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Board tours to districts begins next week in Lewiston

The Idaho Transportation Board will begin its annual visits to districts Tuesday and Wednesday (April 19, 20) with a tour in Latah County and a business meeting in Lewiston.

Tuesday’s schedule includes a stop at the U.S. 95, Moscow Mountain passing lane project to view a new animal detection system. In Moscow, the board will meet with city officials and travel the proposed White Place to South Fork Palouse River Bridge project. After stopping at the Bovill maintenance shed, the board will meet with city officials to review the city’s enhancement project. Upon returning to Lewiston, the board will meet with city of Lewiston officials to review their enhancement projects on the Snake River Avenue Corridor.

National Summer Transportation Institute Projects
Idaho received Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) FY11 On-the Job-Training/Supportive Services discretionary funds for an educational program based at the University of Idaho in Moscow.

The UI was awarded $64,500 for the College of Engineering’s summer experience for high school students. The institute has been offering students a college-level introduction of the engineering design process, engineering science and mathematics, team building, leadership skills and computer programming for the past 44 years. Participants work in small teams to design, build and test their projects. They also research a topic related to their discipline in preparation for presentation at the Engineering Design Fair.

Northwest Nazarene University received $35,805 to fund an 11-day summer camp to deliver professional and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) based skills and activities to incoming seventh graders.

The camp will focus on a targeted population of young people who might not otherwise consider careers in the transportation sector because of pre-existing barriers. The camp will introduce a “pipeline” program to expand the number of girls, minorities and disadvantaged youth who participate in early skill development as possible preparation for careers involving science, math, and engineering.

The board will be asked on Wednesday to add both educational projects to the Capital Investment Program.

LHTAC Technology Transfer Study in Western States
The Local Highway Technical Assistance Council will seek board approval to add its Technology Transfer Study in Western States to the Capital Investment Program.

The council is charged with the “effective and efficient administration of transportation knowledge and funds” to local agencies and stakeholders. As a part of that charge, LHTAC will propose the referenced study, which will survey how other western states administer local federal-aid programs; survey how other states’ standards and policies for local roads compare to state highways; and develop recommendations for streamlining processes and ensuring consistent standards and policies in Idaho.

ITD staff members will be part of the group that will prepare the recommendations.

The $120,000 study is funded through savings from LHTAC’s Computer Networking project.