9/7/2012

Highway history
New historic marker memorializes Idaho POW camp
Minidoka County Historical Society President Gus Bryngelson told a story that, upon arriving at the World War II prisoner of war Camp Rupert, the first groups of Germans were told by guards that if they tried to escape north across the desert toward the railroad that a band of Indians were camped out ready to take their scalps.
Continue

Highway safety
Idaho earns national motorcycle safety award
Idaho received the 2012 Outstanding State Award from the National Association of State Motorcycle Safety Administrators (SMSA) for its efforts to promote motorcycle safety. The award recognizes a state’s comprehensive motorcycle safety program that has “implemented strategies that are successful, effective and can be measured, evaluated and serve best practices.”
Continue

Preparedness
Best way to cope with disaster is to prepare for it
Disasters happen, and the best way to cope with the unexpected is to plan for it. ITD Emergency Program Manager Bryan Smith encourages employees to prepare home kits to survive without conventional services, such as food, water, electricity and transportation for an extended period.
Continue

Preparedness
Don't wait until disaster hits to develop a plan
2011 was a historic year for natural disasters nationwide. Twelve different weather-related disasters in the United States caused more than $1 billion in damage each. This broke the record of nine $1 billion disasters set in 2008, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Continue

Highways
Progress report: Extension of Idaho 16
Work began early this summer on the first phase of extending Idaho 16 – a project that is expected to be completed in August 2014. The first phase will connect State Street to Chinden Boulevard and construct a new 1,700-foot bridge over the Boise River. Long-range plans include an extension of the highway that will tie in with Interstate 84 between Meridian and Nampa, although funding has not been secured yet.
Continue

Planning
ITD looks for input about replacing heavily used Boise bridge
Meetings with businesses and organizations will start this week to receive input on ITD's plan to replace the 55-year-old Broadway Bridge that spans the Boise River in Boise. Potential improvements to the area include replacing the aging bridge, widening Broadway between Myrtle Street and University Avenue, and repaving Broadway Avenue between University Avenue and Front Street.
Continue

Highway safety
Grants available to support distracted driving laws
This past legislative session, Idaho joined many other states in the nation by passing a law that prohibits texting (a form of distracted driving) while operating a motor vehicle. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recently announced a new grant program that will provide approximately $17.5 million to states that have laws banning distracted driving in fiscal year (FY) 2013.
Continue

Charity walk
Pair journey cross-country to aid orphanage
KBOI-TV — This is 33-year-old Steven Wescott and his goat, LeeRoy. The duo are tackling a cross-country trip to raise money for an orphanage being built in Kenya by his best friend. "I had planned to do it in nine months, but a goat is not a Ferrari, it's more like a school bus, lots of stops, really slow," Wescott said.
Continue

Highway safety
Back to school? Check teen's cars for road worthiness
New jeans, new shoes, new tires? Families spend more than $600 on back-to-school supplies, but how much do they spend on their teen’s driver safety? A new school year is an exciting time for teens. It means new clothes, new school supplies, a new schedule of classes; it’s a great new start!
Continue

Fire lookout
Agency creates signs to warn I-84 motorists of fire danger
Careless people flicking a burning cigarette butt out the window, flaming bits of rubber from flat tires, ignitions from target-shooting and sparks from railroad cars have ignited more than 135 human-caused range fires in southern Idaho so far in the summer of 2012, leading to the destruction of more than 35,000 acres of rangeland habitat.
Continue

Education outreach
Encore (8-31-12): ISU students see real-world application of engineering lessons
It got up close and real for Idaho State University engineering students when they toured ITD Headquarters’ laboratories and watched how concepts learned in classrooms solve everyday transportation engineering challenges. Four graduate and four undergraduate students along with instructors traveled to Boise recently for a tour of Headquarters and District 3 facilities.
Continue

Drive to be the Best
Encore (8-31-12): ITD bridge management highlighted in USDOT publication
The U.S. Department of Transportation acknowledged ITD’s new bridge management program to be one of the best in the country in Focus Magazine, its quarterly publication that accelerates infrastructure innovations. Focus pointed to the improvement of ITD’s bridge program, along with those in Michigan and Virginia as being among the most innovative.
Continue

Yes! Idaho
Encore (8-31-12): Idaho honored for participation level in donor program
Idaho, with major support from ITD and its Division of Motor Vehicles, was honored this year for its level of participation in a national organ, tissue and eye donor program. Because of that participation, Idaho became one of 10 states nationwide to receive a gold medal for helping Idahoans to become donors.
Continue

Highway safety
Encore (8-31-12): Boise drivers ranked second nationally by Allstate
Boise drivers are a little safer on the highway than they were last year, but there isn’t much room for more improvement, at least in rankings by a national insurance company. Based on population and the frequency of crashes, Boise drivers can expect to travel nearly 14 years without having an accident, suggests a report issued this week by Allstate Insurance.
Continue

Road rescue
Encore (8-31-12): Incident response comes to aid of wayward traveler
When we first saw Vinnie, Jim Cherry of District 3’s Incident Response unit was plucking him off the freeway in early June just outside of Boise. A motorist called ITD that morning to say Vinnie had “fallen” out of a car that was traveling Interstate 84.
Continue