LRRB Focus Groups, 2016 - 2017

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.

For this project, CTS is working with the LRRB and MnDOT's Research Services to plan and deliver two focus groups with city and county engineers, one group in Greater Minnesota and other in the Metro area. The focus groups are designed to collect information about issues within local government transportation systems for consideration by the LRRB as possible research topics. The LRRB's strategic planning research categories (Design, Construction, Traffic and Operations, Maintenance, Materials and Construction, Policy and Planning, and Environmental Compatibility) serve as an overarching framework for defining potential research topics.

The focus groups also serve as an opportunity to educate participants about LRRB research and its benefits to Minnesota's local government transportation systems. Information collected at the focus groups is summarized in a report and presented to the LRRB.