6/20/2014
Districts
Crash into I-84 overpass west of Burley claims life of semi driver; repairs continue
ITD crews worked throughout the day Friday (June 13) to build a support to replace a concrete median column destroyed in a fatal semi-truck crash shortly after 5 a.m. about three miles west of Burley. The bridge strike continued an unfortunate recent trend of I-84 overpasses in southern Idaho being hit by semis.
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Customer Service
Farrer and Staley provide great emergency service on blowout
Rosie Panter submitted a letter to the editor to the Idaho Statesman in the first week of June thanking a pair of good Samaritans from ITD who changed a flat tire for her after she hit a curb at McDonalds, blew out her tire, and just missed causing a rear-end collision around 1 p.m. the week before. Panter had her emergency flashers on in the turn lane heading into a dead end when Marc Farrer (Res. 3 Construction) and Jim Staley (Res. 2 Construction) stopped to help.
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DMV Services
DMV customer service work gains new fan
ITD’s commitment to customer service was recently acknowledged when a customer needed help with his driver’s license. The caller left a phone message for DMV’s Lisa Helton about the service he received from Michelle Radford.
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Headquarters
Aversion to downshifting warps ITD pool car brake rotors
For years, ITD pool cars traveling down steep grades have come back to the mechanic shop with the same problem: warped brake rotors from drivers who do not downshift as they descend and choose instead to ride their brakes all the way down. "We have a problem with people who use our pool cars that travel to the northern districts," said Bob Williams, ITD highway equipment analyst.
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Division of Motor Vehicles
Idaho driver's license practice test app now available
A free mobile app from the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) is now available to test your knowledge of the rules of the road. The app is a practice test, which consists of 32 multiple choice questions, and provides results as soon as the test is completed. “Even though these are not the exact questions from the knowledge test, this will help people study the Driver’s License Manual to be able to pass the actual test,” said Debra Hall, driver’s license program supervisor.
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Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program
Free USDOT bonding education workshop offered July 9-10 in Boise
Public construction projects require surety bonding and insurance for contractors so the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) and US Department of Transportation (USDOT) will host a free bonding education workshop July 9-10 designed to help with that process. The workshop is open to all contractors seeking to increase business capacity and run operations more efficiently.
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Occupational Safety
Transportation workers at high risk of heat-related illness
Hundreds of ITD employees spend countless hours each summer battling the elements under a relentlessly brutal sun. The situation itself is unavoidable, so being able to approach it in the safest manner possible is of utmost importance. “Thousands of workers across the country become sick from exposure to heat each year, and some even die,” explained District 3 Safety Compliance Officer Eric Copeland. “The truth is that any worker exposed to hot and humid conditions is at risk of heat illness.”
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Transportation Board
Encore (6-13-14) Board to review draft FY16 budget and draft FY15-19 ITIP at June meeting
The transportation board will meet in District 3 June 18-19. Its tour of the region, however, will be combined with the District 4 tour in August. The board will conduct a workshop on Wednesday afternoon. The draft FY16 budget will be presented. The total estimated revenue available is just over $495 million.
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Districts
Encore (6-13-14) District 5 continues dominance at 2014 ITD equipment roadeo
Evidently, breaking a 20-year dry spell last year at the ITD equipment roadeo wasn't enough for District 5. Now they've won back-to-back state titles. A year after Bruce Dial broke the two-decades-long string with his win in Garden Valley, Matt Beckstead of the Preston shop added his name to the traveling plaque honoring the best equipment operators at ITD with his triumph in Twin Falls Tuesday.
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Highways
Encore (6-13-14) I-84 to become Vietnam Veterans Memorial Highway
Interstate 84 will become the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Highway July 1. The Idaho Transportation Department designed and constructed the signs, which will be placed at each end of the highway and markers at intermediate sites along the highway, according to language in Senate Bill 1227.
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Avalanche Alley
Encore (6-13-14) Historic volatility: avalanche season features 124 slides in "Avalanche Alley"
With the mercury in the 70s and 80s and temperatures climbing, it may be difficult to picture the volatility of the recent avalanche season. It's an image Bill Nicholson would just as soon forget. "It was the most challenging time in my 35-year career of dealing with avalanches," said Nicholson, ITD Southwest Idaho avalanche forecast manager.
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Encore (6-13-14) Kudos for avalanche clean-up effort
More than 79,000 avalanche post viewings occurred on ITD's Facebook page in 2014. Many people commented on the avalanche efforts, particularly the work following the massive slide in early March.
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