Everything, Everywhere, All at Once: Proactively Engaging the Community During High-Profile Water Construction Projects

Background: KC Water is Kansas City, Missouri's Water Services Department, serving over 650,000 residents. KC Water contracted with Parson + Associates (P+A) to lead communications and business engagement for a major water, sewer, and storm sewer upgrades project - spanning nearly four miles along a heavily traveled corridor in the heart of Kansas City, MO (KCMO). This project caused daily disruptions to over 200 businesses, more than a dozen neighborhood groups, drivers, residents and the general public. P+A branded the project Upgrades on Main. The Upgrades on Main project replaced century-old infrastructure and paved the way for the first phase of construction-related activity for the KC Streetcar Main Street Extension. KC Water replaced approximately 23,227 linear feet of water mains and 17,532 linear feet of sewer mains, installed 67 new fire hydrants, 70 new manholes and new water services for 135 locations. This project took over two years to complete, with construction taking place on a highly-trafficked corridor. The P+A team proposed a very proactive approach, focusing on 'early and often' communications with businesses and residents along the corridor. Through a combination of weekly construction email blasts, door-to-door outreach, neighborhood and business meeting presentations, guided corridor tours, managing a project hotline, creating digital assets such as photography, videography, and graphics to show progress, and much more, P+A mitigated construction frustrations along the corridor by providing timely, accurate, and coordinated communication to stakeholders through the four-mile project corridor. Planning: Because this project began during a time of uncertainty with the rise of COVID-19, we made sure to consider how it could impact communications. In our plan, we included a note that said: 'Due to the evolving impacts of COVID-19, the outreach plan includes tactics to connect with people virtually online and through digital media. These alternative methods are recommended in light of the current social distancing and public health guidelines set forth by the governing authorities of the State of Missouri and City of Kansas City, Missouri. Depending on the circumstances, a mix of virtual and in-person meetings can be considered for future public engagement.' We determined three primary goals for this project as follows: Inform the public/stakeholders of construction impacts and educate them about the project process from beginning to end. Manage expectations and mitigate issues raised by the public/stakeholders. Provide a high level of customer service to stakeholders along the Main Street corridor. After the goals were set, our team developed a target audience. This audience was defined by not only stakeholders directly on the Main Street corridor, but also those within a three-block radius. Our team then created 11 primary strategies to meet our goals. Each strategy included an objective that detailed how we would get the work done. Below is the list of strategies: Strategy 1: Create and maintain stakeholder database Strategy 2: Create and manage a dedicated 'Upgrades on Main' webpage Strategy 3: Establish and Manage Project Contact Methods Strategy 4: Host up to two virtual public meetings Strategy 5: Weekly Construction Update email newsletter Strategy 6: Compile a master calendar of events to tap into grassroots-style 'pop-up' meetings Strategy 7: Use existing KC Water social media channels to engage public/stakeholders Strategy 8: Establish an online community engagement platform and virtual mapping tool Strategy 9: Utilize Alert KC text message system Strategy 10: Customer Service Training & Coordination Strategy 11: Earned Media Implementation: Before the project began, the P+A team developed key messages. These key messages guided us through the project and gave us a positive starting point with stakeholders. An initial postcard was mailed to over 1,135 stakeholders in and around the project corridor that included the key messages along with project contact information. After the groundbreaking, we began sending out weekly construction update emails every Friday, giving stakeholders an idea of what to expect to see on Main Street the following week. Within each weekly construction update, we featured different businesses along the corridor as part of our business engagement strategy. The P+A team also performed the following tasks throughout the two-year project to ensure the public was as informed as possible about construction in their area: 48-hour notice for any water shut offs via calls, emails and door hangers. Met on-site directly with stakeholders with contractors to coordinate phasing of work, delivery schedules, garbage truck schedules, etc. to limit the impact as much as possible. Created and sent detour maps emailed directly to impacted stakeholders that could be forwarded to customers/residents. Created 'Businesses Open During Construction' signage that was placed throughout the project corridor in order to support businesses during the construction period. Facilitated a 'bus tour' halfway through the project for city officials, business owners, and other key stakeholders to share the 'behind the scenes' aspects of the project and communicate the high-level of coordination taking place between the city, contractors, water & sewer work, and businesses on a day-to-day basis. Shared different aspects of the work, and what progress had been made. Captured drone footage to create photos and videos showing what progress had been made across the corridor. Managed a project hotline phone & email that was a direct line for the public to our project team. P+A maintained a list of all foreman working across the corridor so when an issue did pop up, we were able to offer a high-level of service and fix the issue quickly. Attended weekly calls with all contractors working on the corridor Handled media requests, including meeting media on the corridor (11 instances) Launched a 'Drive Safe on Main' campaign - videos, graphics and social media campaign encouraging drivers to slow down on Main by highlighting some of the workers who are constructing the new infrastructure Created and maintained a Social Pinpoint map - regularly updated to show closure, driver impacts, pedestrian impacts and bus route impacts (https://www.kcwater.us/upgradesonmain/) Created progress graphics Regularly attended community/business/neighborhood meetings to provide updates on the project and answer questions. Planned a 'Community-Completion Event ' that celebrated the end of work with family-friendly activities and a short program featuring Mayor Quinton Lucas, City Manager Brian Platt, city council members, KC Water and local business leaders. Through sponsorships P+A raised over $8,500 for the event to: Purchase $2,000 in gift cards from local businesses along the corridor Provide food and drinks from local businesses along the corridor Book activities and games such as a dunk tank, face painter and bubble artist Create signage showing all of the successes Go door to door to every business on Main Street to personally hand out invitations Evaluation: While there were still frustrations that come with the nature of construction, qualitative findings indicate that those impacted were pleased with the level and quality of communications provided throughout Upgrades on Main. These sentiments were expressed through conversations, phone calls and emails with the audiences listed above, specifically, business owners, KC Water leaders, and other elected officials. Most notably, Upgrades on Main was completed on time and on budget, clearing the way for the KC Streetcar Main Streetcar Extension construction which is currently underway. The Weekly Construction Update email list started at zero and by the project conclusion grew to 693 subscribers. P+A produced 92 Weekly Construction email updates with an average open rate of 45 percent. (23 percent higher than the average email open rate for construction industries according to MailChimp.) P+A facilitated 15 media interviews throughout the life of the project. P+A hosted three virtual public meetings, totaling 124 attendees. P+A presented project progress/updates to 18 different neighborhood/business groups - some groups more than once. P+A staff attended 95 weeks of a weekly coordination call with as many as 20 different contractors throughout the life of the project. The P+A team coordinated at least 40 different water shut-offs with business owners and residents (including phone calls, emails, and door hangers for each individual shut). An estimated 80-100 community people attend our community-completion event. The mayor of Kansas City, MO, city manager, and two City Council representatives also attended the event and made remarks.