Integrated Analysis of Economic Impacts of Bypasses on Communities

Abstract

The issue of whether a community should be bypassed often raises concerns from community members, public officials, and other stakeholders. A bypass has substantial potential impacts on affected communities, such as changes in travel patterns, the diversion of heavy-truck traffic from congested city streets, and the opening up of new land for economic development. Identifying these impacts and determining the extent to which they are due to the presence of a bypass has posed a challenge to decision makers and researchers. This paper describes an integrated approach to documenting and quantifying the impacts of bypasses on small communities. The socioeconomic impacts on the community with the bypass were documented in terms of the decisions made by public officials. These decisions were learned through case study interviews and changes in employment in various industry sectors as quantified by the development of random effects statistical models. The integrated approach of combining case studies with advanced statistical methodologies was helpful in painting a clearer picture of how communities with bypasses were affected.