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Idaho Transportation
Department

Office of Communications
P.O. Box 7129
Boise, ID 83707
208.334.8005
Fax: 208.334.8563
E-mail

March 20, 2009

JFAC orders 3 percent across-the-board salary reductions
In response to the continuing economic recession, the Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee (JFAC) today voted 14-5 to reduce the salaries of all state workers by 3 percent, effective July 1, and ordered state agencies to reduce other personnel costs by 2 percent.
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Executive order

Gov. Otter outlines plans for audit compliance

Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter issued an executive order late Wednesday detailing how the Idaho Transportation Department will comply over the next three years with the major findings of a recent audit of its operations by the Legislature’s Office of Performance Evaluations.


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Governor’s Executive Order


Highways
Data collection van to help pavement management

ITD rolled out a new tool Thursday that will significantly enhance its ability to monitor highway conditions and target pavement management improvements. A data collection van, unveiled for members of the Idaho Transportation Board during their monthly meeting in Boise, uses the latest technology to record and process data from Idaho’s 5,000 centerline miles of highway.

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Aeronautics
ITD pilots fly nation's chief justice to Moscow

Pilots from ITD’s Division of Aeronautics often are called on to shuttle state officials throughout Idaho, but a trip last week involved transporting the nation’s top legal official from the Treasure Valley to the Palouse. Chief Justice of the United States John G. Roberts Jr. presented the University of Idaho’s 13th annual Sherman J. Bellwood Memorial Lecture March 13 at the U of I’s Student Union Building Ballroom.

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Project Development
Array of breakout sessions, presentations on April 7, 8 schedule
Highway officials representing a range of professional disciplines will have access o the latest in research and highway design practices when they attend the bi-annual ITD Project Development Conference at the Boise Centre on the Grove in Boise. Practical Solutions for Transportation Systems includes four plenary sessions and a formal banquet address the first day and more than 30 breakout discussions, organized in four tracks, on the second day.
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Engineers in Training
Participants to discuss projects at April 6 conference

Nearly a dozen Engineers in Training from throughout the state will discuss their professional experiences of the past year when they assemble for the annual EIT conference April 6 in Boise. The program begins with a message by ITD Chief Engineer Tom Cole and will include formal welcomes by Bryant Young and Mike McKee. EIT coordinator Matt Farrar, who also is the state bridge engineer, will follow with a presentation and then turn the program over to EIT participants who will discuss their projects.
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Traveler Services
Use of system grows by nearly 40 percent in 2008-09
Idaho residents statewide used the 511 Traveler Information Service nearly 40 percent more the past winter driving season than ever before.  More than 2.1 million 511 system inquiries were recorded – the system includes high- and low-bandwidth Web capabilities, and a phone system. New this year is a mobile Web site for Internet-enabled cell phones.

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Employees
HQ employees honored for service milestones

Idaho Transportation Board member Bruce Sweeney thanked employees Thursday for their continuing service and congratulated those who reached employment milestones. He was unable to attend the semi-annual employee service awards ceremony, held in conjunction with the monthly board meeting, but used video conferencing technology to address an overflow crowd at the Headquarters auditorium.
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Published previously

Technology
New program helps streamline technology help
ITD employees have a new, Web-based option for submitting requests for technical assistance to the department’s IT service center. Enterprise Technology Services began using “HelpStar,” a Web-based system, last year to document and process requests to the IT service center at Headquarters. The application is available to employees who want to send or follow up on requests directly to the service center by using a Web interface, rather than calling or using e-mail.

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Highways
District 4 preparing for transition to spring work
The biggest storm to hit south-central Idaho came in the last week of December. But since the beginning of the year there have been only a couple short road closures. Winter has been a little more sparse this year more than others making the regular snow-related duties a little less common and on a few occasions leaving ITD crews looking for a few jobs to keep busy

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High visibility clothes also help during daylight hours
Sometimes a photo can show vividly what words cannot portray, such as the need for high-visibility clothing when working on Idaho highways. A recent crash on Interstate 15 north of Idaho Falls is such example. Emergency responders who arrived at the scene of a crash involving a semi truck and an ITD snowplow were not wearing high-visibility jackets or vests
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Life beyond work
Employees reflect on rewards of volunteering
for 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games


Millie Miles

Millie Miles, an automated system manager for ITD’s Division of Highways, joined a number of colleagues recently to help Idaho welcome the world for the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games. Like many volunteers, Miles’ contributions and rewards came in a variety of venues.

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Andrew White
ITD Senior Right of Way Agent Andrew White assisted with staging of alpine skiing events at the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games in Idaho. His assignment was with the Alpine Ski Racing venue at Bogus Basin Ski Area near Boise. Alpine racing consisted of three disciplines – Super G, Giant Slalom and Slalom.

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News to Share

No backward deed goes unrewarded
Referred by District 5
Troy Despain, a District 5 maintenance worker, usually focuses his attention on the road ahead. He works on the district’s striping crew in the summer and plows snow with the Blackfoot maintenance crew in the winter. When it comes to driving backward, though, he’s no Mater (the free-wheeling tow truck featured in the movie “Cars.”)


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Please share information about your accomplishments or those of your colleagues with the ITD community. Send contributions to the e-mail link above.

Views to Share

Do you have a question related to ITD processes, policies or projects? Has something been puzzling you about why we do what we do? Share your questions using the e-mail link above and let us find the answers.