2012 Focus Groups for the Local Road Research Board

Project summary:

The Minnesota Local Road Research Board (LRRB) sponsors research that provides information and new knowledge to help Minnesota's city and county engineers plan, design, build, and maintain local transportation systems. An important component of the LRRB's work is to define transportation issues that could benefit from research. The LRRB relies on input from local government agency professionals from around the state of Minnesota to communicate issues in their respective cities and counties that could be addressed through research. The Center for Transportation Studies (CTS) will work with the LRRB and the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) Research Services to plan and deliver three focus groups with city and county engineers. The focus groups will collect information about issues within local government transportation systems for the LRRB to consider for further development into research. The LRRB's four strategic planning research categories (Design, Construction, Operations/Maintenance, and Environmental Compatibility) will serve as an overarching framework for defining potential research topics. The focus groups will also serve as an opportunity to educate participants about LRRB research and its benefits to Minnesota's local government transportation systems. Input from the first two focus group meetings will be compiled into a survey and sent to LRRB members to prioritize issues that could benefit from research. Input collected at the focus groups and the survey results will be summarized in a report and presented to the LRRB.