San Bernardino, California

The Project
Connecting State Route 14 in Los Angeles County with State Route 18 in San Bernardino County, the High Desert Corridor (HDC) project proposes a new 63-mile section of highway running from Palmdale to Apple Valley. The project’s two lead agencies, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro), hired SmartComment to handle comments for the project’s Final Environmental Impact Statement/Report (EIS/EIR), which went out in late 2014.

What We Did

  • Created a project-linked website to take electronic comments from the public
  • Built a customized comment database to organize, manage and respond to comments
  • Worked with the project team to identify a list of relevant topics under which to categorize the various comments. This list was refined and added to throughout the process, guaranteeing the most accurate reflection of each comment’s content in the final document
  • Interfaced with agency staff and consultants throughout the process to provide any needed training and assistance
  • Provided comment-submission laptops and assistance at three public hearings

The Results
SmartComment’s platform received almost 800 comments, with 41 percent of them coming directly from the project website. Using SmartComment’s comment response system, the project team was able to efficiently respond to all comments and completed the Final EIR/EIS in spring 2016, with no comment-related delays or challenges.