alternatives analysis. This study is about to start formulating its Conceptual Alternatives, but before we can actually call any of the ideas “Conceptual Alternatives,” the needs to be consensus on them. Here is where all the hedging takes place…

We will generate and eventually take the Draft Potential Preliminary Conceptual Alternatives to the Steering Committee for their comment and review. How many hedges does one need. Basically, these are not-final possible not-complete ideas. The Steering Committee is basically made up of the projects funding sources, such as ODOT, various municipalities, Metropolitan Planning Organizations, etc…

After the Steering Committee we will make changes to the Draft Potential Preliminary Conceptual Alternatives, and then show the Draft Preliminary Conceptual Alternatives to the Advisory Committee. Basically, these are not-final not-complete ideas. The Advisory Committee is made up of interested parties for the job such as the Sierra Club, school districts, chambers of commerce, etc… These people have no real say in what is going on, but they like to feel like they are involved.

The next step is to take the Draft Preliminary Conceptual Alternatives and apply some of the recommendations of the Advisory Committee, um, well, recommended to create Draft Conceptual Alternatives to show to the general public at large. Basically, these are not-final ideas.

The public involvement meeting then becomes the rubber stamping process for the Draft Conceptual Alternatives to turn into the Conceptual Alternatives. Ideas

Each time we go through this process, I have to change a stinking title on a graphic, the title will continually get shorter, but when you start out with something like:

Draft Potential Preliminary Conceptual Alternative: Consolidated Access Points
Draft Potential Preliminary Conceptual Alternative: Transit, ITS, TSM Improvements
Draft Potential Preliminary Conceptual Alternative: Arterial Improvements
Draft Potential Preliminary Conceptual Alternative: No Build

Evolved to…

Draft Preliminary Conceptual Alternative: Consolidated Access Points
Draft Preliminary Conceptual Alternative: Transit, ITS, TSM Improvements
Draft Preliminary Conceptual Alternative: Arterial Improvements
Draft Preliminary Conceptual Alternative: No Build

Evolved to…

Draft Conceptual Alternative: Consolidated Access Points
Draft Conceptual Alternative: Transit, ITS, TSM Improvements
Draft Conceptual Alternative: Arterial Improvements
Draft Conceptual Alternative: No Build

Finally evolved to…

Conceptual Alternative: Consolidated Access Points
Conceptual Alternative: Transit, ITS, TSM Improvements
Conceptual Alternative: Arterial Improvements
Conceptual Alternative: No Build

The entire page is taken up simply by the titles. Eventually they will become

Draft Potential Preliminary Refined Alternative: Consolidated Access Points

Kill me.... Kill me now.