In 2006, the City Council of Odense decided to develop a traffic plan that would lead to the closure of the two biggest through roads of the city and link the centre with the harbour North of town. Previous attempts to close these streets had failed due to concerns about the displacement of huge amounts of through traffic. This time, politicians and civil servants were determined to succeed, but to do so they needed to get all stakeholders on board. In 2007, work began on a comprehensive Traffic and Mobility Plan. It started out as a classic traffic plan but ended up covering not only roads and cars but people and the quality of life in the city.
The City Council identified the citizens living in the area affected by the road closures as the main stakeholders. However, the council also wanted to involve companies and organisations in the city and other large user groups (cycling associations, retailers, sports clubs and associations representing older people and the handicapped). Taking into account that the local stakeholders were not transport experts, the city produced a textbook on traffic planning entitled “The Toolbox”. Realising that not every stakeholder wanted to closely monitor the plan’s development, the city strengthened its communication efforts. In order to avoid opposition later in the process, it was important to keep everyone well informed, even those who did not want to participate in discussions.
The City Council tried to make the traffic plan as visible as possible in the local press and at public events. The Traffic and Mobility Plan was given its own website which made public all meeting minutes, political decisions and relevant news. On three occasions during the development of the Traffic and Mobility Plan, the council displayed posters in the city informing citizens about it. As a result of this process, the Traffic and Mobility Plan was finally approved unanimously by the City Council. Odense has been involved in a large number of road construction projects which have caused confusion and opposition among citizens living close to the construction sites and have even raised some political doubts about the project. This experience shows that a good level of information and stakeholder engagement should be maintained not only for the planning phase, but throughout the whole process.
Source: Guidelines-Developing and Implementing a Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan