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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

July 3, 2009




The Idaho Transportation Board and ITD's Executive Management hope you have a relaxing, happy Fourth of July holiday. If your extended weekend calls for travel on our highways, please drive carefully, make sure your seat belt is buckled and leave the driving to non-drinkers.


Holiday traffic
Highway construction to take a break; help offered on Idaho 55
All ITD highway construction projects statewide that impact traffic will be suspended for this weekend’s Fourth of July holiday weekend, except in special circumstances. In many cases, work will resume Monday (July 6). Motorists whose Fourth of July weekend plans includes travel on Idaho State Highway 55, likely will experience congestion and delays between the Banks-oman Junction and Boise.
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Aeronautics
S
tudents learn aviation from the ground up
Youths from throughout Idaho and one from Singapore had an opportunity to explore aviation from the ground up… and from the clouds down this week during the annual Aviation Career Exploration (ACE) Academy in Boise.

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Motor vehicles
July 1 brings changes in car registration, title documentation
Changes that became effective Wednesday (July 1) in the registration and titling of motor vehicles are expected to improve customer convenience, law enforcement efforts and record keeping. Beginning Wednesday, individuals registering a motor vehicle in Idaho or seeking a vehicle title will need to provide a full legal name, along with either a driver's license number or Idaho-issued identification card. A verifiable physical address and mailing addresses also will be required.
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Youth labor
Stimulus funds provide jobs, help for D-1

District 1 is reaping unexpected benefits from a summer youth employment program sponsored by the Idaho Department of Labor.  The program was made possible through the federal stimulus money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
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Renovation
New HVAC system will limit videoconferencing
It could prove to be a long, hot summer for ITD employees in Coeur d’Alene. District 1 Business Manager Scotty Fellom announced this week a major renovation will begin Tuesday on the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system at the Coeur d’Alene office. Installation of new equipment will displace many workers, on a rotating basis.
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Highway safety
Law enforcement patrolling for impaired drivers
Law enforcement agencies throughout Idaho will participate in a statewide effort to catch and arrest impaired drivers through July 12. State, county and local law enforcement agencies will be participating in Fourth of July holiday mobilization patrols that are funded through a federal grant. Last year, drunk drivers killed 96 people in Idaho. Another 285 people were critically injured.
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Technology
ITD begins trial use of Twitter
The emerging world of social media is opening new opportunities for government agencies to send important information directly and efficiently to the public. For ITD, notices of road closures, lane restrictions and construction zones are at the forefront of its decision to launch a pilot program using Twitter, the social networking and messaging medium that sends and receives instant 140-character messages via the Twitter Web site or by way of web-capable cellular phones. 
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Preparedness
Emergency kit should contain adequate water

Have you ever experienced the inconvenience of having the water shut off to your home for repairs? People all over the United States are quite used to walking up to a faucet, turning a knob and getting clean water. This convenience is often taken for granted. A large-scale earthquake, flood or chemical incident could shutdown the municipal water system for days.
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ITD Mailbox
• Ten Mile Interchange project will benefit community, state
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News to Share

Idaho's best-kept secret? Not anymore
Johnson Creek airstrip is a bit out of the way for most folks. It's located in Idaho's remote forest east of Cascade. You can get there by car... if you don't mind the long trip. Or you can drop in by airplane, as many chose to do during a recent fly-in. Planes line both sides of the scenic airstrip -- last head count for the event was 119. So much for calling it a "hidden" gem.

Spokesmen for safety

The deaths of three bicycle ricers in vehicle crashes during a two-week span prompted a coalition of Treasure Valley and a cable television provider to produce a safety video. The focus of the television public service announcement is to share the road safely.
 
ITD’s Kip Burden, a construction inspector for District 3 and a prominent competitive rider is among the individuals who provided a vignette for the video. The PSA also features Idaho Olympic Gold Medalist Kristin Armstrong.
 
To watch the PSA, click here.

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


Published previously

Governor Otter
Governor announces members of transportation task force
Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter Tuesday named a 15-member task force of legislators and private individuals – led by Lieutenant Governor Brad Little – to consider how best to modernize the user-pay fee system for financing maintenance and improvements to Idaho’s roads and bridges. The announcement came as the governor helped break ground on the $33.8 million, GARVEE-funded Ten Mile Interchange on Interstate 84 in Meridian.

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Highways
Governor, dignitaries break ground for new interchange
Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter joined business and government leaders and citizens this afternoon to formally launch a construction project that will create more than 600 jobs and add a new gateway into Meridian. More than 200 people participated in a groundbreaking ceremony that signals the beginning of construction on the new Ten Mile Interchange over Interstate 84. Targeted for completion in 2011, the interchange will be the first new built in the Treasure Valley since 2006.
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Bids opened for two eastern Idaho stimulus projects
Knife River Construction Inc., of Boise, is the apparent low bidder on the Interstate 86, Chubbuck Interchange to Pocatello Creek Interchange project that will add a 3.4-mile auxiliary lane and reduce morning and evening congestion on the heavily traveled commuter route. The apparent low bid was $8 million. The project was estimated to cost $11 million.
HK Contractors Inc., of Idaho Falls, is the apparent low bidder to widen Idaho 48 to three lanes, add a right-turn bay to the high school entrance, include a bike lane on both sides of the street and install curb, gutter and sidewalk along the busy route in Rigby.
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Girls State
High school views transportation from new perspective
“Chemistry and archaeology were some of the last things I expected!” exclaimed Destiny McCoy after recently spending most of the day visiting ITD. Communication specialist June Sparks accompanied McCoy as part of Syringa Girls Day, an annual event where high school girls are assigned to businesses and government agencies where they explore career possibilities.
 

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Education
Women engineers explain passion for profession
It seems the recipe for making good asphalt works just as well for tasty cookies, with a few substitutions. ITD engineers Monica Crider and Jayme Coonce demonstrated how asphalt is made by helping young women, grades 9-10, make cookies during the fifth annual e-Girls workshop recently at Boise State University.


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Safe Routes to School
Training encourages 'non-infrastructure' projects
Representatives from schools and communities across Idaho attended the Safe Routes to School (SR2S) workshop and ribbon cutting in Ketchum last month to learn about successful projects under way in Idaho and across the nation. Their intent was to create similar community-based programs that promote walking and biking to school. Teachers, city officials, law enforcement and public works attended the training.

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Employees
Team created to develop new employee orientation program
One of the focus areas of the ITD’s 2009 Strategic Plan is to enhance the investment in our employees.  A key area of employee satisfaction is based on how new employees are integrated into the organization.  As a result, a New Employee Orientation Team has been formed to design a program that will more effectively orient new employees into an organization that welcomes them, helps them feel valued, and assist them in navigating the workplace and its culture.
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