Transportation Matters for Iowa

Roadside Chat - Do the ride thing. Share the road.

May 20, 2022

For many of us, springtime in Iowa means getting out and about. Whether you’re in a passenger vehicle, commercial truck, motorcycle, bicycle, farm implement, or simply out for a walk, we all need to be aware of other road users and safely share the space.

Personnel updates for April 29, 2022 to May 12, 2022

May 19, 2022

Information supplied by the Bureau of Budget and Business Systems

Strategic Data initiative moving forward

May 19, 2022

An important key to hitting our 10-year target of “Safest – smartest – made to last” and our 5-year priority to grow innovation is being able to collect and utilize reliable and consistent data. We continue to refine the data we collect, how it is stored and how it interacts to make help drive decisions that improve the safety and mobility of travelers in our state.

Peggi Knight, director of the Research and Analytics Bureau, co-leads the Data Management Committee which is made up of transportation professionals from many different disciplines. She said, “We treat data as an asset that must be managed to be as effective as possible. The goal is to understand the data we have, its format, storage, and interaction.”

Roadside Chat - Move over for flashing lights on shoulder

May 13, 2022

Part of learning to drive includes gaining an understanding of the laws and rules that are put in place to improve safety. Some of those laws and rules are for your protection as a driver and some are designed to keep those who work on the road safer. Many of these statutes serve to enhance the safety of everyone.

Transportation Impacts: When major flooding closes a vital connection

May 9, 2022

This is the first in a series of stories of how Iowa transportation projects impact the lives of our friends and neighbors, improving safety and making lives better through transportation.

In March 2019, a bomb cyclone struck several western and midwestern states, dropping intense rain and melting heavy snowpack on frozen ground. The subsequent runoff breached levees, flooded roadways, and decimated communities. One of those flooded roadways, Iowa 2 in Fremont County, severed the Iowa/Nebraska 2 corridor, which connects I-80 in Lincoln, Nebraska, to I-29 in Iowa. This unique connection is vital for commercial traffic traversing the region and area residents who live on one side of the Missouri River and work on the other. When Iowa 2 flooded and was closed, a commute for the locals that typically took 10-15 minutes suddenly turned into a 60-90- minute trip, and freight traffic was impacted at a similar level.

Roadside Chat - Flower or candy? Mom just wants you to arrive alive

May 6, 2022

Are you wondering what to get your mom for Mother’s Day? Flowers and candy are always nice, but what most moms want are happy, healthy kids who do what it takes to stay safe at all times, including behind the wheel.