Improved Project Planning Strategies for Transportation Assets: The Necessity of Early Stakeholder Involvement

Although stakeholder involvement (SI) can improve project performance, integrating these stakeholders into the project development process can be complex. Furthermore, there is limited guidance on when and how to involve these stakeholders. Recognizing this challenge, the goals of this paper are to identify how early SI can impact the directionality of a project and to understand what factors strengthened SI efforts. In this research, a series of exploratory case studies were performed across a number of key stakeholders on a single inland waterway project. These case studies focused on gaining insight into what impacts various engagement efforts had on the project, including how the actual timing of engagement may have changed the project’s trajectory and how stakeholders perceived the project’s outcomes. The case studies showed that SI is best obtained during the feasibility phase and could alter the project’s trajectory. In addition, solid relationships, open communication, and trust were determined to be major factors contributing to the success of the first phase of the project. This paper concludes by proposing future research that would improve subsequent phases and maintenance processes on inland waterways.