Context sensitive solutions (CSS) is a collaborative, interdisciplinary approach that involves all stakeholders to develop a transportation facility that fits its physical setting and preserves scenic, aesthetic, historic and environmental resources, while maintaining safety and mobility. CSS is an approach that considers the total context within which a transportation improvement project will exist.
Federal Highway Administration
Roads and highways play a significant role in the visual quality of our communities, making transportation design a key component of smart growth and scenic stewardship.
Citizens can demand “context-sensitive” highway solutions (CSS) from their state department of transportation (DOT) to ensure that all road design considers an area’s built and natural landscape; takes into account the environmental, scenic, aesthetic, historic, community, and preservation impacts of a road project; and provides access for other modes of transportation such as bicycles, pedestrians, and mass transit.
Context Sensitive Solutions v. Context Sensitive Highway Design
Context Sensitive Highway Solutions (CSS) has been referred to as Context Sensitive Highway Design (CSD) in the past by numerous organizations, including Scenic America. The new term, CSS, represents a more comprehensive way of looking at transportation planning.
Learn more about Context Sensitive Solutions here.