Project Mitigation

Impacts and Opposition To protect the public health and safety, governments regulate new construction. Even a modest residential building must obtain a permit. Large projects impact neighboring properties and therefore must go through reviews that involve an array of analytical techniques to predict and assess environmental and aesthetic impacts. The larger the project, the more elaborate and sophisticated the process. A Boston architect in the 1980s compiled a 150-page book on all federal, state and local requirements that may apply. New projects have impacts both during construction, and after the building is occupied. The impacts include soft elements, such as the appearance and feel of the surrounding streetscape, shadows, noise and vibration. Harder elements focus on – depending on the climate and topography – surface water drainage and traffic.

Public opposition is common, often due to concerns that “too much development” will add to area congestion and parking shortfalls. Extra pavement magnifies storm water drainage problems and destroys natural landscape. It absorbs heat and creates pedestrian barriers. What shadows will a new high-rise create? How will additional traffic affect congestion and parking?

Some projects make no environmental sense, such as this”bold” concept for a “Giga World” which never broke ground in Kuala Lumpur.

An APM passes near surgery rooms at Huntsville Hospital.

Mobility as Mitigation

Here is where flexibility in the configuration of your development program comes in play. The judicious use of APMs can reduce traffic and parking impacts in many ways. It can connect to regional transit facilities and thereby reduce highway commuting and parking needs by orienting future employees, residents and visitors to transit. It can inter-connect parking resources and thereby make remote garages convenient and carpooling easier. Remote parking can be strategically located close to highway ramps, thereby removing last-mile traffic on local streets.

A well-designed APM can double or triple the future transit share of a highway-oriented project. It can also increase carpooling. These advantages can significantly reduce traffic impacts.

A very interesting example of an APM with positive environmental impacts is at the Huntsville Hospital in northern Alabama. It interconnects separate medical facilities, each with its own parking. This lessens parking competition and headaches. Moreover, the APM guideway is also a useful utility conduit, bringing additional benefits.

The Huntsville Hospital APM cuts the corner of one medical building near surgery rooms. Negative effects of APM vibration was of great concern, but analysis showed it would not be a problem. Almost a decade of experience later, it is not even a concern.

Once you have devised an impact-mitigating configuration that includes an APM, the APM should be designed to minimize its own impacts – shadows, droppings, vibration, noise and, of course, visual intrusion.