STATEWIDE CENTERLINE INITIATIVE EDITED: MAY 17, 2013 WHAT IS THE CENTERLINE INITIATIVE? The Centerline Initiative is a joint effort between the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT), Minnesota Geospatial Information Office (MnGeo) and MetroGIS (a geospatial collaborative funded and administered by the Metropolitan Council). The intent of the initiative is to develop, test, refine, publish and perpetuate a state-wide roadway dataset that meets the needs of a diverse road data user community. An authoritative road dataset is a core component of the State of Minnesota s geospatial data infrastructure and will provide significant public value. THE GOAL The primary goal of the initiative is to create an authoritative, multi-purpose, public-domain centerline spatial dataset resource representing the entire state of Minnesota. An authoritative dataset is one that all users and parties can rely on to accurately represent (to the best extent possible) the actual roadway assets of the state. Multi-purpose indicates it is to be built and then maintained continually to reduce cost, eliminate redundant effort, facilitate better data capture, inter-agency reporting and a variety of needs from roadway data consumers. In the public-domain indicates that a version of the data will be freely available to non-government public data consumers. HOW WAS THE INITIATIVE STARTED? First Workshop, September 2011: On September 26, 2011, over twenty metro-region representatives from state agencies, regional organizations, county and city governments as well as private companies met at the Metro Counties Government Center in Saint Paul. At this workshop, attendees discussed the shared need for a public domain, authoritative street centerline spatial dataset representing the sevencounty, Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area, which at some point could expand to include the entire state of Minnesota and the border counties in neighboring states. Consolidation of parallel efforts, Early 2012. The momentum and interest in a metro-region centerline solution coincided with MnDOT exploring the options for improving its data capture and business processes. One key piece of MnDOT s desired direction was the migration of its existing Transportation Information Systems (TIS) Database to a Linear Referencing System (LRS). Participating organizations endeavored to merge their initiatives into one, state-wide, collective effort. 1
Formation of Centerline Steering Committee, Spring-Summer 2012. A Centerline Steering Committee was formed in the spring of 2012. The role of the Committee is to provide a forum of collaborative development, problem solving, inventorying and addressing barriers (both technical and political) for the development, deployment and availability of an authoritative, statewide road centerline dataset. The Centerline Steering Committee Leadership Team is comprised of staff from MnDOT, MnGeo and MetroGIS. Updates to workshop and technical session attendees are posted via email as progress is made for their review and comment. WHAT PROGRESS HAS BEEN ACHIEVED TO DATE? Second Workshop, October 2012. The Committee sponsored a second, intensive two-day workshop with representatives from numerous federal, state, regional, as well as counties and municipal units from across the state at MnDOT s Arden Hills Conference and Training Center. This two-day session enabled a diverse participant group to discuss and better understand the range of roadway data needs, preview a demonstration of the ESRI toolset and to discuss and document areas of shared needs. First Technical Session, December 2012. A focused, half-day technical session was held in December 2012, again hosted at MnDOT s Arden Hills facility. This session focused on the core attribution data needs of agencies and organization outside of MnDOT and provided an opportunity to discuss the function, benefits and challenges of Linear Referencing System use and deployment. Project Manager Assignment, January 2013. Project managers from each of the three participating agencies have been assigned to the Initiative. These managers will coordinate the efforts between state and local organizations to ensure the state goal is achieved. February-April 2013. MnDOT signs its contract with ESRI to begin TIS to LRS conversion and tool development; the partner organizations begin their outreach and communications work and acquire six partner jurisdictions for a pilot project. Pilot Project Kickoff Event: May 13, 2013. Pilot project participant representatives with staff from MnDOT, MnGeo and MetroGIS as well as partners from the emergency response community met in Baxter, Minnesota to discuss the expectations and roles of participants at all elvels. WHAT ARE THE ROLES OF THE PARTICIPATING AGENCIES? The three co-sponsoring organizations play complimentary roles in the development of the Centerline Initiative. The Role of MnDOT Provide a MnDOT project manager to the Centerlines initiative and Pilot Project; Development (with ESRI ) and dissemination of the tool suite for acquiring/testing/modifying of local data; Hosting and dissemination of core data; Communication and documentation of instances where the TIS-to-LRS migration and Centerlines Initiative activities intersect; 2
