ITD’s Monica Crider and the Interstate 84/Ten Mile Interchange project received honors last week at the annual awards banquet, sponsored by the Treasure Valley chapter of Women in Transportation Seminar (WTS).

The awards were presented Thursday (Jan. 26) in Meridian.

Crider joined ITD in 2009 as an intern for the state hydraulics engineer and has advanced steadily through the department’s engineering ranks; she also served as the district design group manager and consultant administration engineer.

She has been active in the WTS chapter since its founding in 2007 and held a number of leadership positions, including chair of the awards committee and secretary. She was named vice president of the professional group for the coming year.

Among her new duties in the organization, Crider will lead the WTS chapter’s involvement in the state Adopt-A-Highway program.

• 2007-present: Charter member of the WTS Treasure Valley chapter; served as chair of the awards banquet for three award nominations and ceremonies
• 2007-present: Performed interactive exercises in AASHTO’s TRAC educational program that demonstrates engineering principles to middle school and high school students in an effort to increase interest in engineering
• 2008-2010: Presented on technical principles of engineering and her profession to schools in the Nampa School District and through Boise State University’s annual Engineering Girls (E-girls) efforts
• 2009-present: Chairperson for Idaho’s biennial Project Development Conference that attracts more than 300 attendees and vendors and generates approximately $80,000

The Ten-Mile Interchange project, the first designed in Idaho that uses a Single Point Urban Interchange traffic configuration, was named the top project for “Innovative Transportation Solutions.” ITD and H.W. Lochner collaborated on the $33.8 million construction project.

Part of ITD’s I-84 Caldwell to Meridian project, funded by GARVEE bonds, the interchange required new and innovative engineering knowledge. Lochner met the challenge and the accelerated design schedule while optimizing several design features to minimize traffic impacts and provide an interchange that is easy for the traveling public to use.

The interchange was completed and opened to traffic five years earlier than first anticipated. It brought many diverse stakeholders together and received widespread support.

It was designed to interface with the city of Meridian’s master plan and provide a new, aesthetically pleasing western gateway to the city. It also provides a new access point for I-84, reducing traffic volume on Franklin, Overland, Black Cat and Meridian roads, as well as the Garrity and Meridian interchanges.

WTS also presented the employer of the year award to Community Transportation Association of Idaho. ITD won the award in 2011.

Published 2-3-2012