A Holistic Approach to Transportation and Community Design
The cool thing about Otak—the reason we love working here—is our complete focus on making the places we live, work, and play even better than they are today. We do that through our work and through our community activities. The services we provide as transportation engineers and planners are one of the ways we help implement a community’s vision.
Few elements shape a community and how it functions more than transportation. From roads to trails to transit systems, how and how far we travel has a direct impact on the economic and environmental sustainability of a region and ultimately its livability.
For the past thirty years, Otak has been working with city planners, municipal leaders, and developers to design new urban centers, plan transit systems, and restore and protect natural spaces. The hallmark of our work is an integrated multi-disciplinary approach to each project and to community development. We think about the community as a whole and all the implications of a project—a process we believe is critical when it comes to transportation planning.
Transportation engineering planning as a whole.
When we look at the transportation needs of a city or region, we look beyond the immediate problem to gain a broader perspective of priorities and possible solutions. We start by listening to the people who live and work in the community, as well as city leaders. We seek to understand the desires and needs of the community as a whole—residents, businesses, and commuters. We bring into focus the long-term goals, looking years into the future, exploring growth challenges, and possible solutions.
Otak’s continuing work with Community Transit (CT), Snohomish County’s transit provider, is a case in point. We have led the final design work on each of CT’s three BRT lines. Each of these lines is intimately connected with the cities and neighborhoods they serve. A value we provide is that we know those communities and have the experience to use our design talent to improve mobility and make them even better places to live—all while avoiding unwelcome impacts.
Leveraging limited resources.
By looking at transportation projects as part of a whole, we not only find practical solutions that will not have to be replaced in a few years, we often learn of other pressing needs and projects, and ways to leverage resources and budgets for greater outcomes. What may seem like competing priorities can often work together.
A problem facing many cities today is a backlog of infrastructure repair and maintenance projects, as well as an equally pressing need for infrastructure expansion. The challenge is addressing both with limited funding resources and strict regulatory mandates. Finding workable solutions requires some creativity, but it all comes down to understanding the full range of community needs, current and proposed projects, as well as the regulatory process and the different funding sources available. One of the strengths of our team is we have experienced engineers, designers, and planners who are knowledgeable about both current regulatory guidelines and compliance, and funding and funding streams.
An integrated approach to solving problems.
At Otak, we are very intentional about how we bring various disciplines together—water resources, landscape architecture, civil engineering—enabling our teams to take an integrated approach to planning, design, and construction. It is what sets Otak apart from larger and less experienced firms and has led to exciting opportunities and work we can be proud of.
One such example is the work we are doing in Colorado. On behalf of the City of Manitou Springs, Colorado, an integrated Otak team of structural, civil, and water resource engineers are collaborating with our landscape architects to replace an aging bridge with an aesthetically pleasing, functional, and resilient structure. The new bridge will improve safety for drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists alike, while also incorporating public art and low-maintenance contextual landscaping into the solution. Working together, in partnership with the client and the local community, the Otak team is creating a unique multimodal solution and a beautiful gateway to the Garden of the Gods.
Our planning, engineering, and construction services teams work on a full range of transportation projects throughout the Pacific Northwest and Colorado that are making a difference in how communities remain connected. From community transit projects crossing multiple jurisdictions, and first- and last-mile solutions, to culvert design for improved fish passages, and pedestrian and bike trails, we are solving complex transportation challenges and offering multimodal ways of commuting that present a sustainable model for a resilient future.