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The Plan
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The Plan
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The Plan Visualization
Getting StartedFollow the steps below to get started using Google Earth and the CLRP Visualization:
Return to top What is Google Earth?Google Earth is a free-of-charge downloadable virtual Earth program. It constructs this virtual Earth by dynamically piecing together a series of aerial and satellite photographs. Google Earth allows users to zoom in and out, and pan across the Earth's surface. It also allows information providers of all kinds to publish geo-spatial information that overlays with the virtual Earth background of aerial and satellite photographs. Google Earth is NOT real-time. The photography presented by Google Earth is static. Depending on what part of the Earth you are viewing, the aerial photography may be several years old. For more information about Google Earth, please read their Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Why Google Earth?SAFETEA-LU specifies that MPOs such as the TPB must use enhanced visualization techniques in their planning and outreach efforts. TPB staff has recommended using Google Earth as one tool in its efforts towards better visualization of the Plan as well as other planning activities, such as the scenario study. How to get Google EarthGoogle Earth can be downloaded free-of-charge from the Google Earth website. It is available for PC, Mac and Linux. The basics of Google EarthThe Google Earth Product Tour provides a good introduction to using Google Earth. One Google Earth feature that is not described in the tour is how to use a scroll-wheel mouse with Google Earth. When using Google Earth with a scroll-wheel mouse, one can use the scroll-wheel to easily zoom in and out of the Earth. The Plan and Google EarthProject AlignmentsIt is very important to note that project shapes are represented in Google Earth as stylized lines and do not represent actual alignments. The lines have been made semi-transparent with exaggerated widths. The information windows display project descriptions also contain a reminder of this fact. Project ShapesEach Plan project and study that is displayed in Google Earth has four components. The first is the project's shape, which is a stylized representation of the project. Each shape also has an "info" icon which is generally located at the line's mid-point. Pointing the cursor at this "info" icon makes the icon increase in size, makes the shape turn opaque, and makes the project's name label become visible. This highlighting and labeling allows users to know which project is being selected, and see the extent of the project shape when it overlaps with other shapes. Finally, clicking in the "info" icon calls up the project's Info Window. This window contains information about each project and provides links (where available) to other online resources for project information, such as a project's Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The animated image below illustrates how to click on a project shape to identify it and see its Info Window.
Working with Built-In Layers
Working with Plan Layers
The Plan layers are visible in the Places sidebar at the left-hand side of the Google Earth window, above the Layers sidebar. Each layer (Highways, Studies, etc.) can be toggled off and on by clicking the check-box next to the name of the layer. Please note that clicking the check boxes next to the feature types (Major Studies, Other Studies, New Road, etc.) does not currently have any effect within Google Earth. This layers list also acts as a legend, illustrating which color relates to which project type. It should be noted that the lines on the map are semi-transparent, yet the color samples in the layers list (legend) are opaque. Therefore, the colors in the layers list will not match up exactly with the colors of the project shapes on the map. It should be noted that Transit, HOV and HOT lane projects are grouped into a single layer. TPB staff has historically grouped Transit, HOV and (now) HOT lane projects onto one map because each of these three facility types promotes the movement of non-Single-Occupancy-Vehicles. In order to provide some context, other layers have been included in the CLRP Google Earth Visualization. These suplementary layers are grouped together at the bottom of the 2006 CLRP tree in a folder called "Other TPB Layers" which contains the following layers:
Major Highway ImprovementsThe major highway improvements layer contains "regionally significant" roadway projects of four types: new roads, new toll roads, widening/improvement of existing roads and intersection improvements. Stylized shapes are used to represent New Road and New Toll Road projects and are not alignments.
Major Transit, HOV/HOT ImprovementsAs discussed above, Transit, HOV and HOT projects are listed on a single layer. It is natural to group these types of projects, because they are all intended to provide capacity for vehicles other than single-occupancy vehicles. Stylized shapes are used to represent transit and HOV/HOT projects and are not alignments. The Plan contains three types of transit projects: New Transit, Transit Improvements and New Transit Stations. Where available, planned transit stations that are part of a larger project are indicated as smaller white markers along the line representing the transit project. New transit stations that are stand-alone projects are represnted as full-sized white markers. Both of these are ilustrated below.
Additionally, this layer contains the HOV lane projects as well as the new High-Occupancy/Toll (HOT) lane projects.
