Context Sensitive Solutions

Strategy

Context Sensitive Solutions (CSS) is a strategy promoted by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to consider highway design in sympathy with the adjacent landscapes and communities in the proposed corridor. Under CSS programs, a state transportation agency considers not only the function of the road but also the community setting of the road. CSS projects may include lighting that replicates historic fixtures or lighting that is designed to protect the night sky, the use of traditional materials for bridge abutments or walls, a broad median to minimize the visual impact of the road in a scenic area or the rerouting of a proposed corridor to protect critical farmland or ecosystems. CSS is not a program to “decorate” highways, but a program to recognize the aesthetic and environmental resources of a region through design interventions designed to minimize the visual and ecological impacts of a transportation project.