Challenge
The Ulster County Transportation Council (UCTC) ensures the County transportation system is a sustainable, resilient, and dependable connection for both people and commerce within the region and beyond. This project is an important step in the process to identify the vulnerabilities of the County’s critical transportation infrastructure in a systemic manner and provide inputs and support for a comprehensive approach to prioritize transportation infrastructure projects including incorporation into UCTC’s Transportation Improvement Program for evaluating new projects.
Solution
GZA teamed with Cambridge Systematics to use a “state-of-the-science” approach based on publicly available natural hazard and climate change projections in concert with existing Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA’s) Vulnerability Assessment and Adaptation Framework. The advantages of using FHWA’s framework include adoption of a tested and refined methodology applied nationwide and maintaining consistency with federal guidance.
We developed and implemented an asset data collection plan, evaluated natural hazards, and performed a hazard exposure assessment, evaluated asset sensitivity to the identified hazards, and estimated the adaptive capacities of the assets. We also developed and implemented an asset criticality assessment to focus our work and help prioritize potential projects. The vulnerability assessment used a quantitative approach consistent with the FHWA Vulnerability Assessment Scoring Tool approach.
Geospatial data and technology provided the “backbone” for all components of the project, including data collection, management, analysis, data review, collaboration and advanced visualization, mapping, and 3D modeling. We developed an ArcGIS Hub site (conceptualized above) and Story Maps to provide and visualize the results of the vulnerability and risk assessment, including an interactive, online mapping tool.
Benefit
The results of this vulnerability assessment identified a set of focus areas (e.g., projects / specific assets) to improve system resiliency against natural hazards and our changing climate. These results will provide decision support to UCTC’s transportation planners and leadership in enhancing the resilience of the regional transportation system to a range of threats and furthering their regional planning goals.
