Review of Project Development Practices and Project Management Resources at State Transportation Agencies

At the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s (KYTC) Department of Highways, project development encompasses all the work activities needed to move a transportation project from concept and project initiation to construction letting. Developing projects efficiently requires the adoption of sound project management practices. And having recourse to validated project development practices is critical for helping KYTC project managers negotiate the variety of tasks and processes leading up to project implementation and delivery. For a project manager to be successful, they must possess a holistic understanding of how the complex interplay of engineering, environmental, and economic issues affect different stages and facets of project development. Without an expansive knowledge of these variables, project managers risk privileging one area over another, which leads to the development of subject-matter silos that impede efforts to develop a big-picture understanding of a project. Although KYTC has a long track record of executing complex transportation projects, doing so is becoming increasingly challenging due to staff attrition and the attendant loss of institutional knowledge. Today, entry- and mid-level project managers have more project development responsibilities than ever but lack a dependable source of guidance they can turn to that will help them champion projects from the development stage and through to completion. Given staffing and budget constraints, it is more important than ever that KYTC project managers be equipped with all the tools necessary to successfully develop and deliver the construction program. As part of this project to develop A Guidebook for Project Development, the research team has reviewed literature on project management organizational structure and state transportation agency (STA) organizational structures, particularly those that have explicit project development and management components.

• Record URL:
  • https://doi.org/10.13023/ktc.ta.2017.06
• Record URL:
  • https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/61421
• Corporate Authors:

  University of Kentucky, Lexington

  Kentucky Transportation Center
  College of Engineering, 176 Raymond Building
  Lexington, KY  United States  40506-0281

  Kentucky Transportation Cabinet

  State Office Building, 200 Mero Street
  Frankfort, KY  United States  40622
• Authors:
  • Dyke, Christopher Van
  • Gibson, Bryan
  • Jasper, Jeff
  • Kreis, Doug
• Publication Date: 2017-10

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 43p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Best practices; Construction projects; Project management; State departments of transportation
• Identifier Terms: Kentucky Transportation Cabinet
• Uncontrolled Terms: Project development
• Geographic Terms: Kentucky
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Construction; Highways;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01691046
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: KTC-TA-17-06/SPR18-562-1F
• Files: NTL, TRIS, ATRI, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Jan 22 2019 11:37AM