The PE study is simply a step in Orange County’s overall roadway improvement process. The study informs and involves Orange County property owners through a public involvement program, verifies the need for the project, identifies the most appropriate roadway alignment, estimates costs and determines social and environmental impacts. The overall process includes the following phases:

1. Needs
2. Funding
3. Preliminary Engineering Study
4. Roadway Design
5. Right-of-way Acquisition
6. Roadway Construction
7. Roadway Maintenance

The PE study is a crucial step in the overall development of roadway improvements in Orange County’s transportation network. To ensure that transportation improvements are performed in the best interests of the public, the County utilizes sound transportation planning principles and engineering practices during the PE process and throughout the overall development of roadway improvements.

During the course of the study extensive amounts of data are collected within the study area to support the decisions and recommendations of the study team. Data collection efforts include traffic counts, accident data, existing roadway characteristics, natural and hydraulic features, cultural, archaeological/historical features and threatened and endangered species information. Various improvement alternatives are explored and evaluated based on technical engineering analysis and shaped by existing conditions. Finally, after various refinement steps the study team will determine a recommended improvement concept.

Throughout the entire process, there is an ongoing public involvement and input from the community including property owners, interested citizens, business owners, elected officials and other stakeholders. The key to the PE process is the synthesis of technical data collection and analysis coupled with dialogue from citizens to produce acceptable and appropriate solutions to the transportation demand. Following the approval of the PE study by the Orange County Board of County Commissioners the resulting roadway concept will be used for the remaining phases of the roadway improvement (design, right-of-way acquisition and construction).

How does the County’s Roadway Conceptual Analysis (RCA) study differ from a PE study? The RCA study is employed by Orange County when a majority of the property adjacent to the proposed roadway improvement is owned by an entity other than Orange County. The PE study is used when a majority of the right-of-way necessary for the roadway improvement is owned by Orange County and/or is owned by a development interest tied to Orange County through a roadway improvement funding partnership.