Message Monday - June 29, 2015 - Orange Cones = No Phones

June 29, 2015

As we cruise into summer, the number of work zones is at its peak on Iowa’s roadways. To plan ahead for your July 4th weekend and other summer travel, check out the DOT’s 2015 major construction project website to provide motorists information on major construction projects that may impact travel.

The site, http://www.iowadot.gov/roadconstruction/2015Projects/index.html, includes an interactive map containing the 47 highway or bridge projects across Iowa that have the potential to cause a major impact to the traveling public. It provides detailed information about each project, including the project location, description, start date, completion date, contracted cost, and more, updated weekly. The map does not contain all Iowa DOT projects that are happening this construction season.

New Q&A series works to promote customer engagement

June 25, 2015

Transportation is a broad and complicated topic. It makes sense that the public would have a wide range of questions they might like to ask the Iowa Department of Transportation. In an effort to foster a transparent culture and encourage interaction with our customers, the Iowa DOT wanted to find a way to allow the public to ask questions on a consistent basis. This Friday, we will begin promoting a new question and answer series on our blog titled “Thursday 3 with the Iowa DOT.”

Personnel updates for June 5 to June 18, 2015

June 25, 2015

Information provided by the Office of Employee Services

Message Monday - June 22, 2015 - Good drivers have shifty eyes

June 22, 2015

There is a definite safety advantage for a driver who is scanning the surroundings compared to a driver looking down at a phone. A good driver will constantly look at the road in front, be aware of who is behind, notice a car that could be coming into your blind spot to the left or the crazy driver on the right.

In residential areas and at stop signs, it’s actually a good idea to make eye contact with the driver at the opposing stop sign or the pedestrian crossing the street. Good drivers know their surroundings.

Increasing transportation options for north Iowa workers

June 18, 2015

How do you get where you need to go? Sometimes we take for granted the ability to just hop in the car and get from point A to point B.  For those who have transportation challenges, the Iowa Department of Transportation is working to make more options available.

According to the Iowa Economic Development’s website, Iowa’s $27.6 billion advanced manufacturing industry is the state’s single largest business sector with three times the revenue of agriculture. Many of these manufacturing facilities are located in less populated areas, making the search for employees a challenge. In north central Iowa, the Region 2 Transit System partners with area manufacturing plants to provide reliable transportation for employees to and from the workplace.

New video explains transportation asset management

June 16, 2015

Analyzing and understanding the condition of the transportation system, including how best to manage repairs and where to make updates is a huge undertaking. As you’ve read in previous blog posts, transportation asset management is all about providing the right treatment to the right asset at the right time. Asset management is a new way of making decisions for the Iowa Department of Transportation and can be a complicated concept to grasp. 

The team working to develop the transportation asset management plan has created a video to help customers and other transportation stakeholders better understand the concept of transportation asset management.  It is the first in a series planned to explain how the Iowa DOT looks at investments in the system.