Major StudiesThe Plan also lists three different types of studies: Major Studies, Other Studies and Point Studies. Studies are illustrated in shades of blue, as shown below. Stylized shapes are used to represent studies. These shapes are not intended to represent potential alignments, but instead give a general indication of the area/corridor/location being studied.
Major Bicycle and Pedestrian ProjectsThe Bicycle and Pedestrian plan components are currently under development for visualization via Google Earth and will be available at a future date. Activity Centers
Please note that the shapes are stylized and conceptual representations of development. Return to top
By clicking the above link, you confirm that you have read the above instructions and caveats. You are also acknowledging that this is a test/beta version of the TPB Plan Visualization. If you have problems launching Google Earth after clicking the above link, see the section below. Return to top TroubleshootingI clicked the link but Google Earth didn't launch.Clicking the above link prompts your web browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, etc.) to download a special Google Earth data file, called a "KMZ" file. This file is a data file for Google Earth. Your web browser is supposed to launch Google Earth and pass to it the KMZ file you just downloaded.
The two options are "Open" or "Save." Choose "Open." If "Google Earth" is not listed as an option, click on the drop-down list, choose "other" and then browse to the location where Google Earth is installed on your computer. This is most-likely C:\Program Files\Google\Google Earth. To prevent having to do this every time you view Google Earth data, click the "Do this automatically for flies like this from now on" check-box. If you are unable to open the Google Earth visualization using the above instructions, try the following steps:
If you continue to have problems opening the Google Earth visualization, please Email Us. I can't see the CLRP road/transit/HOV/HOT/studies lines.It has been reported that at least one user has had problems seeing the CLRP project lines presented in Google Earth. This may be a problem with the "rendering engine" used on an individual computer. The lines are actually there, but are just very thin. There is currently no work-around for this problem. If you experience this problem, please Email Us. Google Earth tries to open, but then it crashes.Some versions of Google Earth on some computers have problems showing the Activity Centers, described above. If you are successfully able to start Google Earth, but then receive an error message, try using this file that has the Activity Centers removed. I can't find a specific project I am looking for.As mentioned above, the visualization only displays "major" projects with "regional significance". Therefore, many current and upcoming projects may not be included. Also, many projects and programs cannot be easily mapped: this could be because they do not have a specific geographic location (such as the Commuter Connections program) or because their geographic location has yet to be determined. The CLRP came up okay, but now it won't go away.When you first download the CLRP Visualization, Google Earth places it in the Temporary Places section of the Places sidebar. These "places" are removed every time you quit Google Earth. However, Google Earth prompts you to save your Temporary Places into a section called My Places. Places saved to My Places will reappear next time Google Earth is loaded. If you don't want the CLRP Visualization to reappear, make sure to choose "No" when prompted to save it into My Places. If you have already saved the CLRP Visualization into My Places and you wish to remove it, you have two options:
What does the "clamped polygons" message mean?As mentioned above, the CLRP Visualization displays the Regional Activity Centers. These areas are displayed as translucent orange polygons. Some computers do not have video cards capable of displaying these translucent polygons superimposed against the Earth background. If you have an older computer, you may not be able to see the activity centers. What are all these other markers on the map?As mentioned above, Google Earth contains a series of built-in layers which can be turned on and off. A few of these layers are turned on by default. This may include the Geographic Web and Featured Content layers. If you do not wish to view these layers, uncheck the boxes next to their names in the Layers panel. Why do the map symbols get smaller when I zoom in?The symbols in the visualization, including lines and markers (point symbols), do not change size when you zoom in or out, but instead stay the same size. The appearance of them growing larger or smaller is an optical illusion. This is a built-in feature of Google Earth. If you have any additional questions, please Email Us. |
Key Documents | Contact Us | SAFETEA-LU Checklist | Transportation Planning Board | Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments
©2007 Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments
The Plan
Plan Development
Plan Performance
Public Involvement
Ongoing Activities
The Plan visualization contains layers which can be independently toggled on and off. These layers are described below. 
TPB Staff is actively working on adding other planning layers to the Google Earth Plan Visualization. One of these layers is the 
Often times, your web browser does not know what to do with a particular type of file. If this happens when you click the link to download the KMZ file, you should see a window which looks like that shown to the right. >>