MnDOT will initiate Joint Powers Agreements with stakeholders and participants as well as explore the need for new contracts with vendors on an as-needed basis; The Role of MnGeo Provide a MnGeo project manager to the Centerlines Initiative and Pilot Project; Liaison to the Pilot Project Participants in Greater Minnesota; Assist with outreach and communication of the project to roadway data users; Communicate merit of relevant project developments to policy makers at the state level; The Role of MetroGIS Provide a MetroGIS project manager to the Centerlines Initiative; Liaison to the Pilot Project Participants of the seven-county Metro region; Assist with outreach and communication of the project to roadway data users; Communication of project progress to workshop and technical session participants via periodic update emails; Communicate merit of relevant project developments to policy makers in the metro region; Maintain communication and support for the project through the MetroGIS governance bodies (Coordinating Committee and Policy Board); WHAT IS THE PILOT PROJECT? Phase I of the Centerline Pilot Project is scheduled for mid-2013. The pilot will enable an initial test group of statewide participants to try out the tool suite as well as to explore and refine the workflow processes of data input, editing and export. Through Phase I we hope to foster a meaningful exchange between local users and MnDOT to identify, inventory and address areas of concern and discover solutions. The participants in Phase I of the Pilot Project include the White Earth Nation, Mahnomen County, Benton County, Stearns County, Carver County and Ramsey County. Phase I will conclude with a report of findings and suggested refinements that the Centerline Steering Committee will recommend before a statewide roll out. 3
WHAT IS EXPECTED FROM PILOT PROJECT PARTICIPANTS? Submittal of a copy of local street centerline data to MnDOT; Participate in testing during Pilot (Specifications still in preparation) Loading in new data; Editing existing data; Testing the retrieval data process; Participate in providing feedback on the data, tools, ease of use, process, issues encountered, etc. On-going communication with ESRI, MnDOT, MnGEO, MetroGIS & the Centerline Project Managers to help design and improve data flow process and network configurations for regular exchange of data; Coordinate with local IT resources to enable system configuration; DATA REQUIREMENTS FOR PILOT PARTICIPANTS All data provided must be readable by ArcGIS; Data must cover all public roads within the county (Private road data also encouraged if it has been collected); Indication of Road Type (CSAH, CR, MSAS, etc.); Dual centerline for divided roads; single for undivided; If proposed and/or platted-only roads are included, these need to be indicated; Data must be in UTM Zone 15 North Extended, meter, NAD 83 or include projection file; BENEFITS TO PILOT PROJECT PARTICIPANTS Access to a linear referencing system for street centerlines to manage business events related to roads (such as signage, crashes, route changes, culverts, etc.); Use of road editing tool and linear referencing (if one is not already available to you); Ability for the retrieval of MnDOT s numerous datasets of local roads and road events; Faster exchange of Roadway Characteristics to MnDOT for reporting purposes; 4
AGENCY CONTACTS Minnesota Department of Transportation Jocelyn Stein, PMP TIS/LRS Project Director 395 John Ireland Blvd 395 John Ireland Blvd St Paul, MN 55155-1899 St Paul, MN 55155-1899 Peter Morey Senior Transportation Program Supervisor 651.366.3854 651.366.3872 jocelyn.stein@state.mn.us peter.morey@state.mn.us Minnesota Geospatial Information Office Brent Lund Project Manager/Web Applications Programmer 658 Cedar Street, Room 300 658 Cedar Street, Room 300 St Paul, MN 55155 St Paul, MN 55155 Dan Ross Chief Geographic Information Officer 651.201.2487 651.201.2460 brent.lund@state.mn.us dan.ross@state.mn.us MetroGIS Paul Peterson, PMP Geoff Maas, GISP MetroGIS Project Manager MetroGIS Coordinator 390 Robert Street North 390 Robert Street North St Paul, MN 55101 St Paul, MN 55101 651.602.1052 651.602.1638 paul.peterson@metc.state.mn.us geoffrey.maas@metc.state.mn.us EMERGENCY SERVICES LIAISON Metropolitan Emergency Service Board Gordon Chinander, GISP GIS Manager 2099 University Avenue St Paul, MN 55104 651.643.8379 gchinander@mn-mesb.org 5