Plan or Design a State Highway Roadside Project

Landscape Architects provide design services that help integrate a transportation facility within its setting, creating a visually pleasing travel experience for all who live, work, and travel in California. As part of the Project Development Team (PDT) Landscape Architects play a vital role in developing a multi-modal transportation network that coexists harmoniously with the natural and built environment.

Aesthetics

As part of the Project Development Team, Landscape Architects typically function as design advisors - identifying practical yet aesthetically appropriate methods to add required engineering elements such as median barriers, sound walls, and bridge railings, yet maintain to the greatest extent possible the unique cultural and aesthetic features of a community.

Erosion Control (Includes the Erosion Control Toolbox)

Transportation construction activities frequently result in disturbed roadside soil surfaces, devoid of vegetation. Landscape Architects utilize a number of tools, including seed, annual and perennial plants, grasses and erosion control blankets and nets to keep the soil in place until permanent vegetative cover can be restored.

Highway Planting

Highway planting is utilized by Landscape Architects to provide aesthetic, safety, environmental mitigation, stormwater pollution prevention, and erosion control benefits. Aesthetically, planting helps integrate the highway within its natural or built environment to provide human scale, and maintain an area’s visual context.

Irrigation

Irrigation systems are utilized by Landscape Architects to provide provide supplemental water to plant material following the plant establishment period. Caltrans is committed to water conservation as a way of life. This section also provides cost effective and appropriate strategies to maximize the benefit of California's precious water resources.

Plans, Specifications and Estimates (PS&E)

The purpose of the Landscape Architects Program's PS&E standards are to provide Caltrans Landscape Architects and Landscape Designers with standard plans, specifications and estimate resources to efficiently assemble construction contract documents for contractors to bid and construct roadside planting, irrigation, erosion control work and other landscape-related work.  

Roadside Safety Improvements (Includes the Roadside Management Toolbox)

Landscape Architects champion designing for worker safety and maintainability of transportation projects. These design techniques and treatments improve traveler and worker safety, protect the highway infrastructure and improve transportation system reliability by reducing the need for recurrent maintenance activities.

Visual Impact Assessment (VIA)

Landscape Architects develop Visual Impact Assessments and the VIA Questionnaire that helps determine the necessary level of VIA documentation.