11/6/2015

District 6
U.S. 20 interchanges save lives
The interchanges on U.S. 20 between Idaho Falls and Sugar City have helped reduce serious-injury crashes despite increased traffic levels and higher speed limits.
Continue

District 3
Road Warriors or Road Angels: “Big yellow trucks” beloved by police and commuters alike
Most people know the story by now: a small plane makes an emergency landing on the freeway in east Boise Oct. 13. Safety concerns and resuming traffic flow on I-84 were paramount in the aftermath of the freeway landing. ITD's Incident Response is one of the primary units to accomplish that goal. They are very good at it — they've been doing it for 20 years.
Continue

Innovation
Lancaster’s crash-cushion innovation saves lives, infrastructure
Expense should not drive every decision — sometimes, the right fit does. Ryan Lancaster in ITD’s Engineering Services simplified the process for selecting crash cushions, saving support structures for interchanges and overpasses, guardrail, and most importantly, lives.
Continue

District 4
Big Wood River Bridge initial construction begins this month
Construction activities for the Idaho 75 Big Wood River Bridge Replacement Project are planned to begin later this month. Preliminary activities include removing trees in the construction area to avoid possible conflicts with migratory bird nesting and initial work to adjust utilities.
Continue

Distracted Driving
AAA: New Hands-free Technologies Pose Hidden Dangers for Drivers
Surprising Research Finds that Mental Distractions Can Persist 27 Seconds after Completing a Task. Potentially unsafe mental distractions can persist for as long as 27 seconds after dialing, changing music or sending a text using voice commands, according to surprising new research by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.
Continue

U.S. DOT
DOT Releases New Online Tool to Help Promote Health through Transportation
The U.S. Department of Transportation has joined with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to launch a new online tool that provides profiles of how transportation may be affecting human health in each State and region. Idaho fares well.
Continue

Innovation
Encore (10-30-15): Innovations drive ITD to be the best
For most of the last 100 years, there has been little incentive to change. In the last 18 months, there have been more than 700,000 of them.
Continue

District 5
Encore (10-30-15): D5's use of geofoam in Topaz Bridge still paying dividends
An award-winning, innovative construction process using unique fill material debuted on the GARVEE-driven U.S. 30 Topaz Bridge project in southeastern Idaho five years ago. With 2010 solidly in the rearview mirror, it is worth taking a look back at the initiative. The Topaz Bridge project featured great collaboration between innovative engineering and construction techniques.
Continue