Category: News
Whipping winter into shape- how better snowplow lighting can improve safety
November 13, 2023
Editor’s note: This post is part of a series related to our 5-year priority goal of “Supporting a Culture of Innovation” at the Iowa Department of Transportation. We are working to find innovative ways to improve processes, tools, & relationships to create positive experiences for our customers.
Picture this. You’re driving down a rural two-lane road in the dark. It’s snowing. You can make out headlights coming at you in a snow cloud. As the oncoming vehicle gets closer, you see that it’s a snowplow. You can also now make out lights that seem to hover over the front of the snowplow blade near the centerline. This light lets you know just where the plow blade is and alerts you to move over as you safely move by the plow.
Protecting worker safety during moving operations
October 26, 2023
Editor’s note: This post is part of a series related to our 5-year priority goal of “Supporting a Culture of Innovation” at the Iowa Department of Transportation. We are working to find innovative ways to improve processes, tools, & relationships to create positive experiences for our customers.
When you think of a work zone, an image of pavement work or bridge construction behind a line of orange cones with workers and construction equipment might come to mind. These stationary work zones are often in place for a period of time and are easily found on the 511 system (www.511ia.org and the Iowa 511 app). But many work zones like those for simple maintenance or line painting move slowly down the road. This makes the work zones difficult for you to track on 511 and the workers in those work zones are more vulnerable to being hit by drivers who may not expect to see them on the road.
Sometimes to modernize, you need to take a step back
October 20, 2023
Did you know that stopping to use the restroom at Iowa’s newest rest area gives you the chance to learn about Native American culture that preceded us by nearly 800 years?
If you have visited one of Iowa’s next-generation rest areas, you’ll notice that each one has a theme and information to help you learn more about what makes Iowa unique.
The planners, engineers, and designers tasked with creating these rest areas not only provide a place to safely stop and rest but also tap into a wealth of historical information to help you understand the very deep roots of our great state.
2023 Iowa DOT Truck Roadeo engages DOTers and provides a competitive training opportunity
October 11, 2023
Getting behind the wheel of a huge orange truck for the first time can be pretty intimidating. These complicated machines take a great deal of skill to operate effectively. Throw in skid loaders, mini excavators, and other pieces of equipment, and our highway staff of all levels need to be highly skilled and receive excellent training to get everything done to keep you safer on Iowa’s highways.
One fun and effective way to get the training our field forces need is through competition. This year our Maintenance Bureau brought back a traditional training tool, the Truck Roadeo.
Planning for winter starts long before the snow falls
October 9, 2023
Editor’s note: This post is part of a series related to our 5-year priority goal of “Supporting a Culture of Innovation” at the Iowa Department of Transportation. We are working to find innovative ways to improve processes, tools, & relationships to create positive experiences for our customers.
The weather is getting chilly, and you know what that means: winter is on the way. Salt is the main chemical we use to treat roads in the winter. There are many ways to use salt including mixing it with water and spraying that salt brine on the road to help keep snow and ice from sticking. In the right weather conditions, solid rock salt can be used to help melt the slick stuff. However, getting the solid rock salt to stay where we put it can be a challenge. One that our snowfighters meet head-on, starting with testing the effectiveness of our salt spreaders.
Balancing improving the roads you use and the environment
September 29, 2023
Road and bridge construction projects, like most aspects of life, are a balancing act. On one hand, repairing, replacing, and building roads and bridges are essential to keeping life moving. On the other, we want to minimize impacts to our natural resources.
That balancing act can sometimes result in a revitalized wetland area for wildlife viewing, hunting, and other outdoor activities.
Leading on a national level benefits Iowans
September 5, 2023
We are constantly striving to make your life and the lives of others in the state better through transportation. But we don’t live in a bubble. Sometimes, it makes sense to look beyond Iowa to the best practices of other states and share our own experiences in order to do our best work to serve you.
One of the ways our Motor Vehicle Division team connects with those who perform similar tasks in other jurisdictions is through the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators.
Supporting rail transportation to improve the way freight moves in Iowa
August 14, 2023
While you may not spend a lot of time connecting the dots of how your tube of toothpaste got to the store shelf, one dedicated group at the Iowa Department of Transportation is constantly working to enhance how they can make lives better through transportation by improving the logistics for commodities that ship by rail.
Jim Glaspie is the administrator of the Railroad Revolving Loan and Grant Program that helps get entities including cities, counties, development organizations, businesses, or rail companies connected with rail transportation. Glaspie said, “This program is one of the few sources of state funding for rail infrastructure. Although building new rail can be costly, shipping by rail is an economical way to move goods long distances. With the loan and grant program, we work with shippers to support their efforts to secure access to the rail system, helping them be more efficient and reducing the wear-and-tear large trucks cause on the road at the same time.”
The road to everywhere
August 7, 2023
Iowa has a brand-new road that's already making a big difference for farmers and their crops. Thanks to a grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce combined with state and local funding, this rural freight road is now linking Interstate 29 to the Port of Blencoe on the Missouri River.
The port, located halfway between Sioux City, Iowa, and Omaha, Nebraska, is an ideal spot for helping western Iowa farmers move their agricultural goods straight from the highway to the port's barge terminal allowing their products to reach the global marketplace more easily.
Recent Iowa DOT Awards
July 7, 2023
The Iowa DOT is focused on making lives better through transportation. Whether we are working to put safety first or focusing on our customers, innovation, and leadership are at the heart of the work we do. Sometimes that innovation and leadership earn us attention and accolades from our industry partners and peers. We are proud of those across our DOT team who have been recognized for the following awards.