Commonwealth transportation officials recently discussed several alternative delivery methods being implemented by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. Project types include design build, Contract Manager/General Contractor or CM/GC, and Public Private Partnerships. One of the efforts using the new method is the Wrong-Way Driving Prevention Project.
Jason Siwula, a Deputy State Highway Engineer, said using alternative delivery methods allows everyone involved with a project to collaborate on an in-depth design process.
“The reason this was going through the alternative delivery process, one of the primary reasons, was that opportunity to look at different technologies as we were going through design, figure out how it was going to integrate, and communicate not only with the transportation cabinet, but other stakeholders like EMS and first responders throughout Kentucky,” said Siwula.
According to the National Transportation Safety Board, wrong-way collisions have a 27 percent higher fatality rate than other accidents.
The Wrong-Way Driving Prevention Project will implement technology to stop vehicles from entering interstates, parkways, and other limited access facilities while driving the wrong way. The design build team was chosen in February of 2024, and the project has been granted over $5 million in federal funding.
Siwula also reviewed components of a project that can affect its duration, like schedule and complex constructability considerations.
He gave an example of a current project using an alternative delivery method whose constructability component is extending the project’s timeline.
“One of our bridges that we’re currently working on through our CM/GC is a bridge that’s located just feet away from a building that is not going to be knocked down. And so, when you’re trying to build a bridge that is very, very close to an existing building and you have to remove pieces, you have to install a new bridge, all those different things, that’s a lot more complex than if you’ve got a wide-open space,” said Siwula.
Siwula said projects using alternative delivery methods do not always move along an accelerated timeline. He said one difference between transportation delivery projects and vertical design builds is that utilities and right of way are usually bought ahead of time for vertical design builds, which is not a luxury afforded to transportation delivery projects.