1/27/2012

Legislative presentation
ITD outlines progress to senate, house transportation committees
Director Brian Ness and Deputy Director Scott Stokes presented ITD's annual report to the House and Senate transportation committees Thursday. Before their presentation, Transportation Board Chairman Darrell V Manning spoke about major operational changes that have taken place the past five years, especially since Ness became director in January 2010.
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Transportation board
Board considers report on setting speed limits
Setting speed limits that are based on the speed motorists already drive results in good compliance, minimized crash rates and less severe crashes when they occur, explained Thad Peterson, 1st Lt. with the Michigan Department of State Police Traffic Services Section.
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Future City competition
Students design cities of the future today
How would you design and build a city of the future that incorporates energy conservation and healthy living? That challenge was laid on the table for students in grades six through eight across southeastern Idaho as part of the annual Future City Competition held in conjunction with National Engineering Week. The theme for this year’s event was “Fuel the Future.”
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Employees
Wounded vet Tom Chaney to get a feel for skis again
Tom Chaney grew up on the western flanks of the Bitterroot Mountains doing what most of the resident population does – enjoy the outdoors. But traditional winter sports are more difficult for the Port of Entry inspector stationed in Bonners Ferry. He suffered serious head injuries when a mortar exploded in his Balad, Iraq, compound.
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District 3
Whistle at your work ...
They are often overlooked today, relics of a bygone time. But in another era they may have been as critical to ITD as the working men and women and the equipment used to build and maintain highways. One hangs inside at ITD's Southwest Idaho maintenance shop, and the other is mounted on the roof.
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Highways
Why does ITD close Highway 21 ...
When winter storms threaten to dump snow in Idaho's central mountains, ITD occasionally closes Idaho 21 as a precautionary measure. That sometimes prompts questions by motorists who travel the route from Banks to Lowman. "Why close the highway if there are no avalanches?" they wonder. The answers are evident in photographs.
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Highway safety
Research important to drive for Zero Deaths
Research plays a very important role and without it our standard of living would probably not improve very much. The type of research most think about is in the medical field. The advancement of medical science is astounding. Recently my 80 year old mother had a hip replaced and she is doing great.
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Funding
State of the Union addresses need for transportation funds
John Horsley Executive Director, AASHTO WASHINGTON, D.C. – The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials commends President Barack Obama for using his State of the Union address to reiterate his unrelenting support for greater investment in the highways, bridges, mass transit and rail systems that support our economy and quality of life.
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Farewell Gen. Manning
Encore (1-20-12): Ceremony honors faithful public servant
The words were remarkably similar, yet strikingly different. Some became repetitive; all were personal and unquestionably appropriate. How do you capture a lifetime of service to state and country in 35 minutes? Friends and colleagues stood, one after another, in the ITD Headquarters auditorium Wednesday attempting to reduce Gen. Manning’s contributions to words ...
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Fitting tribute
Encore (1-20-12): Friends, colleagues put Gen. Manning's service into perspective
Although he is comfortable and at ease in front of audiences, Gen. Manning and his wife Rochelle were genuinely touched by the outpouring of appreciation and praise. Guests included Idaho lawmakers, Idaho’s lieutenant governor, the director of the Ada County Highway District, the Idaho division of the Federal Highway Administration and all levels of ITD employees. They came for one purpose – to honor the retiring board chairman.
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Highway safety
Encore (1-20-12): Idaho motor vehicle fatalities fall dramatically
Idaho leads the nation with a 31 percent reduction in traffic fatalities over the past two years, ITD and the Idaho State Police announced this week. While fewer people died in traffic crashes in Idaho in 2011 than in any year since 1956, the state’s safety leaders remain concerned that any loss of life is unacceptable.
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Human Resources
Encore (1-20-12): Three HR programs catch national attention
It came as a request for more information about ITD’s Wounded Warrior program and turned into an invitation to submit an abstract of the project for the National Transportation Workforce Summit April 24-26 in Washington, D.C.
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Financial audit
Encore (1-20-12): Legislative audit of ITD finds no deficiencies
The Legislative Audits Division recently concluded an annual financial audit of ITD and issued a clean bill of health. The audit resulted in no findings, indicating there were no significant issues found that require attention. Don H. Berg, manager of legislative audits submitted the management report to ITD Director Brian Ness in late December.
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Highway safety
Encore (1-20-12): ITD bids farewell to Susan Mulkey
Collecting highway safety data looked far different in 1995 than today. That’s when Susan Mulkey, crash data supervisor, began working for ITD’s Office of Highway Safety and all motor vehicle crash reports were mailed to the department Last week, colleagues gathered to wish her well as she headed off into retirement.
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Highways
Encore (1-20-12): Shoshone North project ready to leave starting gate
An eight-mile reconstruction project of Idaho 75 north of Shoshone has passed environmental clearances and is expected to begin this year, ending a period of delays. The project stalled for more than a year while waiting for an environmental re-evaluation and preparation of a mitigation site.
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