Planning for the impacts of highway relief routes on small- and medium-size communities.

This report explores possible strategies for minimising the negative impacts and maximising the positive impacts of highway relief routes on small- and medium-size communities in Texas. Planning strategies are identified through a literature search, econometric models, and case studies completed in earlier phases of the research project and through a search for techniques used in other states in the U.S. These efforts turned up little in the way of an established set of planning practices but they did uncover some promising ideas, including policies related facility location and design, signage, annexation and utility provision, and economic development programs. Some strategies are implemented by the state DOT and some by the local community, but their efforts should be co-ordinated in a collaborative planning process. The planning objectives may include preserving the downtown as a business district, protecting the viability of existing highway-oriented businesses, and promoting (or preventing) new development along the relief route. Little analysis has been done to evaluate the effectiveness of different techniques in achieving these objectives, however.