Untitled Document

September 2009 highlights

Gov. Otter to lead Twin Falls groundbreaking
Governor C.L. "Butch" Otter led a groundbreaking ceremony to formally begin construction of the Twin Falls Alternate Route Stage 2. The $26.6 million project will create jobs, stimulate economic activity, improve motorist safety and reduce congestion through Twin Falls.

The project is funded with federal stimulus money and is estimated to sustain or create approximately 500 jobs.

Joining the governor were Idaho Senate Transportation Committee Chairman John McGee, Rep. Leon Smith, Twin Falls Mayor Lance Clow and Glanbia Inc., President and CEO Jeff Williams.

The project will reduce congestion, speed commerce and improve local shopping opportunities by providing a bypass for motorists and commercial traffic traveling past Twin Falls.

ITD's Kacie McDonald and horse add spark to BSU home games
Kacie McDonald hoped to give her horse Kade a pretty good workout in the arena last weekend. But it wasn't your typical equestrian event in front of judges and an equine-savvy audience or rodeo fans.

The crowd included some 30,000 fans whose focus on football was interrupted every time the Boise State Broncos scored a touchdown or field goal in their non-conference match up with Miami University of Ohio.

The more the Broncos score, the harder the workout for Kacie and Kade, a 12-year-old registered Quarter horse. Together they lead the Broncos onto the football field before each home game and circle the track after each score. The black gelding didn’t have much of a chance to break a sweat in his first outing of the year when BSU beat the University of Oregon 19-8.

That changed Saturday when the tandem ushered the Broncos into the stadium and then encircled the fabled blue turf seven times following touchdowns in BSU’s 48-0 nonconference shutout of the Red Hawks.

ITD announces $8.6 million budget reduction
ITD announced today an $8.6 million holdback of its FY2010 budget based on revenue that is not meeting projections made this spring. The holdback is part of the department’s annual budget request due Sept. 1 of each year.

The Idaho Legislature appropriated $251 million in state funds to the department before it adjourned in May. ITD administrators, however, indicate current funding sources are about $242.4 million. That represents a shortfall of 3.4 percent, said ITD Acting Director Scott Stokes.

Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter this morning (Sept. 25) directed all state General Fund agencies to reduce their current budgets to offset declining revenue. He called for “tiered spending holdbacks based on the nature of each agency’s mission” because income and sales tax revenue to the state’s General Fund is significantly lower than anticipated.

Although ITD is not a General Fund agency and derives most of its revenue from federal and state fuel tax receipts and vehicle registration fees, the department is not immune to declining revenue, Stokes explains.

Three major grants will enhance state's safety efforts
ITD’s Office of Highway Operations and Safety recently landed three grants from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) totaling more than $1.5 million for Idaho’s highway safety activities.

OHOS was awarded $500,000 under the Section 408 State Traffic Safety Information System Improvement Grant Program. The money will be used to improve the traffic records systems so that other program and project decisions can be made based on accurate and complete data.
The grant application process requires detailed documentation on current projects to improve traffic data that involve not just traffic crashes, but also vehicles, drivers, injury, adjudication, and infrastructure.

NHTSA also awarded ITD $100,000 to support efforts to reduce deaths and serious injuries related to motorcycles. The funds can be used to fund motorcycle safety education programs and motorcycle awareness programs. Awards were made to states that implement effective programs to reduce the number of crashes involving motorcyclists.