Local Road Research Board Focus Groups, FY14-15

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 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 MnDOT's Research Services to plan and deliver two focus groups (one in greater Minnesota and the other in the metro area) with city and county engineers. The focus groups will collect information about issues within local government transportation systems that the LRRB will consider further developing into research. The LRRB's strategic planning research categories (Design, Construction, Traffic and Operations, Maintenance, Materials and Construction, Policy and Planning, 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 focus group meetings will be compiled into a survey and sent to LRRB members for prioritization of issues prior to the summer LRRB meeting. Information collected at all focus groups and survey results will be summarized and categorized (as needs statements, potential TRS, implementation, or marketing opportunities) in a report and presented to the LRRB.