September 17, 2010

Highways
Report shows system performance slipping
A report released recently by the Reason Foundation puts into quantitative form what ITD administrative leaders have emphasized the past few years – without an infusion of additional state and federal funds, the quality of Idaho’s roads will suffer. The Reason Foundation publishes an annual report about the performance of state highway systems based on a complex set of criteria. The annual study measures the condition and cost effectiveness of state-owned roads in 11 categories, including deficient bridges, urban traffic congestion, fatality rates, pavement condition on urban and rural interstates and other factors.
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Small group honored for big cleanups
When Susan and Ron Green and their friends decided to make a visual impact on their community, they could have chosen a lot of highway segments to clean… segments that were far less challenging than Idaho Highway 75 between mileposts 121 and 123. But they were not deterred. Not by its proximity to the landfill and its propensity for collecting garbage. Not by the stuff intended for the landfill that never quite made it, that blows off or falls off of trucks and trailers.

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I-84 improvements - one slab at a time
Work should finish late this month on an Interstate 84 repair job west of Caldwell. Crews are working in a 5.5-mile westbound stretch from Black Canyon to Sand Hollow. These photos show concrete slab removal in the eastbound lanes.
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Highway safety
Allstate says Boise-area drivers third-best in nation
The next time you see cars parked on the interstate after a rear-end collision in the Treasure Valley or vehicles entwined at an intersection you can take comfort that it doesn’t happen more often. In fact, only two other medium-sized cities in the U.S. have better drivers than those in the Boise area. Allstate Insurance Co. – those people with the good hands -- rank Boise drivers third-best among 200 cities.
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Public transportation
Subcommittee identifies five priorities
The Public Transportation Subcommittee of the Governor's Transportation Taskforce made its recommendations for funding options to support Idaho's public transportation needs on Aug. 30. After its July meeting, the subcommittee ranked the proposed funding mechanisms that would help meet the cost estimates for public transportation needs in Idaho.
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Encore
September 10, 2010

Public affairs

Three-day national workshop planned in Boise
Public information officers representing transportation departments throughout the country will converge in Boise next week for their annual conference. The National Transportation Public Affairs Workshop (NTPAW) opens with registration and a reception Wednesday and shifts into high gear for three days of formal presentations, workshops and roundtable discussions, beginning Thursday.
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Highways
50th annual asphalt conference planned in October
Nearly 150 attendees are expected to converge on Moscow Oct. 27-28 for the 50th Idaho Asphalt Conference, including two dozen ITD representatives. Mike Santi, ITD’s assistant materials engineer and a member of the organizing committee, said the speakers for this year’s conference include the president of the Asphalt Institute and several FHWA leaders.
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Administrative workshop
Donations needed for annual assembly
Final plans are under way for the 22nd annual Administrative Workshop to be held Oct. 13 at the Nazareth Center in Boise. The event brings administrative assistants from ITD offices throughout the state to Boise for a full day of professional development presentations and networking. Judy Rogers and Lisa West are this year’s workshop directors.

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Highway safety
Fair demonstration drives home need for seat belt use
More than 1,200 broken eggs helped make a point to Western Idaho Fair goers that people should always be properly restrained when traveling in a motor vehicle. A seat belt demonstration used chicken eggs and a Barbie car to demonstrate what happens to restrained and unrestrained motor vehicle occupants during a 35 mph crash.
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Technology
Advisory issued on malicious e-mail
The ITD Service Desk reports a malicious e-mail with a link to a malicious file has been targeting government and businesses. The e-mail subject line may contain "Here You Have" and "Just For You."  The sender appears under a variety of identifiers. The spam contains a link to a document; the link looks like it is to a PDF, but is, in fact, to an “SCR” file (supposedly a screen saver) and served from a different domain from where the link appears to point.
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Craft bazaar
DoRolCo accepting table reservations for Oct. 15 event
Reservations are being accepted for the annual DoRolCo fall craft bazaar in the Headquarters lobby, Oct. 15. The bazaar will be from 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. The cost to reserve as table (one table per person) is $10. Tables are available on a first-come, first-reserve basis. A limited number of tables will be available.
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Fitness
ITD, ISP to form joint 'Road Angels' team for annual event
The Idaho State Police and ITD will combine to form the Road Angels team as part of the St. Lukes Women’s Celebration 5K run, walk and stroll in downtown Boise, Sept. 25. The fitness celebration theme is “Feel the Joy Rising. Runners and walkers are divided and will be assigned specific start times according to ability. The “red” and “yellow” waves are timed, competitive waves. The red wave is a timed, competitive run; participants should sign up in this wave if they want to do a combination of both running and walking.
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