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Case Study:
Big I Reconstruction Project: We're All In This Fix Together!
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In 2000, Cooney, Watson & Associates, Inc. was
selected by the New Mexico State Highway & Transportation Department
to handle community relations and education for the 24-month, $283 million dollar
reconstruction of the intersection of Interstate Highway 25 and
Interstate Highway 40 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
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Challenges
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Educate the public on the need for reconstruction of the state's
busiest interchange, which had more than 300,000 cars traveling
on it a day
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Form positive relationships with stakeholders: city, police,
media, truckers, EMT, commuters, neighborhoods and the business
community
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Find ways to communicate with everyone frequently
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Empower the public to make their own transportation decisions
Activities
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Bi-weekly media briefings
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30-minute television special
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30-minute follow up video on Building Public Trust and Confidence
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Fax/e-mail updates and construction bulletins to 1,500 individuals
and businesses
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Public Advisory Group's monthly meeting with effected neighborhood
and businesses
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Construction site tours
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Presentations to civic, community groups and neighborhoods
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Detailed deliverable reports
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Nine special events, including a groundbreaking, halfway celebration,
and completion party, that involved more than 5,000 guests and
partners.
Results
As of May 2002 (the completion of the project one month early),
we recorded:
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667 presentations to 13,480 participants
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More than 10,000 members of the Commuter's Club/ACT Now program
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Distribution of 20,605 copies of the Big I information tabloid
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Distribution of 27,757 Big I brochures
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94 project tours involving nearly 1,000 participants
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2,833 Big I Hotline calls with response to 255 complaints
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6,230,356 website hits [www.thebigi.com]
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$1,174,897.22 in earned print coverage
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$1,360,760.70 in earned television coverage
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Total of $2.53 million in earned media (excluding radio)
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