April 17, 2009
Management
ITD unveils accountability Web site
ITD introduced a new Web site this week that tracks the department’s progress in addressing recent audits and Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter’s executive order to document ongoing efficiencies. “Tracking our Progress” organizes ITD’s reporting process into four areas: Accountability and action plans, Reports, Federal stimulus projects and other ITD projects, such as GARVEE projects, project planning and traveler information.
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Transportation Board
Members express their appreciation
As members of the Idaho Transportation Board, we are fully aware of the many challenges you face each day in providing safe, convenient travel on our highways. It requires a level of dedication and professionalism that may not be readily apparent to those who use our system.
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Highways
Kamiah's Lennett Cantwell receives safety honor
By Kathy Hedberg , the Lewiston Tribune
With any luck, the next generation of drivers should include a bunch of them who understand more about highway safety than their parents. And if that's the case, then Lennett Cantwell, a heavy equipment operator for the Idaho Transportation Department, can claim some of the credit. For the past eight or nine years, Cantwell, 60, has been driving dump trucks and snowplows to local schools to talk to students about the many tasks performed by her agency and how to be safe around work zones.
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Highway Safety
Enforcement, safety officials discuss strategies
Progress in the battle against impaired driving and initiatives to protect teenage drivers were among the many highway safety topics covered during the 2009 Highway Safety Summit held recently in Boise. Nearly 200 law enforcement officers and highway safety professionals turned out for the annual event hosted by ITD’s Office of Highway Operations and Safety.
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Cover girl
D-2 inspector shown on cover of Parade magazine
Susan Meisner, a 44-year-old inspector at the Lewiston Port of Entry, earns about $30,000 a year. While that’s not highly classified information, it generally isn’t commonly known throughout the country. At least it wasn’t, until this week. Meisner, who commutes to one of two Port of Entry worksites near Lewiston from her home in Lenore, was among the 18 individuals pictured on the cover of Parade Magazine (see highlighted circle above) this week as part of its annual report, “What People Earn.”
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Disaster
ITD participates in Oregon tabletop exercise
If an earthquake of 9.0 magnitude were to rock the Seattle area, flood the coastal areas of Washington and Oregon and decimate all of the transportation systems west of the Cascade Mountains, what role would Idaho play in response and recovery? The scenario was presented to about two-dozen transportation officials, law enforcement officers and medical responders Tuesday during a tabletop disaster exercise in Ontario, Ore.
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Engineers
Video conference to outline education changes
A statewide video conference is scheduled for Wednesday, April 29, to review legislation that affects continuing education requirements for professional engineers and land surveyors. ITD joins the Idaho Society of Professional Engineers (ISPE), the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and the University of Idaho in presenting the discussion scheduled at locations throughout the state.
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Public Transportation
PTAC to complete review of grant applications
The Public Transportation Advisory Council (PTAC) will complete its review of public transportation grant applications for 2010 on Thursday, April 30. The meeting will be from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at ITD’s East Annex Conference Room, 3293 Jordan St. in Boise.
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Vehicle, driver licensing
Key Ada, Canyon county offices to relocate
Several offices in Ada and Canyon counties that provide motor vehicles and driver's license services will move to new locations this month, ending a long-time presence at their present sites. The restructuring is part of an ongoing initiative to make popular county services more accessible to Ada County residents, according to an Ada County announcement. The Benjamin Lane facility is conveniently located in a well-traveled area of western Ada County and will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., weekdays (except for holidays).
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ITD Mailbox
• Thanks for promoting organ donor program
• ITD helps address Moscow’s unique transportation needs
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News to Share
Patrols scheduled to reduce vehicle-wildlife collisions on Highway 21
Law enforcement officers will conduct emphasis patrols early next week in an effort to reduce the number of vehicle-wildlife collisions on a segment of Idaho 21 where crashes typically occur between vehicles, deer and elk.
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Party planned at Boise Depot for 'Big Mike'
Big Mike isn’t one to call much attention to himself, but when guests arrive this weekend both Mike and his home will share the limelight. The public is invited to celebrate the historic Boise Depot and a new interpretive kiosk for Big Mike, the locomotive steam engine, at Depot Day. The public event is planned from noon to 6 p.m. Sunday. ITD provided federal transportation enhancement funds to help pay for the interpretive kiosk and improvements to the Boise Depot.
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Views to share
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Legislature
House approves GARVEE bill, rejects gas tax hike
Members of the Idaho House this morning (April 10) approved issuing an additional $82 million in GARVEE (Grant Anticipation Revenue Vehicle) bonds to continue projects on six major Idaho corridors. By a 10-vote margin (39-29), the House approved sending SB 1186 to Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter for signing. Approval this morning followed about two hours of debate and came almost exactly one day after House members rejected a proposed two-cent increase in the state’s motor vehicle fuel tax.
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Gov. Otter responds to House vote on gas tax increase
Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter issued the following statement in reaction to [Thursday's] 32-37 vote against a proposal to raise Idaho’s fuel tax by 2 cents per gallon. “First let me thank the 32 House members who showed today that they understand the issue and the stakes. I appreciate their patience, leadership, and commitment to doing the right thing. That being said, I am very disappointed by the outcome of today’s vote...
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2009 Project Development Conference
Conference focuses on latest design, construction strategies
ITD and the transportation community gathered to celebrate exemplary design and construction projects Tuesday night at the mid-point of the bi-annual Project Development Conference in Boise. The two-day conference included five formal “plenary” presentations Tuesday and more than 30 breakout sessions Wednesday, organized into four concurrent tracks: planning/traffic, design/traffic, environmental and materials.
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Excellence in Transportation Awards
In Memoriam
John 'Jack' Combo, retired Transportation Board member
John “Jack” Xavier Combo passed away April 3 in Idaho Falls, Idaho, from an ongoing battle with cancer. Jack was born July 3, 1922, in Butte, Montana, to James Emmett and Mary Edmunda Fleming Combo. A family visitation took place Tuesday, April 7, at Wood Funeral Home, followed by a rosary. A celebration of Catholic Mass followed Wednesday, April 8, at Holy Rosary Catholic Church. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Hospice of Eastern Idaho, Idaho Falls Youth Hockey or a favorite charity.
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