Companion Guide to Video March 2015

www.fhwa.dot.gov/federal-aidessentials

Did you know that 75 percent of the Nation’s 

roads are owned and maintained by local 

public agencies, known as LPAs? 

You might be surprised to learn that as 

much as 20 percent of the Federal-aid 

Highway Program is sub-allocated for LPA 

projects, all of which makes LPAs important 

partners in helping to maintain our critical 

transportation infrastructure. 

But sometimes our LPA partners become 

confused, overwhelmed, or frustrated with 

how to comply with Federal-aid regulations. 

This is especially true when compliance with 

a regulation requires agency personnel to 

depart from a familiar practice. State 

departments of transportation, or State 

DOTs, that commit to minimizing these 

issues tend to have stronger relationships 

with their LPA partners, more timely 

completions of Federal-aid projects, and 

greater compliance with Federalrequirements. 

One innovation that State DOTs use to 

achieve this is stakeholder partnering. 

Stakeholder partnering brings together 

transportation professionals committed to 

meet regularly and work toward common 

goals. Stakeholder partnering uses 

collaborative problem solving to identify 

inefficiencies experienced on Federal-aid 

projects and to create or change practices, 

policies, and procedures that will improve 

efficiencies across the program. 

Stakeholder partnering committees include 

Federal-aid Program Overview

Local Public Agency Program

Stakeholder Partnering

Stakeholder partnering improves efficiencies across the program and helps 

speed Federal-aid project delivery
Federal-aid Essentials for Local Public Agencies

representatives from State, Federal, and 

local agencies, and other Federal-aid 

program stakeholders. While stakeholder 

partnering will not change Federal 

requirements, it can change how a State 

implements them. 

For example, a stakeholder partnering 

committee that wants to accelerate project 

delivery might work to speed the process for 

hiring consultants by sharing with LPAs 

State-managed contracts for consultant 

services. Or a stakeholder’s partnering 

committee focused on agency cash flow 

might provide training on the completion of 

billable milestones, including contract 

administration forms. Let’s talk about the 

importance of stakeholder partnering for 

collaborative problem solving. The State 

DOTs that have benefited the most from 

stakeholder partnering have some common 

characteristics. To begin with, each makes 

a commitment to the process. 

A memorandum of understanding that 

identifies the committee chair and its 

members may solidify this commitment. For 

example, in addition to itself and the Federal 

Highway Administration, the FHWA, one 

State DOT defined its committee as 

including 14 county and city agencies that 

focus on urban construction. Motivated by 

its early success, the committee was later 

expanded to include all the LPAs within the 

State. Another common characteristic is that 

the partnering committee agrees to meet 

regularly and focus on issues that have 

programmatic importance. 

The goal is to address issues once rather 

than have to deal with them repeatedly on a 

project-level basis. Additionally, the 

committee actively works to establish trust 

and obtain buy-in for the process. 

If stakeholders doubt the sincerity of the 

committee and its willingness to follow 

through on commitments, committee 

members may be reluctant to share 

concerns and contribute the resources 

necessary to resolve problems. Good trustbuilding practices include: setting the 

agenda in an open and collaborative way. 

Taking meeting minutes and timely 

distributing them to members, and following 

through on commitments. 

Let’s see how one State DOT got started 

with stakeholder partnering. A State DOT 

representative attended a meeting of the 

American Public Works Association, the 
Federal-aid Essentials for Local Public Agencies

APWA, to discuss LPA issues related to 

Federal-aid projects, such as the duration 

and costs of Federal-aid projects and the 

inconsistent application of policy across the 

DOT districts. 

To begin tackling the issues, the State DOT 

agreed to give stakeholder partnering a try. 

Executives at the State DOT met to discuss 

the composition of the committee and the 

types of issues it would address. They 

agreed to include an LPA from a large 

metropolitan area along with a 

representative from both the APWA and the 

National Association of County Engineers, 

known as NACE. At the first meeting, the 

committee looked at the list of known 

issues, added a few more that were offered 

during discussion, and set some priorities. 

At the top of the list was how simple bridge 

projects might be accelerated. The 

committee set up a subgroup of bridge 

engineers and district managers to work on 

the problem and report back to the 

committee. 

Through regular briefings, the committee 

learned that most LPAs had minimal 

understanding of environmental 

requirements and were conducting 

unnecessary environmental reviews. By 

recommending specific changes to the 

State’s environmental manual, the 

stakeholder partnering committee found a 

way to accelerate simple bridge projects. 

By working together, government agencies 

and industry associations can uncover and 

resolve issues that hinder the LPA program. 

Stakeholder partnering is easy to 

implement, yet provides one of the most 

cost-effective ways for reducing the time 

and cost of Federal-aid projects. If your LPA 

program is currently not benefiting from 

stakeholder partnering, contact your State 

DOT or FHWA Division Office to learn more 

about the process.
Federal-aid Essentials for Local Public Agencies

The content of this 

document is not a 

substitute for 

information obtained 

from State departments 

of transportation, 

appropriate FHWA 

Division Offices, and 

applicable laws. 

Scenarios have been 

simplified for emphasis 

and do not necessarily 

reflect the actual range of 

requirements applicable 

to the scenario or this 

topic. This document

was created under 

contract number 

DTFH63-11-F-00066 by 

the Federal Highway 

Administration, U.S. 

Department of 

Transportation, and is 

offered to the public to 

heighten and focus 

awareness of Federal-aid 

requirements within the 

local public agencies 

community and 

reinforces the 

importance of these 

necessary policies, 

procedures, and 

practices.

This Companion Resource 

is the script content for 

the video production of 

the same name. 

Additional Resources

• Link to Every Day Counts Locally Administered Federal-aid Projects: 

Stakeholder Partnering

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/everydaycounts/edc-3/partnering.cfm