Minnesota Department of Transportation

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Corridor Planning Guidebook

What is the Guidebook?

This Corridor Planning Guidebook (Guidebook) is a resource for practitioners developing corridor plans for state highways in Minnesota. It supports consistent evaluations and alignment with statewide transportation goals.

The Guidebook provides direction for developing corridor plans in five steps:

  1. Pre-Planning
  2. Background and Context
  3. Existing and Future Conditions Assessment
  4. Potential Solutions
  5. Implementation Plan

Partner agency and public engagement occurs throughout the planning process. 

MnDOT Focus on Corridor Planning 

The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) is expanding its corridor planning practice as a strategic approach to advancing the objectives of the Statewide Multimodal Transportation Plan (SMTP). Planning state highway corridors using a standardized framework enables MnDOT to strengthen the connection between statewide objectives and transportation system investments. MnDOT has set an agency goal that all major projects are supported by a corridor plan. 

This process also helps MnDOT and local partners prepare for funding opportunities by proactively identifying transportation needs and community priorities for future projects. Corridor planning mitigates project risks by ensuring needs and priorities are understood well before project scopes and budgets are set, leading to more effective and responsive transportation solutions.

SMTP Objectives 

The SMTP is Minnesota’s highest level policy plan for transportation. It is a 20-year plan based on Minnesota GO, a vision of a transportation system that maximizes the health of people, the environment and the economy. The plan focuses on six objectives which, taken together with performance measures, strategies and actions, support the Minnesota GO Vision and the 16 statutory goals for transportation in Minnesota. The six SMTP objectives are: 

  • Transportation Safety
  • System Stewardship
  • Climate Action
  • Critical Connections
  • Healthy Equitable Communities
  • Open Decision Making

The six objectives are integrated into the Corridor Planning Guidebook.

Guidebook Purpose and Goals 

The Corridor Planning Guidebook provides a user-friendly framework for corridor planning on state highways in Minnesota. It equips staff with an understanding of plan elements, sources of required data, methodologies and documentation, and questions for stakeholders – presented in a clear and straightforward manner to align with the SMTP. Each section of the Guidebook provides a structure to follow while also allowing flexibility to ensure relevance for the variety of contexts across the state. 

The Guidebook is intended to achieve the following outcomes on state highway corridor plans in Minnesota: 

  • Integrate Statewide Goals, ensuring that every corridor plan addresses thepriorities of the SMTP.  
  • Promote Inclusive Engagement, prompting meaningful involvement of partner agencies and members of the publicat each stage in the planning process.
  • Increase Consistency and Maintain Flexibility by standardizing key data sources, evaluation methods, and overall format, while allowing flexibility to address the specific needs and context of each corridor 
  • Use MnDOT Recommended Data and Tools by providing links to and descriptions of data sources and assessment tools, empowering Guidebook users to make informed decisions aligned with MnDOT priorities.
  • The Guidebook is a living document that will be updated as needed to address changing practices, policies, data sources, and tools. It is intended to help plan contributors—from planners and engineers to community advocates and agency leaders—by providing a common language and a set of expectations for corridor planning on state highways in Minnesota. 

Who Should Use the Guidebook? 

The Corridor Planning Guidebook is intended to guide development of plans on state highways in Minnesota, whether they are initiated by MnDOT or another entity. 

Guidebook users include:

  • MnDOT staff leading corridor plans,
  • MnDOT staff supporting corridor planning and programming,
  • Local and regional agencies leading or involved in corridor plan development on state highways,
  • Consultants supporting plan preparation, and external stakeholders interested in understanding MnDOT’s corridor planning process.

While intended for state highways, the framework includes best practices that could be readily applied to local corridors.