Message Monday - Friends don't text friends who are driving

January 30, 2017

Love it or hate it, we live in a 24/7 connected world because of our phones. Because we’re used to being in constant contact, not responding quickly to a text can be seen as a social snub, when in reality, it could just be that someone is practicing safe habits by waiting to respond until they are out of the driver’s seat.

You know you shouldn’t be texting while you’re driving, but how often do you think about what someone else might be doing as you’re are texting them?

Personnel Updates for Dec. 30, 2016 – Jan. 12, 2017

January 23, 2017

Information provided by the Office of Employee Services

Message Monday - crashes are not accidents

January 23, 2017

Crash. Accident. These two words mean the same thing, right? Not necessarily. The word “accident” gives the impression that whatever happened was unavoidable. In every crash, there is a cause, and overwhelmingly that cause can be traced back to the behavior of a driver - a whopping 94 percent of the time according to a recent study.  The word “crash” removes the idea that these types of incidents are unavoidable.

Iowa in Motion 2045 - Data analysis is in line with public comments on long-range planning

January 20, 2017

As 2017 kicks off, the Iowa Transportation Commission and Iowa Department of Transportation staff are moving into the final phase of the draft long-range transportation plan: Iowa in Motion 2045. Overall, there have been very few surprises in the data analysis and public input segments related to the planning effort.

“That’s a good thing,” said Garrett Pedersen, with the Iowa DOT’s Office of Systems Planning. “The public’s expectations and the data collected on the needs of our transportation system are matching up with the ideas the Iowa Transportation Commission and Iowa DOT staff are formulating into a plan.”

Iowa DOT to introduce new wellness calendar

January 19, 2017

As employees of the Iowa Department of Transportation, we’ve all been through training dealing with safety both on and off the job, but do we also know what it means to be well?

This month Iowa DOT employees will see a change to the annual safety calendar from a pure safety focus to a publication dedicated to employee wellness.

So what exactly is wellness? Wellness is a mix of physical, emotional, mental, financial, and environmental wellbeing.

Since the introduction of the Iowa Department of Transportation University (DOTU), the Iowa DOT Health and Safety Team decided safety information and training would be best utilized in DOTU online courses instead of a calendar. This shift opened up an opportunity to highlight wellness on the calendar.

Message Monday- Drinking & Driving is like Pop Rocks & cola

January 16, 2017

There are some things that just don’t go together. At one time, a popular urban legend was that if you eat pop rocks candy and then drink cola, you would die. According to the legend, the combination had proven lethal to poor Mikey, the spokeskid for Life cereal.

While we now know combining pop rocks and cola won’t kill you, there is a mountain of data that shows combining alcohol and then driving just might. Of the 403 deaths on Iowa’s roadways last year, more than 30 percent involved an impaired driver.

Personnel updates - Dec. 16-29, 2016

January 10, 2017

Information provided by the Office of Employee Services

Message Monday - Texting and driving is not wreckommended

January 9, 2017

Ask just about anybody and they’ll tell you that texting and driving is a bad idea. So, if practically everyone thinks something is dangerous, why do so many people still do it? Research by AT&T found that 98 percent of commuters who own cell phones said they were aware of the hazard of texting and driving, yet almost half of those people admitted to doing the dangerous deed.

So how do you stop? Here are two simple solutions, one takes willpower, the other is more technology put to good use. 

Two Iowa highway projects are national award winners

January 9, 2017

Two projects, one on Interstate 280 in Scott County and the other on U.S. 30 in Linn County, received accolades Dec. 1 at the 27^th Annual National “Excellence in Concrete Pavement” awards program held during the 53^rd American Concrete Pavement Association’s Annual Meeting in Austin, Texas.

In early 2016, the Iowa Concrete Paving Association held a state conference where they awarded honors to the Iowa Department of Transportation and other project designers in various categories. These state winners were then forwarded for consideration to the ACPA. On the national level, two awards are given out in each category; gold and silver.  The Iowa DOT brought home one of each with a project on U.S. 30 winning the silver in the Divided Highways (Urban) category which means that it was the second best project in the country in that category.  A concrete construction project on  I-280  won the gold award in the Divided Highways (Rural) category which means that it was the best project in the country in that category.

January 2017 Service Awards

January 4, 2017

Information provided by the Office of Employee Services