For the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), accurately predictingdurations for right-of-way (R/W) acquisition and utility adjustment on highway projectshas been deemed as one of the most important capabilities that regional districts shouldpossess. Because this need is so pressing, TxDOT has sought to establish an effectivemethodology for predicting the durations of these two pre-construction processes. The“Right-of-Way Acquisition and Utility Adjustment Process Duration Information (RUDI)tool” was developed, which is an Excel-based tool that takes into consideration userinputs regarding project circumstances such as schedule urgency and levels ofuncertainty.In this study, the accuracy of RUDI and the key drivers that affect the durations ofR/W acquisition and utility adjustment have been examined in order to assess RUDI’seffectiveness in implementation on projects, to identify critical needs for enhancing RUDI, and to understand how practitioners can better predict durations needed for R/Wacquisition and utility adjustment.RUDI proved useful in predicting durations with better accuracy in spite oflimited data availability. Specifically, RUDI provided practitioners with reasonableduration ranges that can be used in better forecasting the durations of utility adjustment.Moreover, the study revealed that practitioners with more than 13 years of experience andR/W acquisition specialization showed better performance in estimating durations forR/W acquisition. Accurately estimated durations for utility adjustment were mostlyprovided by practitioners working at districts located in urban or metropolitan areas inTexas.The drivers identified significantly influential in predicting durations for R/Wacquisition by the practitioners include “TxDOT Project Type,” “District R/W AnnualBudget,” “Dedication of Funds to the Project,” “Funding Limitations for the Project,”“Level of Political Pressure,” “Need for Residential Relocation,” “Level of LocalAvailability of Replacement Housing Facilities,” and “Likelihood of Title CurativeActions,” “Status of Environmental Clearance,” “Status of Right-of-Way Map,”“Frequency of Eminent Domain,” “Right-of-Way and Utility Scope,” and “Number ofParcels for Acquisition.” Likewise, for estimating utility adjustment durations, thedrivers deemed highly influential and important by the practitioners include “Dedicationof Funds to the Project (R/W and Construction),” “Funding Limitations for the Project,”“Have Subsurface Utility Engineering (SUE) Investigations been Performed,”“Adjustment is Reimbursable Utility or Non-Reimbursable Utility,” “Status ofEnvironmental Clearance,” “Status of Right-of-Way Map,” “Right-of-Way and UtilityScope,” “Number of Utilities Located in Private Easement,” and “Responsiveness ofUtility Companies to TxDOT Needs.” These drivers should be considered key data points in RUDI because they can provide users with more duration ranges that can beuseful in forecasting actual durations of R/W acquisition and utility adjustment onhighway projects.The study also revealed that further research is needed to maximize the benefits ofthe RUDI tool, although validating the study’s findings was restricted due to a lack ofdata. Additional studies for improving the RUDI tool should focus both on collectingmore recent data and reconstructing the tool in terms of function and structure.
