The success of a transportation project can hinge on public buy-in and consensus. Nelson\Nygaard understands better than anyone how to integrate local participation into the planning process. By pairing transportation and community-building expertise with face-to-face facilitation, the firm ensures that projects reflect the shared needs of stakeholders and community members.

Agency representatives, policymakers, business interests and transportation advocates often have conflicting objectives and competing community goals. Nelson\Nygaard builds consensus by having these separate players see the larger picture, bringing key stakeholders together to explore potential tensions and tradeoffs.

A deep appreciation of planning issues can help a community articulate what it really wants. Nelson\Nygaard’s innovative public education strategies ensure that communities understand the planning process. Public workshops, community meetings and focus groups provide opportunities to explore highly contentious and complex issues and generate local enthusiasm for projects.

The firm uses newsletters and project websites to keep the general public informed. Nelson\Nygaard also has developed interactive planning activities like design charettes and the Smithville Planning Game© that bring stakeholders, politicians and citizen-planners together to design conceptual transportation networks that reflect local values and needs.