Moore & Hoke Counties, North Carolina
The Project
As part of the state’s transportation improvement plan, the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) has proposed a major widening project for a 15-mile stretch of N.C. 211 between US 15-501 in Aberdeen to east of West Palmer Street and Mockingbird Hill Road in Raeford. Officials at NCDOT recently hired SmartComment to work with agency staff and its environmental consultants at RK&K to help manage public comments related to the project’s environmental review.
What We Are Doing
- Customize a website for the project on which members of the public and other interested parties could submit electronic comments and get access to important project-related information
- Design a digital platform to store all public comments on the project, whether submitted electronically via the website, mailed to agency staff, or submitted in writing at one of two public hearings for the project
- Coordinate with project staff to identify a list of comment status options and likely comment topics for the project, which could be revised or added to at any point in the process to help staff effectively respond to comments and most accurately reflect the specific areas of interest surrounding the project
- Build a customized response interface that replicated the working environment between NCDOT staff and their consultants at RK&K. User rights were assigned to each member of the project team so to facilitate the flow of comments from receipt to initial response, QA/QC, and final approval
- Provide ongoing support throughout the project, including tutorials, software changes, upgrades and other assistance.