April board meeting will focus on
youthful drivers,
funding for public transportation providers,
and a tour of the US-12 corridor

The Idaho Transportation Board meeting in Lewiston next week will feature a visit to the Highway Safety Summit, a review of potential public transportation funding initiatives for local providers, and a tour of the US-12 corridor.

Public Transportation projects
The board will start its annual visits to the districts this month. It will attend the Highway Safety Summit in Lewiston on April 16 and the morning of April 17, before conducting its business meeting that afternoon, and touring the district April 18.

At its business meeting, the board will be asked to approve public transportation projects. Almost $5 million is available in one-time federal funds, with a local match requirement. Because staff is not recommending utilizing all of the available funds at this time, the remaining funds will move forward to the next application cycle.

Staff will ask the board to fund purchase of a vehicle for the Parma Senior Center, marketing to promote ridership for Selkirk Pend Oreille Transit, renovations to McCall’s maintenance facility, purchase of two vehicles to expand Shoshone-Bannock’s services, and construction of a maintenance shop for Minidoka Memorial Hospital.

Highway Safety
Youthful drivers will be highlighted at the meeting. Drivers between the ages of 15 and 19 continue to be overrepresented in motor-vehicle crashes. In 217, youthful drivers were 2.3 times as likely as all other drivers to be involved in a fatal or injury crash. There were 31 people killed in crashes in Idaho involving youthful drivers in 2017.

This year’s Highway Safety Summit includes a session dedicated to youthful drivers. This will be extended to the board meeting, where youth from the Lewiston area will talk about what they did at the Summit’s session.

The Office of Highway Safety is also partnering with KTVB (Boise television station) to do a statewide video contest for high school students. The Shift-themed videos they create will be voted on by the public, and the winning video will be shown all summer as part of the 100 deadliest days campaign.

Clearwater County will also be recognized for recording zero highway fatalities in 2018. In addition to the county sheriff and commissioners,the Idaho State Police and ITD's Orofino Maintenance crew will also be recognized for their efforts and dedication to highway safety.

Tour
The tour on April 18 will focus on the US-12 corridor. While traveling the route from Lewiston to Lolo Pass at the Montana border, the group will make several stops. It will view the Reach-All truck at the Kooskia Bridge, tour the Pete King Road Weather Information system, and visit the Powell maintenance facility.

Published 04-12-19