Public Engagement 

U.S. Department of Transportation 

Federal Highway Administration 

In Florida, Clearwater’s Public Charrettes 

Produce Strong Support 

for Roundabouts 

Background 

In 1999, the City of Clearwater, Florida, opened its frst roundabout on New Years’ 

Eve to much fanfare. The new roundabout replaced several signalized intersections 

and promised to alleviate congestion and improve pedestrian fow along a nineintersection loop corridor. However, during construction and after opening, the local 

media gave extensive coverage to controversy over the project, with many residents 

liking the project and many not. Public concerns were further raised by numerous 

minor fender-benders at one of the two-lane exits (modifying the geometry, signage, 

and lane markings reduced the problem). 

Given the mixed reaction to the frst roundabout, public support for future 

roundabouts could have been a problem. Yet, 17 more roundabouts have been built 

in Clearwater and all were proposed by residents and strongly supported by the 

public. The City decided to involve local residents early in subsequent roundabout 

projects through “Citizen Design Charrettes” as part of its public outreach eforts, which 

succeeded by producing successful, “win-win” roundabout projects over time. 

Approach 

The City of Clearwater uses a public “The public doesn’t just ... react to 

alternatives put before it, but 

actually performs a constructive, 

pro-active role in generating their 

traffic calming plan themselves.” 

engagement technique called the 

“citizen design charrette” in the 

planning and design phases of most 

roundabout projects. According 

to Ken Sides, senior professional 

engineer for the City, a citizen design – Ken Sides, P.E., PTOE, AICP

charrette is a “compressed, highly City of Clearwater, Florida

interactive experience that involves 

the public at the very beginning of the design process,” directly engaging the local 

community in the development of a proposed roundabout. This consensus-based 

meeting helps ensure that all stakeholders are informed, involved, and supportive of 

the proposed improvements, thus empowering them to become proponents of the 

planned improvements. The City thoroughly publicizes the charrettes through many 

outlets (see list to left under Charrette Publicity Outlets). 

The charrette process follows a proven and repeatable format that helps to reduce 

the planning time needed. Each day of the 6-day process focuses on a different 

aspect of the roundabout planning and design process, as explained below: 

Day 1: The charrette facilitation team visits the neighborhood where residents requested 

trafc calming and examines intersections where roundabouts may be proposed. 

Day 2: The team conducts a series of focus groups with project stakeholders, including 

emergency responders, elected ofcials, and public works staf to address any concerns they 

might have and garner their support for the project. 

FHWA-SA-11-032 

Revised July 2020 

Location 

Clearwater, Florida 

(Southeastern United States) 

Implementation Stage 

D Planning 

D Design 

Roundabout Type/Setting 

Single-lane and multi-lane 

roundabouts in suburban settings 

Target Audience 

D General Public 

Strategies Employed 

D Public meetings (utilizing the 

Citizen Design Charrette structure) 

Charrette Publicity Outlets 

D Television stations (public and cable 

channels) 

D Newspaper advertisements 

D Electronic message boards within 

interested communities 

D Automated phone messages sent to 

residents’ home phones 

D Announcements at neighborhood 

committee meetings 

D Hand-delivered fyers and/or 

direct-mail letters to neighborhood 

residents 

Figure 1: A Clearwater man proudly signs the 

conceptual trafc calming design (including 

roundabouts ) that he and his neighbors 

collaborated to create.
Figure 2: All residents’ trafc safety concerns were 

recorded on fip charts. Charrette participants 

use a technique called “dot voting” to rank their 

concerns, to guide them in the next phase of the 

charrette: conceptual design. 

Figure 3: The public charrettes attract citizens of 

all ages, including families with small children and 

older adults who were interested in making their 

streets and intersections safer. 

Related Products 

Charrette Participant Resources 

Streets and Sidewalks, People and Cars, a Citizens 

Guide to Trafc Calming (Reference Book provided 

to participants at charrettes to guide discussion) 

https://www.lgc.org/resource/streets_and_ 

sidewalks/ 

Trafc Calming Mid-block Treatment Matrix 

(provided to participants to help show the 

benefts and costs of various mid-block trafc 

calming treatments during charrettes) 

http://www.walkable.org/images/1_ 

TCIntersection.jpg 

Learn More 

City of Clearwater 

727.562.4750

Jeffrey Shaw 

Intersections Program Manager 

FHWA Ofce of Safety 

202.738.7793

jefrey.shaw@dot.gov

Day 3: The team conducts a half-day training session with the community, educating them 

on trafc fow and various trafc calming measures, including roundabouts, and a candid 

session where residents and the team discuss the benefts and concerns associated with 

design options (see Figure 2). 

Day 4: The team analyzes the input collected during the frst charrette session and prepares 

for the second session. 

Day 5: The team conducts an evening public charrette in which participants develop 

a collaborative vision for the new intersection. Breakout groups develop and present a 

conceptual trafc-calming design, using a large map of the neighborhood, colored markers, 

and a large version of the Street Doctor’s Guide to Trafc Calming (see Figures 1 and 3). 

Participants note similarities/diferences between the other groups’ conceptual designs. 

Day 6: The consultant team synthesizes the results of the second public session resulting in 

a consensus-based design. At the end of this last session, citizens can self-nominate to be a 

part of a small technical team that works with the city to implement the design or a larger 

public outreach team that continues to engage the community in the construction of the 

safer intersection. 

After the charrette process concludes, the City employs engineering frms to prepare 

engineering plans from the community-approved conceptual plans, followed by 

construction. 

Results 

Engineer Ken Sides said that, as a direct result of Clearwater, Florida’s use of the public 

charrette process, the City has successfully developed and implemented 16 roundabouts 

in the past 10 years. By involving the afected communities from the beginning of the 

planning process, residents feel comfortable with and are supportive of the roundabout 

design, and are able to convince other community members who have not attended 

the meetings of the value of the design. When concerned residents call the City, staf 

can point to the proceedings of the charrettes and demonstrate that the proposed 

roundabout was proposed by residents and strongly supported by residents. 

Lessons Learned 

Engage afected communities and elected ofcials early and often, and allow them 

to provide input on key design considerations. Resident-based conceptual design of 

roundabouts is a powerful tool for increasing public support for roundabouts. 

The “citizen design charrette” process is a proven method for successfully educating and 

engaging the public in roundabout design, and increasing public support for proposed 

roundabouts. 

If challenges can be identifed and addressed quickly with community input on a proposed 

roundabout, public perceptions of roundabouts can be swayed in a positive manner. 

Hiring a skilled, neutral facilitator can help ensure that charrette participants feel 

comfortable contributing freely. 

Outreach Investment 

According to Sides, the outreach investment to implement the public charrette process 

for a given roundabout costs relatively little, accounting for a portion of the design cost, 

which in turn is typically 15 percent of the roundabout’s total construction cost.