Over the past two years, while the Innovate Mound project team has been collaborating with local stakeholders, engineers were also working behind the scenes to conduct the studies needed to make sure the project was environmentally sound.
Some of the environmental factors the project planners had to consider included:
- Residential
- Commercial
- Environmental justice
- Threatened and endangered species
- Historic properties and districts
- Hazardous and toxic material
- Traffic
- Noise
- Air quality
- Westlands
- Streams
- Water Quality
- 100-year floodplain
In addition to these many factors, project planners also had to make sure that final traffic levels, noise, and other roadway conditions will not be detrimental to the community – all while ensuring that historic districts, and important waterways and ecosystems are preserved.
So much research had to be done, that the result was a nearly 1,300-page report. After preliminary reviews by the appropriate stakeholders, this report was ultimately sent to the state government and the Federal Highway Administration for final approval.
This approval needs to be complete before the Innovate Mound project can move into its design-build phase.