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Transportation board schedules District 1 meeting, tour

The Idaho Transportation Board will tour northern Idaho on Wednesday as part of its regular business meeting and trip to Coeur d’Alene and District 1. Some of the tour activities include meeting with local officials from Eastside Highway District and the city of Rathdrum, visiting the Coeur d’Alene Airport, and stopping at the Huetter Rest Area to meet with Port of Entry staff.

Business meeting presentations

Railroad grade crossing program
The annual report on the State Railroad Grade Crossing Protection Fund will be presented to the board at its Thursday meeting in Coeur d’Alene.

In FY10, ITD allocated $33,832 for educational and safety activities to promote safety at public railroad-road crossings, to use as match for federal-aid highway safety – federal rail projects, and to train staff on project development and inventorying public railroad-road crossings.

Of the 2,658 railroad crossings in Idaho last year, 1,440 were public railroad-road crossings. Twelve vehicle-train collisions were recorded at those locations in 2010, resulting in two injuries, but no fatalities. Nine of those collisions occurred during daylight hours. That compares to eight collisions with five injuries in 2009. The last vehicle-train fatality occurred in 2008.

Central issuance of driver’s licenses update
Staff members from the Division of Motor Vehicles will present an update on the transition to the central issuance of driver’s licenses that took place statewide in May and June. It was accomplished on schedule and within budget; however, there are a few technical and operational issues that still need to be addressed.

The county examiners are still acclimating to the new system. Two locations have experienced customer lines; however, the same counties had lines before the transition to central issuance. When compared to the old system, the new system is able to handle an equal or greater number of daily transactions, even with the additional task of document scanning. ITD staff members will continue to look for ways to streamline processes and minimize transaction times.

Overall, the public has been accepting of the minor inconveniences typical of a rollout of this size and complexity. Numerous communication tools were used in advance to inform and educate the public on the change.

Utilities process
Because of earlier board concern about utilities causing delays to construction projects, ITD staff will outline the procedures for working with utility companies. The process starts during development of a project concept when a designer identifies which utilities are located within the limits of the project.

Efforts are under way to improve the coordination process with utilities. FHWA and ITD are jointly sponsoring a team to look into alternatives for utility relocation. ITD staff members also discussed the issue of utility delays with highway contractors. Several contractors have offered to be involved in initiatives to improve utility coordination and reduce or eliminate delays.

Trucker advisory council
ITD created the Motor Carrier Advisory Committee (MCAC) in 1985 to review proposed regulations, statutes and concerns related to motor carrier matters. A Governor’s Executive Order moved committee oversight from ITD to the governor in 1987. Governors continued to re-establish the MCAC through Executive Orders until February 2010.

ITD considers the committee a valuable group. It will ask the board to establish a Trucking Advisory Council (TAC) to replace the MCAC. The new council would advise the transportation board on issues and policies concerning freight transportation, trucking safety and services in Idaho.

The council would consist of six members – one from each district – with the immediate past chair of the Idaho Trucking Association serving as an ex-officio member. The TAC would be required to give an annual report to the board on recommendations, activities, goals and objectives.