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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 27, 2009

Legislature
JFAC approves ITD's budget, authorizes bond
The Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee Wednesday approved ITD’s Fiscal Year 2010 funding request, authorized the sale of additional GARVEE (Grant Anticipation Revenue Vehicle) bonds and approved a supplemental budget that clears the way for using federal stimulus funds. JFAC is responsible for setting the budgets of state agencies and forwarding the requests to the full House and Senate.

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Efficiencies
Practical Design savings estimated to exceed $70 million by 2012

Savings achieved through implementation of a new highway design standard by the Idaho Transportation Department are nearly five times greater than initially expected, reaching $27.2 million in just the first year of the program, ITD announced. Adoption of the Practical Design management approach initially was expected to produce savings of about $5.6 million in state fiscal year 2008, explains ITD Director Pamela Lowe. That projection was revised to $18.4 million in December.
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Board
Board approves participation in career/job fairs

ITD joins a number of other public organizations in applying for discretionary funding from the Federal Highway Administration for On the Job Training/Supportive Services Program activities. Partners include the Idaho Department of Labor, the U.S. Department of Labor – Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training, local school districts, the Associated General Contractors, FHWA, and other agencies and groups.
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Organ donors
ITD to participate in organ donor ceremony Wednesday
In the midst of tragedy, Jake Calton-Hughes gave life. Jake, age 16, died in 2006 from an automobile accident. But because he was one of the 60 percent of Idahoans who decided to donate their organs, he saved four people’s lives and restored sight to two others.
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Stimulus funding
Funds will address infrastructure needs, but falls short

From TRIP
The Road Information Program

The approval of the federal stimulus package will provide a welcome down payment toward meeting Idaho’s funding shortfall for projects to address the deficiencies on its roads, highways and bridges, but will not be adequate to allow the rapidly growing state to proceed with numerous projects needed to modernize its surface transportation system and allow for long- term economic development.
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Design
National authority to talk about context sensitive design
Anne Canby, a national authority on the use of context sensitive design will be among the speakers featured at ITD’s bi-annual Project Development Conference April 7, 8 in Boise. She also will give a presentation as part of an education series sponsored by the Community Planning Association of Southwest Idaho (COMPASS) Wednesday, April 8 at the ITD Headquarters auditorium.
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Highways

Jim Cherry praised for quick response on I-84

An Idaho driver recently contacted the governor’s office commending the quick response ITD’s Jim Cherry, literally describing him as a lifesaver on Interstate 84. Cherry, who operates one of the Incident Response trucks in District 3, assisted Katie Omado after the car she was driving hit debris on the highway.

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Employees
State to begin direct deposit of employee pay

As a cost-savings initiative, the State Controller’s Office expects to implement a new policy that requires direct deposit of paychecks for all state employees, effective this July. State Controller Donna M. Jones announced the new policy earlier this month after informing the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee of its intent in January.
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Document security

Free shredding event planned at Headquarters

What should you do with five-year old bank and credit card statements and tax return documents? Reports from your stock broker? Correspondence with your attorney? Shred it. Even if you don’t have an industrial-strength shredder, you can safely and securely dispose of personal records at a free event April 18 in the ITD Headquarters parking lot.
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News to Share

Spring weather brings out plows

In Idaho’s warmer climates, where spring weather and the first day of spring are sometimes closely related, farmers are busy plowing their fields to prepare them for seeding. Many ITD maintenance crews are engaged in another rite of spring, brooming highway shoulders and repairing potholes.

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Please share information about your accomplishments or those of your colleagues with the ITD community. Send contributions to the The Transporter.

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.


Published previously

Legislature

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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